A Starry Night: A-List Crowd Toasts Debut of Van Gogh Experience

Quy Tran
A Starry Night: A-List Crowd Toasts Debut of Van Gogh Experience

Natalie Varnum and Jacqueline Long

A CELEB-STUDDED crowd turned out to toast the grand opening of the highly anticipated Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit, which debuted in a custom-built warehouse in West Houston on Wednesday night.


The 200 guests first gathered in a courtyard erected outside the venue, which will soon be dubbed Lighthouse Artspace. Everyone wanted their pic taken in front of the sunflower-bedecked yellow pickup, turmeric-tinged signature cocktail in hand.

Impact Museums' Diana Rayzman and Vito Iaia, who helped produce the exhibit, and Council Member Amy Peck were among those who gave remarks before a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Then, at last, art-loving Houstonians — including Brian Ching, Chester Pitts, Kam Franklin, Donkeeboy, Jess and Betty Tutor, and Scott and Jana Arnoldy — poured into the bright blue warehouse, ready to take in the full experience.

Once inside the main room, folks claimed their spot within socially distanced circles, and were dazzled by the 35-minute show. For more on the exhibit, click here.

Kam Franklin, Donkeeboy, and Sylvia Roman

Lauren and Kyle Courville

Miya Shay and Laurette Veres

LaToya and Chester Pitts and family

Jessica Rifanburg and Alessandra Madrid

Amy Johnston and Carrie Evans

Megumi Hoshi and Whitney Mercilus

Scott and Jana Arnoldy and Betty and Jess Tutor

The evening's colorful signature cocktail

Schuyler and Sarah Pappas

Giselle and Patrick Piller

Parties

What year was your organization launched? Founded in Houston in 1947, as the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, the organization provided services to individuals with disabilities living in Houston and Harris County. In 1989, the organization changed its name and greatly expanded its services to meet the needs of its clientele. Today as Easter Seals Greater Houston, the organization provides multiple outstanding service programs to children, adults, veterans, and service members with all types of disabilities and their families in Harris and sixteen surrounding counties.

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John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

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