Tag: Houston arts

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Thankful for You Houston.

I have so much to be thankful for. I’ve written here in the past about how I’m thankful for LOLCats, Aggieland, and my mom’s wise advice to always stay positive.  Today in particular I am thankful for the democratic process, my rights as an American, and those who serve to protect our freedom. And Twitter. I am definitely thankful for Twitter.

Thank You Houston!

This year for my 30 Days of Thanks post I want to take a moment to personally thank you – the people and the city of Houston, for all you have done for me over the last four years.

It was January 3, 2009  when I moved to Houston. In the years since then you have welcomed me and supported me every step of the way.

Houston is a unique place – the most diverse city in the country, a town that fosters business and supports the arts  – and earlier this year topped Forbes’ list of America’s Coolest Cities.  I have tried my best to take in as much of it as possible – taking in museums and restaurants and festivals and trying to keep up with everything Houston has to offer. Honestly, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.

The Big D will always be my hometown (don’t hate), but I have been incredibly blessed to find a great home here. And I cannot be grateful enough.

A Few of My Favorite Things about Houston:

1. A Full Events Calendar  –  In a city as big as Houston, there is always something going on!

I am privileged to get to go out and support fantastic clients like Miller Outdoor Theatre, Susan G. Komen Houston, and The Art Car Parade. Some of my other favorite events have been Comicpalooza  Comic Convention, Free Press Summerfest, and the Rodeo!


Left to Right: Houston  Rodeo, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Free Press Summer Fest, Houston Beer Festival, Comicpalooza

2. The Food! – I often tell people the best part of moving to Houston is the food. The diversity of backgrounds and cultures in Houston meld into a mixing pot of delicious opportunities to explore. My latest obsessions are El Gran Malo, Benjy’s, and Petrol Station. (And I am always open to suggestions!)

Houston Food Truck Fest 2011

3.  The Schipulites  –  I work with some of the most talented, hardest working people I have ever met. I learn from you every single day. I have great mentors here and a great team. I couldn’t ask for more.

Thank You!

I have to thank you to all of you in Houston for welcoming me with open arms. Here’s to many more Houstoniversaries to come!

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Orange Show Gala brings sparkles, costumes + jazz to 2011!

The Orange Show Gala 2011 by Ed Schipul

We love working with all of our clients (seriously, they are amazing), but few clients can throw a costume and glitter festival like The Orange Show.  Check out some of our photos (taken by Ed Schipul and Derek Key) from their 30th Anniversary Orange Show Gala  and tag yourself on the Orange Show Facebook page if you see yourself!

The Orange Show Gala 2011 crowd

Happy faces at the Orange Show Gala 2011

Welcome to the Orange Show Gala 2011

Dancing at The Orange Show Gala 2011

Great friends at the Orange Show Gala 2011

 

Learn more about The Orange Show (one of Houston’s art and creative treasures) on their website and be sure to connect on Facebook to attend their next awesome event!

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Schipul Pops In At The CultureMap Pop-Up Party at FotoFest

FotoFest A Matter of Wit

Above: Gilbert Garcin, The flight of Icarus(after Leonardo da Vinci),
[L’envol d’Icare (d’apres Leonard de Vinci)], 2005 – FotoFest.org

FotoFest: A Matter of Wit

Last night I had the pleasure of popping into the Culture Map Pop-Up Party at FotoFest.   What was all the celebration about?   Yesterday was the opening of a great new exhibit at FotoFest:   A Matter of Wit.   Featuring collective works of Gilbert Garcin, Miro Å volík and Colin Blakely, each visitor was surrounded by remarkable visions of whimsy, humor and ability as they navigated through the displays, friendly faces and tasty treats.

FotoFest Houston Gallery

Aside gawking at some amazing photography, The Culture Map Pop-up Party at FotoFest also gave me my first taste of sugary goodness from MMM…Cupcake and an amazing twice-baked potato pocket pie from Oh My! Pocket Pies (which was adorable and delicious).   The folks at MMM…Cupcakes and Oh My! Pocket Pies couldn’t be nicer (and kudos to the pie guys for sticking it out in freezing temperatures).


Another awesome turn up at the Map Pop-up Party at FotoFest was Smile Booth!   I got to chat with Josh from Smile Booth and I have to say, it’s probably one of the neatest things I’ve seen out and about in Houston.   A superior twist on old school instant film, a high quality instant camera with takes a few photos of you and your friends and print right out; these pictures turn out great and you can view them online the next day (just like the ones from FotoFest)!

FotoFest Smile Booth
Everyone had a blast, but if you missed the Pop-Up Party at FotoFest, don’t worry the exhibit: A Matter of Wit continues through Feb 25th. Thanks to CultureMap, the awesome food vendors, Silver Eagle, FotoFest and everyone who contributed for a great night!

