Houston’s Best Women-Only Party of the Year Turns This Arty Home into a Wild, Grand Stage: Sophisticated Power Dames Carry On Until the Wee Hours

It was a palmy occasion indeed — and only for the girls, when Another Great Night in November unfurled its 28th edition.

Since 1990, this storied staple of the autumn social calendar — a bookend to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s big-ticket benefit for the boys, One Great Night in November — has raised funds for the smart, avant-garde programming of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

This year’s Another Great Night came with a few challenges, in the name of the non-gentlemanly Hurricane Harvey. After the home of the original hostess, Martha Finger, was damaged by the storm, Leslie Ballard Hull opened up her casa instead, and the best ladies-only party of the year carried on. (It was very all in the family: Hull’s folks, Carol and Les Ballard, have been staunch museum supporters for decades; she herself co-founded the CAMH’s young patron group.)

Houston’s own iconic retailer Tootsies came through as the luxury sponsor for the always hotly contested scavenger hunt, while a well-connected host committee banded together to get the A (as in Art) List to turn out.

The Composition of an Art Home

Nearly 200 power femmes began the night by admiring the Hulls’ art- and antiques-filled home, designed by Randy Powers and featured in a 2016 cover story in Elle Decor. Besides gleaning decorating tips and ogling artworks by Dorothy Hood, Chuck Close, Ryan McGinness, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Aaron Parazette, there was another motive to tour the John Staub classic that Powers reinvigorated for the 21st century: to decipher clues for the Treasure Hunt.

Each table vied for the night’s grand prizes: handsome Waylande Gregory ceramic creations bestowed by Tootsies. (Fitting that Tootsies stepped up, as the late Mickey Rosmarin was a big CAMH fan and benefactor.)

After cocktail hour, a bell rang, and the beautifully heeled crowd adjourned to a tented aerie for a seated dinner. Rebekah Johnson, go-to designer for the museum’s special events, transformed the space into a setting keeping with the night’s theme, Under the Palms. City Kitchen’s three-course repast —  hearts of palm salad, jumbo-lump crabmeat crepes, and pecan balls — made for a feast that bowed to delicious culinary tradition. 

A Tiebreaker

Tootsies’ Penne Weidig presented the prizes to the winning table. A tie forced a drawing, and these lucky ladies were anointed the winners: Cindi Colvin, Ruth Dreessen, Phyllis Gresser, Louise Jamail, Dallas McNamara, Mary Marguerite Mongrain, Carol Price, Emily Van Laan, Katrina Van Laan, and Jane Wagner. The gracious runner-ups were Molly Ott Ambler, Liz Anders, Carolyn Dodson, Cullen Geiselman, Coble Jorgensen, Rainey Knudson, Meg Malone, Libbie Masterson, Elisa Stude Pye, and Stephanie Willinger. Both teams demonstrated prowess with tough and often arcane questions, including where Roxy Paine’s 2002 exhibition traveled in New Mexico. (The answer: contemporary art space SITE Santa Fe.)

Social Sculpture

Cartier’s Kari Gonzales; Stacey Lindseth; past AGN hostesses Marita Fairbanks, Susanne Pritchard, and Jereann Chaney; CAMH director Bill Arning, who popped by during cocktail hour; deputy museum director Christina Brungardt, who emceed; Sotheby’s Aliyya Stude; Luvi Wheelock; Phoebe Tudor; Leigh Smith; gallerist Allison Ayers with Sicardi Gallery; Heidi Gerger; Susie Criner; Erica Levit; Elizabeth Satel Young; Catherine Masterson; Tennie Ott; Kelly Hamman; the MFAH’s Chris Goins; Candace Baggett; Estela Cocktell; Ashley Pearce; Maggie Nicholson; Chanel boutique brass Nicole Rose and Josephine Frencillo; and CAMH grande dame Sissy Kempner, a long-time museum patron.  

The Wee Hours

New this year was a nifty, late-night touch devised by the hostess. Hull enlisted City Kitchen to prepare breakfast tacos, proffer additional libations, and added a DJ and dancing to the mix. This was one night that did not break up with abrupt departures after dessert — the gals on-the-town camaraderie carried on into the wee hours.