SOCIETY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS CELEBRATED IT’S  15^th ANNUAL LUNCHEON ON THE STAGE OF
JONES HALL

 

HOUSTON, TEXAS – October 31, 2011 – Society for the Performing Arts, bringing the World’s Best to Houston, held their 15^th annual luncheon on the Stage of Jones Hall featuring the highly anticipated  guest speaker and “Tiger Mom”, Amy Chua.  Karen Pulaski chaired this year’s luncheon and Patsy Fourticq was the recipient of the 2011 Ann Sakowitz Performing Arts Advocate Award, which was given to her by Sakowitz’s son, Robert Sakowitz.

The 320 guest enjoyed a champagne reception before taking the stage for lunch and decadent mini cupcakes prepared by Jackson Hicks.  This year’s luncheon raised $155,000 to benefit SPA’s education and outreach programs.

Chua’s current book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is an awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother’s exercise in extreme parenting.  Her personal account reveals the rewards, and the costs of raising her children as her parents raised her, the Chinese way.  Dr. Chua is a dynamic and respected author with global insights into parenting, world powers, and economics. A departure from her usual writing, Yale Law Professor Amy Chua’s third book is a parenting memoir that espouses Chinese traditions of child rearing and raising her children for success.

Seen in the crowd were: June Christensen, Executive Director of SPA; Priscilla Larson, Director of Development of SPA; Greg Fourticq, Gregory Fourticq, Mary Ann McKeithan, Diane Lokey Farb, Terry Wayne Jones, Jay Jones, Chree Boydstun, Katy Caldwell, Kari Gonzales, Debra Grierson, Laura Baird, Kikki Wilson, Roz Pactor, Rosemary Schatzman, Arvia Few, and Soraya McClelland.

The proceeds from the luncheon provide the necessary funds needed for SPA’s Education and Outreach Program, Beyond the Stage, that takes the performing arts into the community to present unique learning experiences enriching the lives of more than 120,000 underserved children and adolescents in the greater Houston area annually. SPA’s educational programming includes Master Classes, Residencies, Teacher Workshops, Lecture/Demonstrations, Creative Writing/Choreography Programs, Student Matinees and Transportation Funding, plus performance tickets free of charge to Houston’s most underserved students. Research shows that academic performance improves and dropout rates go down when students are involved in the arts.

Since 1966, Society for the Performing Arts has built a reputation as the most innovative community-oriented nonprofit presenting organization in Houston.  Last season, more than 100,000 Houstonians enjoyed SPA’s performances.   For more information about SPA, please contact William Tayar at 713-632-8103 or email William@spahouston.org.