An Eclectic Celebration Brings Art Community and City Leaders Together at the Glasscock School

1Ann Johnson, Winell Herron, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Lester Marks, Penelope Marks

2Ann Johnson, Winell Herron, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Lester Marks, Penelope Marks

3Ashley Turner and Cheryl Turner

4Ashley Turner and Cheryl Turner

5David Robinson, Sarah Trotty, Winell Herron, Doug Herron

6David Robinson, Sarah Trotty, Winell Herron, Doug Herron

7Deborah Mouton, 2018 Houston Poet Laureate

8Deborah Mouton, 2018 Houston Poet Laureate

9Hilary Green, Barry Barnes, Sarah Trotty

10Hilary Green, Barry Barnes, Sarah Trotty

11Hope Groves, Michelle Barnes, Darrell Groves

12Hope Groves, Michelle Barnes, Darrell Groves

13Chief Art Acevedo, Merian Sherrod, Robbie Lee, Kerrie Carmouche

14Chief Art Acevedo, Merian Sherrod, Robbie Lee, Kerrie Carmouche

15Lauren Barnes, Annette Lawrence, Matthew Barnes

16Lauren Barnes, Annette Lawrence, Matthew Barnes

17Mayor Sylvester Turner and Melanie Lawson

18Mayor Sylvester Turner and Melanie Lawson

19Michelle Barnes, Barry Barnes, Ashley Turner, Bill Baldwin, Sarah Trotty

20Michelle Barnes, Barry Barnes, Ashley Turner, Bill Baldwin, Sarah Trotty

21Michon Benson, Gary Marsh, Winell Herron

22Michon Benson, Gary Marsh, Winell Herron

23Salsa dancers Danny Asberry and Sharon Burns

24Salsa dancers Danny Asberry and Sharon Burns

25Sarah Trotty, Ann Johnson, Winell Herron, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Penelope Marks, Lester Marks, Ashley Turner, Barry Barnes

26Sarah Trotty, Ann Johnson, Winell Herron, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Penelope Marks, Lester Marks, Ashley Turner, Barry Barnes

27Torrie Lemelle Simpson, Dwayne Simpson, James Wilson III

28Torrie Lemelle Simpson, Dwayne Simpson, James Wilson III

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Guests arrived at Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies on September 14 to be met with balloons and ballerinas on stilts. The greeting was indicative of the eclectic celebration still to come at FestEve! A Night for the Arts, an evening of “artistic entertainment” by the Community Artists’ Collective.

Mayor Sylvester Turner served as honorary chair, while his daughter, Ashley Turner, and Boulevard Realty owner and City Council candidate Bill Baldwin co-chaired the event. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo led the live auction.

Board member Sarah Trotty—who co-founded the Collective in 1987 with executive director Michelle Barnes—guided the program and awards presentation, which honored Winell Herron (H-E-B group’s vice president of public affairs) and Lester Marks (Houston art czar) as Patrons of the Year and Prairie View A&M educator Ann Johnson as Artist-in-Action. The Collective also launched the Beverly P. Harmon Service Award in honor of the past president with a presentation to her daughter Hilary Green in memoriam.

Promising “A Night for the Arts,” the program delivered with poetry by Deborah DEEP Mouton and Troi Speaks, music by the Carver Jazz Band and Houston Jazz Collective, salsa with Danny Asberry and Sharon Burns, ballet, live painting by Habibah Haugstad, sketched portraits by Gretchen Morris-Williams, DJ Daniel Daigle, comedy by Dave Dawson, and performance by the Urban Souls Dance Company. Cuvee’s Culinary Creations provided hearty hors d’oeuvres.

Mayor Turner congratulated the Collective for the evening and for its years of cultural service to the community. In further celebratory fashion, Ashley Turn led the crowd in an early “Happy Birthday” singalong—the mayor turns 64 today.