FotoFest2

FotoFest

FotoFest Houston Gallery 1

FotoFest2.10.11 045

FotoFest: A Matter of Wit | Gilbert Garcin, Miro Švolík, Colin Blakely

February 10, 2011 – February 25, 2011
Mon-Wed and Fri, 10am – 5pm, Sat, noon – 5pm,
Late Night Thursdays 10am – 7pm

Want more FotoFest?
Reserve a tour: Jennifer Ward, exhibits@fotofest.org or at 713.223.5522 ext 18.
Information and Visuals: Vinod Hopson, press3@fotofest.org or at (713) 223.5522 ext 26
Literacy Though Photography: Kristin Skarbovig,   ltp@fotofest.org or at (713) 223-5522
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Shade of Hope Helps Make Houses Homes

Blinds.com Hosts “Shade of Hope” Fundraiser for the Houston Furniture Bank from Schipul – The Web Marketing Co. on Vimeo.

Coffee table. Bed. Plates. Forks. Chairs. A lamp. Individually, they’re just items on a list of things found in a house. Collectively these items represent what makes a house a home, and when simply having a roof is your main priority, what to put under it takes the backseat.   Shade of Hope is putting the spotlight on these details.

About Shade of Hope and The Furniture Bank of Houston

Blinds.com and Houston Furniture Bank Leadership TeamsShade of Hope is a community arts affair created to help raise money and awareness for   The Furniture Bank of Houston.   The name sounds stately and polished, but the Furniture Bank is modest warehouse tucked away in Houston’s Third Ward, manned by a small group of loving volunteers.

Sunday, July 18, the public will have an opportunity to see the space for themselves during the kick-off event for Shade of Hope. Artists will be on-site creating the artwork to be featured in the upcoming   Furniture, Arts and Decor Expo – Show Your heART Houston, which also benefits The Furniture Bank.

Artist + Katie Sign First Canvas for Shade of Hope

True to it’s name, artists for the event will use shades donated by Blinds.com as canvas for their artwork. We attended the artist breakfast meeting at Blinds.com and even had an opportunity to sign the first shade commemorating the event.

The Furniture Bank welcomes donations of furniture and home appliances. Anyone interested in participating or donating to Shade of Hope or the Furniture Bank can contact Esther Steinfeld of Blinds.com.

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Friday Fun: Just A Walk in the Art


It should come as no surprise that my first post for the Schipul Blog would be related to the arts. This weekend is the 13th Annual Bayou City Arts Festival Memorial Park (a Schipul client). The Bayou City Arts Festival is one of the premiere visual arts events to occur in Houston every year. The Festival features artwork from over 300 artists in 17 artistic media. Oh, and our CEO, Ed, was one of the jurors for this year’s festival!

We hope you can make it out this weekend. Note there is no parking available in Memorial Park for the event. You will need to catch the shuttle at the Northwest Mall or Downtown. Shuttles run from 9:30AM to 7:00PM Friday, March 27 through Sunday, March 28. I advise taking the Downtown shuttle, that way you can grab a bit to eat Downtown before heading home.

In any case, it’s not like you’re not going to be outside in the beautiful weather this weekend. Why don’t to take in a little art with all that fresh air?

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Via Colori Houston – street painting for a great cause

ViaColori image

The Schipul gang are crazy fans of the Houston Via Colori street painting festival, an annual event that benefits The Center for Hearing and Speech.   Every year artists from all over the country descend upon the sidewalks of Houston to draw, sketch, color and amaze – all for a tremendous cause.

This isn’t anything like the summertime driveway scribbles you may have loved as a kid, this is fine art at its most pedestrian (well… at least NEAR the pedestrians <grin>) and temporary.     Be sure to swing by to view the over 200 artists and their work (including one of our Schipulites – Ben Gillin!), listen to music and watch dance performances, take a Houston Center for Photography   101 lesson and so much more!

What:   Houston Via Colori Street Painting Festival
When:   Saturday + Sunday, November 21 – 22, 2009
Where:   Sam Houston Park (Allen Parkway and Bagby)

Photo thanks to Flickr user I-SEEN-IT

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Welcome to our Blog and the Schipul Arts Page!

The Schipul office is pretty diverse, but one thing we have in common is our love for the Arts, especially the homegrown stuff.   So we thought, what better way to celebrate the inaugural Schipul blog post than with a celebration of the Arts Community in Houston.

Oftentimes, Artists just don’t get the recognition they deserve, so we wanted to create a Schipul page just for them!   We try to hit up as many of the events hosted by the artists on this list as possible (from shows by our fav graffiti beat boys to events hosted by a Houston staple, the Orange Show) but it is easy to lose track of what’s going on in such a busy city.

To cut down our frantic end of day gtalk messaging and Twitter DM’s searching for something cool to do, we created this page and wanted to make it public to you. what is wrong?

Check out the Schipul Page for a comprehensive list of who’s hot in Houston Arts… and PLEASE if we left anyone out, tell us about them in the comments section!!!   We know there is a ton more aweseome artists our there and we would love to hear about them.