Reggie Smith, Glasstire publisher Brandon Zech, Leigh Smith, Ross Smith, Owen Duffy at the 2025 Glasstire Party & Auction (Photo by Jenny Antill Clifton )
Glasstire’s 24th annual Party and Auction certainly turned into a golden night in Houston, honoring the cutting edge and important Texas art scene while supporting the organization’s work as a leading voice for artists. The party was chaired by the fabulous Anna Deans and Jessica Phifer, with lead support from Ben Ackerley and Emily Kirby, as well as Alexandra and David Pruner.
Founded by Houston writer Rainey Knudson in 2002, Glasstire is the oldest online-only art magazine in the United States. It’s also been honored as the top art website in America. The nonprofit is dedicated to promoting Texas talents globally and is the only publication in Texas that produces serious art criticism daily.
The party unfolded inside an elegant, brick-walled, barrel-ceilinged industrial warehouse space that once housed The Catastrophic Theatre and DiverseWorks. The warehouse space is now dubbed Soirée Venue and is home to Sanman Studios, an arts hub continuing the building’s creative legacy.
In keeping with the theme of Sunset Chic, art supporters arrived at the party dressed in golden-hued attire for a night of art, danceable hits from DJ Goodfat and bites from Little Kitchen HTX. (The menu included tender beef Wellington bites, Caprese salad and Greek meatballs with feta and mint. For dessert, a decadent lemon cake, chocolate espresso mousse cups and fudge brownies kept things sweet.)
This year, Glasstire launched its first-ever Texas Art Writing Award. This prize recognizes exceptional journalists who have aided the website’s mission of expanding the conversation about art in the state of Texas through reviews, essays, op-eds, interviews, photo essays and more. Writers Ruben C. Cordova and Robert Craig Bunch were lauded as the inaugural recipients of the new award.
The art auction, sponsored by DCM Art Services and Artist Services, ran online for a week leading up to the party, allowing supporters to bid from across Texas. Several artworks were sold to collectors in Galveston and Dallas.
The silent auction’s top lots included An Exploration of Nature’s Substance by Preston Gaines, which sold for $6,900 to a North Texas-based collector; and Shadow Tools by Erin Curtis, which went to one of Glasstire’s board members for $3,400.
Other Glasstire auction artists who attended the auction included Cody Ledvina, Neva Mikulicz, Reynier Leyva Novo and Nela Garzón.
As the sun set, the venue gleamed gold, accentuating the theme. The auction raised $48,000, with a portion going to the featured artists.
PC Seen: Glasstire publisher Brandon Zech; Glasstire founder and former publisher Rainey Knudson and Steve Satterwhite; co-chair husband Scott Deans; 2026 Glasstire 25th anniversary party co-chairs Leigh and Reggie Smith; Glasstire board chair Juliet Franco and David Franco; Caroline and Ross Smith; Lisa Rich and John McLaughlin; former Glasstire board chair Andrew Raab; Catherine and Chris Bellshaw; Mitra Murthy; Glasstire board member Jenny Johnson and Mark Johnson; former gala co-chairs Sarah Labowitz and Peter Molick; Holland and Ben Horton with her mom, collector Jereann Chaney; Glasstire board member and Ruby Projects founder Megan Olivia Ebel; Troy Schaum of Schaum Architects; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft director Leila Cartier and Juanma Balcazar; Piper Faust of Piper Faust Public Art; former board chair Kathryn McDougal and Matt Fries; chief curator of cultural affairs for City of Houston Alton Dulaney; Justice Meg Poissant; Blaffer Museum director Laura Augusta; and leading gallerists Sharon Lott Graham of McClain Gallery, Josh Pazda of Josh Pazda Hiram Butler and the MFAH’s Chris Goins, Tom Raith and Erin Dorn of Seven Sisters Gallery, Barbara Davis of Barbara Davis Gallery, and Yvonne Garcia of Hooks-Epstein Galleries.
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