20 to Watch: Yoon Cho

Check out this video on Yoon Cho, one of the 20 to Watch that opens this Friday.

20 to Watch: Meggie Chou

check out the video on Meggie Chou, one of the 20 to Watch, which opens at DiverseWorks on Friday. Opening is from 6 - 8 pm on May 1.

Culture Cocktails at Beaver's

We had an amazing turnout at the Culture Cocktails event at Beaver’s last night (Thanks to the gang at Beaver’s and Spacetaker). If you came out and joined us, thanks so much for supporting DiverseWorks! No only did we have some really great food and drink specials, we also raffled off some great prizes.

If you were unable to join us at last night, no worries; just be sure to drop by DW next Friday (May 1) between 6 and 8 p.m. as we host an opening reception for our latest visual arts exhibit: New Art in Austin: 20 to Watch.

Hope to see ya there!!

--Tracey

More Love and Happy Thoughts on Leigh Boone....

Leigh Boone and Rachel Hewlett at the Understanding Poverty Opening Reception on Friday, September 19, 2008

A little less than a year ago, DiverseWorks was invited by Houston Center of Photography Director Madeline Yale to collaborate on SPIN, an annual event hosted by HCP in partnership with other Houston arts organizations. Planning meetings for SPIN were always fun and involved lunch--punctuated with heavy doses of laughter--over at HCP with Madeline and staffers Leigh Boone, Rachel Hewlett, Jason Dibley, and Katherine Yzaguirre. Leigh was the Martha Stewart of the bunch (I’m sure she’d freak out at that comparison but its true) and it wasn’t unusual for her to contribute some delicious, homemade something-or-other to the meal that she had made that same morning. It was impressive! And Leigh was so organized! We joked about her “Event Flow action chart” that laid out every task to be done on the day of the event. My favorite line item was: 12:45pm – Clear gallery floors for deep clean at 1pm – ALL HANDS ON DECK. I actually called her at 12:45 that day to tease her a little bit and ask her if she was on task. Of course she was and we had a good laugh. My interactions with Leigh always left me energized, inspired, and really grateful to have a job that allowed me to consistently work with such incredible people and have so much fun doing it.

Madeline, Leigh, Rachel and Jason were a team in the truest sense of the word and it was clear to me that they all shared a respect and affection for one another that extended far beyond the walls of HCP. In fact, HCP was often represented in pairs around town. Leigh and Rachel typically made the rounds together. I remember a particular visit they paid to DiverseWorks to attend our re-scheduled season opener a week after hurricane Ike hit Houston. I was nervous that attendance would be low and that the mood would be impacted by the trauma of the previous week. Rachel and Leigh showed up early with their wide smiles and contagious laughter and set the tone for what turned out to be a wonderful night.

Leigh's death has hit us all particularly hard. It's impossible to make sense of the fact that an amazing young woman with so much ahead of her can be so suddenly and tragically taken away. No one can ever say though that Leigh didn't leave her mark on everything and everyone she came in contact with. She was beautiful and funny and warm and powerful and talented in so many ways and she leaves behind a long list of family members, friends, co-workers and colleagues who will forever remember the way she could light up a room. All of us have lost much with the passing of Leigh Bess Boone. May she rest well and know that she was loved and admired. And she will be missed.

Diane Barber
Co-Executive Director & Visual Arts Curator
DiverseWorks

Yo Quiero Fresh Art @ DiverseWorks

The last few weeks have been really crazy, Michelle Ellsworth's The Objectification of Things, The FireSale Gala and I just wanted to make a quick mention about the Happy Hour that we had a few weeks ago.

The Fresh Arts Happy Hour, Yo Quiero Fresh Art, came and went but it was a fantastic time! Lots of new faces were here at DiverseWorks as well as many long time supporters of the Houston Arts Community!

I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Vaughan, the new Public Relations Coordinator at Talento Bilingue de Houston, Kristy Phillips from Emperial, Lori Freese from Freese Media Group and lots more.

It was great to see Sean Boyd from Opera in the Heights, Lindsay Kayser from Mercury Baroque, Leigh from Dominic Walsh, Crystal Benavides and Jerome Vielman from the Houston Arts Alliance, Jennifer Decker from Mildred's Umbrella, Meredith from Broadway Across America, David Lake, John Devine, Jenni Rebecca Stephenson from Spacetaker, Amber Raley from KTRU, David Tong, Jennifer Watson, Karen Niemier and Erin Nies.

Plus, Angie Smith talked to me about a new website for artists that will be launching soon. Stay tuned for more details!

In case you missed the event, here is a little recap...

Here are some pics taken by EMG Images
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emgimages/sets/72157615832812944/

Plus, here is the performance of Michelle Ellsworth at the Happy Hour!


Special Thanks to Mandy Graessle, Executive Director of the Fresh Arts Coalition! She put together a fantastic event! I know she couldn't have done it without the help of Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Zapp's, Dish Houston, Tequila Distinguido, Houston Modern Luxury, and EMG Images.

Make sure to check out what's happening at Fresh Arts!
http://www.fresharts.org/main.asp

Shawna Forney