The week before, Wynonna Judd was in town for the Habitat for Humanity gala. On Tuesday, October 14, her stepsister Ashley Judd was at the Perot for TexProtects. At the same time, over at The Joule, the opera -oving types were warming up for the October 23 and 24 splashy kick-off, First Sight First Night, of the Dallas Opera season. And then there was the handing over of bucks by BBVA Compass Foundation at the Meadows Museum. Whew! What a night! Here are the deets:
Dallas Opera Patron Party is a Real Joule
Lynn McBee and Nick Even*
At the Joule Hotel, about 120 people turned up for the Dallas Opera’s First Sight/First Night patron party. Keith Cerny, the opera’s general director and CEO, welcomed the crowd with an upbeat report about plans for the Oct. 23 Fashion Show and Luncheon, as well as the Linda and Mitch Hart Season Opening Night pre-performance dinner and production (Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro) on the 24th.
But most exciting to Lynn McBee, who’s co-chairing both events with Nick Even, was Keith’s revelation that the DO had balanced its budget for the second year in a row. Lynn said she expected 200 to attend the luncheon and 400 to show up for the opening-night gala.
Ellen and Don Winspear and Tiffany Divis*
While guests including Tiffany Divis, Caroline Rose Hunt and Robert Brackbill, and Sara and David Martineau enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and desserts provided by the Joule, DO soprano Angela Mannino performed several selections (from Puccini to “I Could Have Danced All Night”) accompanied by pianist Laurie Rogers. Attendees (including Fashion Show gown designers Elizabeth Anyaa and Nicholas Villalba) also sipped wines provided by St. Michelle Wine Estates and spirits from Pernod Ricard USA.
Bryan Johnson, Summer Nilsson and Nicolas Villalba*
TexProtects Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
Jane Nelson**
Meantime, actress Ashley Judd was a major attraction at the 10th anniversary celebration for TexProtects—the Texas Association for the Protection of Children—with a keynote speech about her childhood trauma as an abuse victim. But the real stars at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science fundraiser were the Texans who’ve helped the nonprofit achieve its mission of reducing child abuse and neglect. Chief among them: the Hon. Florence Shapiro, who chairs the TexProtects advisory board; and state Sen. Jane Nelson, who received the group’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Florence Shapiro, Madeline McClure and Donna Campbell**
“Ashley’s personal story and her humanitarian work on behalf of abuse victims exemplifies the far-reaching effects of child maltreatment, but also the promise of healing from invisible wounds and most importantly, committing to investing in prevention,” said TexProtects Founder/Executive Director Madeleine McClure.
Mary Jalonick, Ashley Judd, Margaret Keliher and Maurine Dickey**
Others in the high-powered crowd of more than 340 included Mary Jalonick, state Sen. Royce West, Lee Jackson, Sarah Losinger, state Rep. Donna Campbell, the Hon. Maurine Dickey, Brent Christopher, Don Glendenning, and Margaret Keliher (husband Lester had “the night off,” Margaret explained, because she’d been invited by Shapiro to sit at a “girls’ table”).
John and Pat Harloe**
Pat Harloe served as event chair and Lisa Simmons was honorary chair for the dinner event, which netted over $315,000 on total revenue of more than $438,000 for the group.
BBVA Compass Foundation Check Hand Over
Whoever thought bankers just sat in august institutions with calculators? They evidently had met up with the BBVA Compass types, who were at the Meadows Museum. Thanks to the BBVA Compass Foundation, the museum received a $30,000 grant “to extend its Compass Classroom Scholarship Program. The program serves Dallas Independent School District visual arts teachers who educate and inspire their students to study art.”
Mark Zacheis, Darrell Lafitte, Jay Tweed, Key Coker, Mark Roglán and Sam Holland***
“This generous grant from the BBVA Compass Foundation allows the Museum to greatly expand its reach into DISD art instruction. It connects students more deeply to art and opens them to seeing the world in a new way,” said Dr. Carmen Smith, the Meadows Museum’s Director of Education.
Since the program’s launch, the foundation has donated $120,000. This year alone, “approximately 2,500 middle- and high-school students” would benefit with “nearly 1,000 of those students will visit the museum, be introduced to the SMU campus and, more pointedly, to college education and careers in the arts.”
But the students aren’t the only ones benefiting from the program. There are 16 teachers, who will “receive professional development training through a series of workshops held at the Museum. During the workshops, they learn about the collection and special exhibitions at the Museum and are trained in art instruction methodology.”
“We are grateful to the BBVA Compass Foundation for helping Dallas teachers to inspire so many children to experience the power of art and learn the importance of creativity,” said Dr. Mark Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair, Meadows School of the Arts, SMU.
Among the happy bankers, educators and museum folks were BBVA’s Mark Zacheis, Darrell Lafitte, Jay Tweed, Key Coker and Meadows’ Sam Holland.
* Photo credit: Celeste Hart ** Photos provided by TexProtects *** Photo credit: Tamytha Cameron