Society / The Seen

Scenes from the Klyde Warren Park 2022 President’s Circle Party — An Alfresco Affair in Volk Estates

All the New — and a Memorable Sculpting — From the Spring Catchup

BY // 05.19.22
photography Don Alexander

Does the second occurrence officially make it an annual event? Well, it looks like a spring cocktail party in a private garden will now be part of Klyde Warren Park‘s President’s Circle social calendar. This year, held at Suzanne and Patrick McGee‘s Volk Estates home, it gathered a fabulous group for everyone’s beloved green space straddling the Dallas Arts District and Uptown.

The President’s Circle was launched right before the COVID lockdown in 2020 and was chaired by Ann Hobson and Alvise Orsini. The duo graciously agreed to take on the responsibilities of spearheading the premier donor program for two years due to the “paused” nature of that year and 2021. The first spring cocktail party was held in Ann and Lee Hobson‘s Highland Park garden (and occurred on Cinco de Mayo) and everyone loved the idea of an alfresco event. Oh-so fitting for a group that supports a park.

Suzanne McGee, Margot Perot, Nancy Perot Jones (Photo by Don Alexander)
Suzanne McGee, Margot Perot, Nancy Perot Jones (Photo by Don Alexander)

Most of the President’s Circle had heard the exciting news earlier in 2022 that for the 10th anniversary of Klyde Warren Park: the entire Perot family — Margot Perot, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Nancy and Rod Jones, Suzanne and Patrick McGee, Carolyn and Karl Rathjen, and Katherine and Eric Reeves — had agreed to chair the donor program.  So, it made complete sense for Suzanne and Patrick to host one of the first events of the year. I had never been to their home, so was terribly excited to finally see it. And it did not disappoint.

Guests nibbled on a menu created by still relatively new Dallasite Cornelia Guest. Though Guest originally launched her catering company in New York City, one might say the cocktail party at the McGee’s was her Dallas debut. My favorite two nibbles were classics with a Guest twist: mini sliders and pigs in a blanket. I should’ve attempted a Texas dip like a proper deb while enjoying that last bite.

Klyde Warren Park President and CEO, Kit Sawers, looked picture perfect as she greeted the group and acknowledged the board members in attendance — Nancy Best, Lucy Billingsley, Hal Brierley, Ed Fjordbak, Sheila and Jody Grant, Nancy Perot Jones, Kathy Nelson, Rob Walters, and John Zogg.

Artist Calyxte Campe (Photo by Don Alexander)
Artist Calyxte Campe and Mimi (Photo by Don Alexander)

Sawers also shared details on the special guest that evening, artist Calyxte Campe. She had met Calyxte through the Turner Carroll Galley who the Park had partnered with as part of the Dallas Art Fair last year. The artist is the great-grandson of Pierre Cartier, founder of the House of Cartier (small world — the exhibition, “Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity,” opened at the Dallas Museum of Art last week). Calyxte is also the great-grandnephew of Auguste Rodin’s assistant and muse Camille Claudel (who completed many of the hands and feet of Rodin’s most famous works and has a museum of her own outside Paris, as well as a room in the Rodin Museum dedicated exclusively to her). Growing up amongst those great sculptures influenced his choice to become an artist. That evening, party guests were in for a treat as he “live” sculpted the McGee’s beloved dog Mimi.

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Others I had spotted that evening before I made a quick departure to head to DFW Airport to catch a late-night flight to Los Angeles (stay tuned for some upcoming stories on my coverage of fundraising events supporting the Louvre that occurred on the sunny Left Coast) included Ray WashburneNancy and Jeremy Halbreich, Kristi and Wallace Hall, Lisa and Peter Kraus, Lee Cullum, and Kim and Donald Robertson.

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