Tania Boughton, the Texas legislative chair for Childhood Obesity Prevention, said someone advised her to attend “Intrigue,” the Perot Museum’s Night at the Museum fundraiser on Saturday, November 11, because she would see some “very important people” there. She’s glad she did, Tania said, because in no time at all she was meeting and chatting with guests like Diane and Hal Brierley.
Like Karen Katz and others, Hal was suffering from a case of “sticky fingers” at the annual gala for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. No, he wasn’t spotted lifting rocks from the Lyda Hill gem room. Instead, he’d just come from the VIP party, where guests including Margot and Ross Perot, Lyda herself, Thomas Surgent, Gail and Jim Spann, Nina and Trevor Tollett, Linda and Ken Wimberly and Sally and Forrest Hoglund were offered “printed photo cocktails” (it was the cocktails that gave rise to the sticky fingers) from the SipMi’ company.
To make these special drinks, photographers “shot” the guest, then sent his or her image electronically to the SipMi’ team, which printed out the image on SipMi’s trademark foam, which was then placed on top of the guest’s cocktail. The image stayed perfectly intact, even while the drink was being sipped.
As many as 1,000 partygoers showed up for Intrigue, which showcased “an evening of illusion, magic and mystery,” as per the amazing SipMi’ drinks.
The fun had begun outside on the plaza, where guests like Lynn McBee (hubby Allan was indisposed that night), Katherine and Eric Reeves, Russell Holloway, Lee Jamison, and Amy and Michael Meadows entered the museum through a human maze amid music, lights, and models dressed in mirror-covered body suits.
Once inside, they could sample the likes of “Confidentiality” (you had to see the Poirot Crime Lab to believe it) on Level 2, “Natural Curiosities” such as Chemical Caviar and Baffling Botany on Level 3, and the Art of Deception (think 3D holograms and optical illusions) on Level 4.
As they navigated the various floors, the guests enjoyed such fare as a “squid ink” pasta station, mirror-glazed cake bites, “cassoulet” on grilled focaccia with duck confit, and a gravity-separated centrifuge station featuring carbonated mission fig “beer” with lime.
Spotted enjoying the unique fare were Heather Sauber and Julie Burns, who were excitedly checking everything out—for good reason. In April, they’ll be co-producing a gala for Trammell S. Crow‘s Earthx Expo at the Perot, complete with a “green carpet.”
To wrap up The Night at the Museum fundraiser, the Taylor Pace Orchestra played for the after-party, where women traded in their stilettos for more comfortable flats at a shoe check-in.
Chairs for Intrigue were Sylvia E. Cespedes, Hernan J.F. Saenz III, and Meredith and Mark Plunkett, while Sharon and Kip Tindell were the honorary co-chairs.
Pausing for a moment between greeting guests at the VIP pre- festivities in the Moody Family Children’s Museum, Saenz—who’s also the museum’s board chair—and Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver, the Perot’s CEO, described their new effort to “redefine what a museum means in the 21st century.” Among their tentative plans for the Perot: more investment in gems and minerals, a new lecture series, and a more aggressive outreach to children in south and east Dallas. All very intriguing, just like the party.