Outrageously Saucy Party Teases The Orange Show’s Future and a New Museum — Houston’s Arty Fun Merchants Delight

As Houston charities and nonprofits curate benefits to make up for a year of lost happenings and empty coffers, one art group went all out for its gala, presenting a night like no other.

Cue The Big Bang! This evening was not for the faint of heart, the minimalist, or those who favor understatement in dress or attitude.

This revel was one for the social history books. Outrageous. Saucy. Over-the-Top. All to raise funds for one of America’s most famed outsider art monuments. That would be the beloved Orange Show and its fabulous phalanx of entities, including the Beer Can House, Smither Park and the iconic annual rite of spring, the Art Car Parade.

This ultimate cosplay bash also marked the grand occasion of a milestone for the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art — its raucous 40th Anniversary.

Now the mainstream art world is catching up with a cadre of outsider art collectors and patrons, like Orange Show founder and board chair Marilyn Oshman; artist and Houston Art Car movement catalyst Ann Harithas; and the late Stephanie Smither, benefactress of the captivating environment Smither Park. With all three women extolled during the gala, the mission and relevance of the Orange Show seems more prescient than ever before.

Now back to the mise en scène of this evening. Co-chair quartet Melissa and Paul Dobrowski and Julia and Will Robinson, joined by auction co-chairs Beth Abramson-Meltzer and Lane Schultz reigned over a crowd of more than 500 (vaccination cards required for entry) at the Orange Show World Headquarters, a cavernous 31,000 square foot warehouse that went galactic for the occasion. Digital art teams led by imaginative talents Input/Output, Moon Papas, and Hannah Bull of BamBull Black devised the spacey psychedelic vibes.

Also presiding, Orange Show recently minted executive director Tommy Ralph Pace, appointed at the end of 2020, a  Pratt Institute grad who served the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, before being lured to Houston. During his pre-dinner remarks, Pace led off with high praise for Space City as one of the most creative metropolises in the world, thus a fitting home for the Orange Show, a monument to the healing powers of the orange, birthed by Jeff McKissack (1902 to 1980), a mail carrier and producer hauler as well as a visionary artist.

Tommy Ralph Pace also served up the ultimate bombshell with an announcement that preceded a Tony’s seated dinner orchestrated by top toque Austin Waiter.

Talk about an art-and-architectural apéritif. Pace revealed the news that the Orange Show will head into its next decades with a new museum dedicated to visionary art, a thrilling fresh endeavor led by architecture firm Rogers Partners, which offices in New York City and Houston. The firm’s founder Rob Rogers, an alum of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, is known for innovative dialogues between urbanism, landscape and architecture. (See one of Rogers Partners’ projects, a unique take on architecture and land in the public realm, here.)

Expect a significant fundraising campaign and for the Orange Show to step forward towards increased national prominence as a destination for rotating exhibitions showcasing visionary artists.

This fabled evening always features auction action aplenty, and the 40th anniversary gala went into high orbit — populated with lavish experiences including a tour of Jay Leno’s private car collection; trips to the Kentucky Derby, San Miguel, and the Grammys; as well as a balloon pop with coveted prize a pair of Valobra diamond earrings. There was also a bounty of art goodies, including works by Mel Chin, Bert Long Jr., The Art Guys, Angelbert Metoyer, Sharon Kopriva, Kelly Moran, Sherry Owens, Michael Tracy, Susan Budge, and a live painted street art canvas from Gonzo247.

The night was closed down by the funkadelic and R&B rhythms of Morris Day and The Time, fittingly celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album. (Read about Morris Day’s friendship and collaborations with Prince here.)

The crowd went wild, and as the last reveler departed, the Orange Show was $800,000 richer, and its ambitious plans for its future 40 had been revealed.

Making the Scene in Outta This World Splendor: Karen Lubetkin Desenberg, Mr. Orange Show aka Don Mafrige Jr., Katherine and Chris Gillman hosting a table in Spaceball cinematic finery, Houston Arts Alliance’s John Abodeely and board chair Craig Massey, Lynn Mathre and Stewart O’Dell, Sunday Riley and Bruce Eames, Libbie Masterson and Mark Sullivan cleverly embracing The Big Bang theme, Ashley Smither Langley and Curt Langley, Paige and Todd Johnson, Ann Hyde Smither and John Kerr Smither, Justice Margaret Poissant, Franny Koelsch Jeffries and John Jeffries, Art League Houston executive director Jennie Ash, Texas Southern’s University Museum director Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, gallerists Laura Rathe and Apama Mackey, artist Alton DuLaney, Helaine Lubetkin, Karen and Marty Skolnik with daughter Stacy Skolnik in Jetson-worthy attire, Jennifer Roosth, Kristen Cannon, Barbara Hill, Star and Jack Massing, and Heritage Auctions’ honchos Frank Hettig and Ed Beardsley in from Dallas.