Interview: Jennifer Gardner and Koomah of LUCK OF THE DRAW at DIVERSE WORKS

On Friday, May 17th, in the gallery space of the MATCH facility, Diverse Works will have a fundraising event called LUCK OF THE DRAW starting at 7 pm. Broadway World Writer Brett Cullum got a chance to talk with their Deputy Director, Jennifer Gardner, and a board member and artist named Koomah. They describe the event, and it sounds like it will be a lot of fun for a good cause. 

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Brett Cullum: Tell me about your show that's coming up on Friday, May 17, at the MATCH facility in midtown. It's called LUCK OF THE DRAW.

Jennifer Gardner: LUCK OF THE DRAW is our only fundraising event of the year, so it's exciting and very important. It's the first in-person fundraising event of this kind that we've done since 2019. The pandemic forced us to go online with LUCK OF THE DRAW in 2021. 

We invite hunndreds of artists to participate and create and donate small works of art. And the artists we work with are multidisciplinary. They're from across genres, and each of those works of art is sold through a drawing.

Each one is $200. And so, when your number is drawn at the event, you rush and choose the artwork of your choice. So there's a little bit of competition among the attendees, and Koomah is on our board, and is also one of the participating artists. So I don't know if they wanna say something.

Koomah: I love this event. I just put this out there, and I think that is a difficult thing to explain to people. There is a wall, an entire wall of these small art pieces. I think there are six by nine.

And so when the event starts, there's this “mingle gnosh” time. And so you can chat with other people. There are artists and recognizable people from around the community. But people also get a chance to kind of preview the art. And so people get their eyes on certain pieces that they want, and there tend to be certain pieces that everyone wants, right? 

As the event really gets going, there's a big lotto raffle barrel that we pull numbers out of. And so when people's numbers are called, it's not just like, Oh, number 17, and you walk up. No, it's Number 17, and people scream and run to the wall and try to grab a piece, and you hear people go, “Oh, no! I wanted that one!” And before anything more can happen - another number is being called, and then another number. So you're getting through 200-plus numbers through this one event. There's a lot of fast paced action and excitement that happens at this event. So it's really, really interesting. And it's a lot of fun to go to.

Brett Cullum: Is there a theme to this event?  

Jennifer Gardner: Sure. So yes. We came up with this theme of Ecosystems both referring to the creative ecosystem of Houston, the arts ecosystem and as a way to have people support that ecosystem. 

But also, over the past year we have been really working on some climate action plans and items. We've been working to develop a climate action plan that can be a model for small to mid-sized arts organizations like ourselves. We also have our upcoming exhibition in the fall, which this fundraiser will partly support. 

It is called RIVER ON FIRE, and our curator, Ashley Dehoyos is spearheading that project, it's really about climate, resiliency, and climate justice in Houston which takes as a point of departure the SAN JACINTO river fire of the early '90s. Literally the river caught on fire because of a ruptured pipeline due to flooding.

And so that's kind of the point of departure, and it will involve an exhibition of visual artists and some performance pieces. Everything we do is focused on social and cultural justice issues. But the climate is becoming big here in Houston, as you know.

Brett Cullum: Are the artists responding to the ecosystem? Is each piece going to answer that theme directly? Is that what your goal is?

Jennifer Gardner: We told them about the theme and gave them the choice, but we also did not want to prescribe any particular way that they should interpret that theme or force them to do so. But having looked at many of the works that have been coming in, people have interpreted that theme in various ways. There are many flora and fauna pieces, and abstract pieces, so it'll be interesting to see once they're all hung together. How everyone has interpreted that.

These artists are from not just Houston, but across the country, and a few are from outside of the country. Many of the artists do attend. It's for everyone to meet each other and again to be part of this community and arts community.

Brett Cullum: Where can I get tickets? 

Jennifer Gardner: There is a ticket to come in for the fundraising event. They are available on our website, which is www.diverseworks.org. The admission price is $150, which gets you the drinks and the food and supports Diverse Works. And then each art chance is $200. So, each artwork is just a flat price of $200. It's not an auction. 

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