Glasstire Founder’s Farewell Party is an Art Insider’s Delight
Arty News May Never be the Same
By Nicole Betts //
Photography Jenny Antill Clifton and Chris P. Bachman
What: Glasstire’s farewell bash for founder Rainey Knudson
Where: Texas Gallery
PC Moment: An art-smart evening unfolded when leading members of the Texas art contingent came together to toast Rainey Knudson, departing founder and publisher of online website Glasstire. (The respected and beloved arts maven recently stepped down from her role at Glasstire and closed this fruitful chapter of her career to proceed to a new venture, yet to be revealed.)
A close-knit inner circle of fans and followers collected inside Texas Gallery, a seminal and renowned art spot, to clink cocktails to Knudson’s contributions to the Texas scene. (Glasstire has been honored as the top art website in America.) Buoyant chatter permeated the room as Rainey was applauded for her creation of Glasstire, known for its definitive arts reporting, including the not-to-be-missed weekly Glasstire Top Five.
An intimate band of well-wishers savored Vietnamese cuisine from restaurant Cafe TH, a colorful neighborhood favorite in the East End. Guests also enjoyed a specialty cocktail curated by Dripping Springs-based Treaty Oak Distilling, dubbed “Garden Party,” concocted for the occasion.
Dynamic and vibrant paintings by Peter Plagens and surreal, Pop-inspired works by Rachel Hecker, on view at Texas Gallery, were an eclectic backdrop to the cheerful, bittersweet night dedicated to Knudson’s farewell.
Holiday Decor
PC Seen: Texas Gallery owners Fredericka Hunter (manning the DJ booth) and Ian Glennie; newly anointed GT publisher Brandon Zech and Editor-in-Chief Christina Rees (in from DFW); Knudson’s folks Sally and Norman Reynolds; collectors Sissy and Denny Kempner, Jereann Chaney, Bridget and Patrick Wade, Marita and J.B. Fairbanks, and Mrs. Pop, aka Dorene Herzog; gallerists Nancy Littlejohn with husband Erik Littlejohn, David Shelton, Gus Kopriva, Betty Moody, and Deborah Colton with husband Bill Colton; curator Clint Willour; artists including Sharon Kopriva, Prince Varughese Thomas, Carter Ernst and Paul Kittelson, Emily Peacock, Henry Sanchez, Ann Stautberg and Frank X. Tolbert 2, and Anthony Shumate; executive director of Mitchell Center Karen Farber; Steven Evans, executive director of FotoFest; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s Perry Price and Mary Headrick; founder of Crushpad indie music production biz Eric Jarvis; Houston historian Mister McKinney; and Community Artists’ Collective founder/director Michelle Barnes.
Additional reporting by Catherine D. Anspon.
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