Date/Time:
04/23/2015 | Thursday | 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Location:
Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum
605 Robert E. Lee Rd.
Austin,Texas
78704
Categories
The UMLAUF Garden Party is unlike any other event in Austin. Spend the night strolling through the gardens, enjoying select wines curated by Twin Liquors, and tasting a variety of bites from the city’s most iconic restaurants. You are invited to dance the night away to the electric sounds of the Nash Hernandez Orchestra, bid on unique and one-of-a-kind Live and Silent Auction items, and help support one of Austin’s most loved cultural gems.
The Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum (UMLAUF) is thrilled to announce that Paul Qui and Deana Saukam–taste and style visionaries known for their originality and playfulness–will serve as honorary chairs for the 17th annual Garden Party. The duo joins this year’s featured artist Lance Letscher, whose dynamic and textural artwork will set a vibrant tone for the evening. Infusing their signature touch into details large and small, Qui and Saukam along with Letscher, will elevate the 2015 Garden Party to dynamic new heights.
Like all of their ventures, Qui–noted restaurateur and winner of “Top Chef Season 9”–and Saukam–media and events director at qui and at all five East Side King locations–will take a hands-on approach, uplifting the garden party’s modern, one-of-a-kind spirit. “Paul and Deana are trailblazers and we’re excited to see how their creativity will translate into the Garden Party,” says Nina Seely, executive director of the UMLAUF.
“We’re also so pleased to be honoring Lance Letscher, a local, internationally acclaimed artist whose work brings an amazing vibrancy to the event, perfectly complementing Paul and Deana’s energy,” she continues. Inspiring the look and feel of the evening, Letscher will unveil V, a colorful and vivid collage that will be up for bid during the event’s live auction.
Each spring, sights, sounds, a wealth of delicious food from top restaurants across the city and fine wines curated by Twin Liquors, along with hundreds of guests, transform the garden into one of Austin’s most bustling parties. But this year, Qui–a master at sculpting perfectly executed dishes–and Saukam, with her irreproachable style, will help heighten every aspect of the evening. Combining the trendsetters’ impeccable attention to detail with their expertise in entertaining, Qui and Saukam will lend their hands to special details and surprises throughout the night, working closely with this year’s event chair Ashley Holt and co-chair Leah Lee.
Proceeds from the Garden Party will go toward the UMLAUF’s outreach and educational programs. Tickets will become available late February and can be purchased online at umlauf-sculpture.ticketbud.com/gardenparty. Individuals and companies interested in becoming sponsors can contact Kristen Evon at gardenparty@umlaufsculpture.org or 512-445-5582, ext 102.
About Paul Qui
Paul Qui is the recipient of the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest 2012, and winner of “Top Chef Season 9” and the San Pellegrino Cooking Cup 2013. Qui was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 2014 Best New Chefs and Top 10 Empire Builders of 2012. In 2013, he was honored by the Texas Legislature for his work and achievements as a chef and restaurateur, and joined the prestigious ment’or BKB Foundation Culinary Council (formerly Bocuse d’Or USA).
Born in Manila, Philippines and trained in classic French and Japanese cuisine, Qui takes a modernist approach toward food, where there are no boundaries. Starting as an intern, he worked his way up the ranks of Uchi to Chef de Cuisine and later opened Uchiko as executive chef. Today, Qui is currently the chef/owner of his flagship restaurant, qui, which received the honor of Best New Restaurant in America, 2014 from GQ magazine. He is also the co-founder and chef/owner of East Side King, a group of Asian-inspired street food trailers and restaurants in Austin.
About Deana Saukam
Deana Saukam, an Austinite since 2000, is the co-owner, partner, and media and events director at qui and East Side King. She is known for her bright, fun, and fearless style and her chic designs can be seen at qui through the staff’s signature color-block aprons. Juggling events, appearances, press and opportunities for her fiancé, Paul Qui, she is often jet setting across the world to Alaska, Hong Kong, New York, Japan and Spain, among other places. Fueled by her passion for food and fashion, along with her energy and charisma, she is a constant impetus for the success and growth of Qui’s empire.
About Lance Letscher
Lance Letscher is known for his poetic, often playful collages–made out of found objects, like old letters, newspaper clippings, books, recipes and album covers–which are then cut and crafted into fascinating patterns and textures. Letscher has an eye for harmonizing color, and the familiarity of his materials adds to his work’s broad appeal. By using everyday materials, to which almost everyone can relate, Letscher taps into viewer’s emotions and memories.
A skilled colorist and abstractionist, Letscher’s growing international reputation has landed him solo shows in England, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. In 2009, the University of Texas Press published his monograph “Lance Letscher: Collage.” Letscher, whose art resides in collections at the Austin Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and numerous corporations, has been reviewed in Art in America, Harpers and several Texas publications.
About the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum
Founded in 1991, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established around a vast collection of work by American sculptor Charles Umlauf who donated his home, studio and 168 pieces of sculpture to the City of Austin. The property was then transformed into a sculpture garden and exhibits the work of the prolific artist.
The museum’s mission is to provide educational experiences that encourage understanding and appreciation of sculpture in a natural setting through workshops, classes, tours and exhibitions.
2014 marked the expansion of the museum’s initiatives, including the connection of the museum to the residence and studio of Charles Umlauf as well as the update and extension of the museum’s educational and public programming, benefiting the Austin community and visitors from across the world.
With the recent signing of a 100-year agreement with the City of Austin, the UMLAUF is positioned to continue serving tens of thousands of visitors annually, as well as further its adult and family programming. The public/private partnership will allow the museum to address crucial needs through its art-in-education outreach for at-risk youth and provide touch-tours for visually impaired and special needs guests.
