Spring was in the air Wednesday evening, April 19, 2017 when 320 guests gathered at Rienzi, one of the house museums of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), for the annual Rienzi Spring Party. This year’s event was chaired by Stacey and Jeff Henningsen, Rachel and Mark Lawrence, and Angie and John Reckling. The occasion’s theme, A Mexican Fiesta, honored the Mexican Room at Rienzi. White banners lined the driveway leading to the venue, welcoming the guests as they arrived. While mingling over cocktails, palomas, and margaritas, attendees enjoyed the lively melodies of the mariachi band providing the evening’s entertainment.

​

The stunning décor, fashioned by Swift & Co., featured tables draped in black and melon-colored linens boasting cheerful centerpieces of orange roses, fuchsia anemones, red gerbera daisies, and blue hydrangeas. The sight of the beautiful bouquets was enough to put a spring in anyone’s step and suited the vibrant nature of the country of Mexico as well as the birth of the new season.

​

Also courtesy of Swift & Co., the selection of tasty passed hors d’oeuvres included beef empanadas, squash blossom quesadillas, jalapeño quail and pecan-smoked bacon en brochette, southwestern salad, cheese enchiladas, tacos, and roasted fresh corn. Guests relaxed, chatted, soaked up the atmosphere, and enjoyed the refreshments poolside drinking in the fresh air of the Rienzi grounds. Not only did the spring fling bring old and new friends together to celebrate the arts and the season, it raised a total of $152,000 toward Rienzi’s operating budget.

​

Guests: Jerry Ann Woodfin-Costa and Victor Costa, Lynda Underwood, Kathy and John Stanton, Ann Trammell, Stacey and Jeff Henningsen, Rachel and Mark Lawrence, Catherine and Cenk Ozdogan, Angie and John Reckling, Christiana McConn, Isla and Tommy Reckling, Isla and Joseph Jornayvaz, Sheila and Jerry Reese, Pam and David Ott, Stacy and Michael Ellington, Carroll Goodman, Cathy and Joe Cleary, Joy and Edward Randall, Eleni and Thad Fuller, Kathy and Marty Goossen, and Elise and James Reckling.

​

About The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston:

Founded in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is among the ten largest art museums in the United States. Located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, the MFAH comprises two gallery buildings, a sculpture garden, a theater, two art schools, and two libraries, as well as two house museums for American and European decorative arts nearby. The encyclopedic collection of the MFAH numbers more than 65,000 works and spans the art of antiquity to the present.