The River Oaks Nation Membership performed host to an evening that married introspection and inspiration as The Jung Heart welcomed company for “An Night with Clint Smith” on March 18. The intimate affair celebrated the transformative energy of artwork, language, and therapeutic, a signature cocktail of the beloved Houston establishment.
Chaired by Heidi and Marcus Smith and Judy and Wayne McConnell, the soirée spotlighted Mathieu JN Baptiste, the Haiti-born, Houston-based artist whose work affords lyrical meditations on the resilience of oppressed populations. Recognized for portray, drawing, sculpting, and creating large-scale installations, Baptiste’s polymathic artistry has earned him a world viewers and a outstanding place in The Jung Heart’s orbit, the place he’s exhibited 3 times.
The night marked the presentation of the Carolyn Grant Fay Humanitarian Award to Baptiste, named for the middle’s founder. With this tribute, the group honored his embodiment of the Jungian spirit: Layered, brave, and rooted within the unconscious drive towards therapeutic.
The keynote got here from Clint Smith, the poet, scholar, and New York Occasions bestselling creator of How the Phrase Is Handed: A Reckoning with the Historical past of Slavery Throughout America. With poetic grace and pointed readability, Smith mirrored on how writing allows him to carry area for contradictions — pleasure and sorrow, delight and ache — echoing Baptiste’s personal multi-textured narratives and The Jung Heart’s mission to assist folks look at the interior landscapes that form their exterior lives.
Houston holds a chapter in Smith’s story. He spent his senior 12 months at Awty Worldwide after evacuating New Orleans throughout Hurricane Katrina, a cease alongside the trail that finally led to varsity and a Ph.D. from Harvard.
For the reason that pandemic, The Jung Heart has tripled its psychological wellness and artistic programming for adults and kids, a requirement echoed by communities throughout Houston, all whereas celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its gallery.
Amongst these savoring the heartfelt moments had been Dr. Crystal Walter, Lynn Baird, Ginger Blanton, Yvonne and Rufus Cormier, Emily Croswell, The Jung Heart’s government director Sean Fitzpatrick, Ann and Kenny Friedman, Melanie Grey and Mark Wawro, Necole Irvin of the Mayor’s Workplace for Cultural Affairs, board chair John Worth with Leila-Scott Worth, gallerist Heidi Vaughan, Anita and Gerald Smith, former First Girl Andrea White, and elegance maven Vivian Clever.
