Silver Stars

Silver Cup luncheon shines spotlight on tireless Dallas arts champions

The Arts Community Alliance, more commonly known as TACA, switched things up for its 41st annual fundraising luncheon. Chairs Jennifer and Peter Altabef and Carol and Don Glendenning moved the event from its longtime home at the Hilton Anatole to The Fairmont in downtown Dallas, and hundreds of philanthropists and arts champions followed.

The Regency Ballroom was filled with supporters, as well as representatives from the 48 arts groups that benefit from TACA's efforts and have received grants this year — including pianist Don Ambrose, who performed during the welcome hour.

Besides enjoying a tasty lunch, the crowd was there to honor Margot B. Perot and J. Davis Hamlin as they were bestowed with this year's Silver Cups. Founded in 1976 by arts advocate and former mayor Annette Strauss, the TACA Silver Cup is awarded each year to one man and one woman who contribute richly to the cultural fabric of the community through their devotion to the arts.

Perot is a former board chair of the Dallas Museum of Art, vice chair at the Dallas Symphony Association, and an advisory board member at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. She was appointed to the Texas Commission on the Arts by Governor Bill Clements and served for Texas Women of the Arts. Many of Dallas' finest institutions and organizations, such as the Dallas Opera, the United Way, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Perot Foundation, and UT Southwestern Medical Center, have been generously supported by her advocacy and philanthropy.

Hamlin has been a longtime supporter of the performing arts in Dallas, including the Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. In addition to his support of arts organizations in Dallas, Hamlin is very active in St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, where he supports the Music Ministry among many other church programs. He also serves as a board member for Jubilee Park and Community Center, a catalyst for community renewal for this 62-block neighborhood in southeast Dallas.

"As much as TACA's mission is focused on the future of our arts community, we honor meaningful traditions like our annual Silver Cup Luncheon," said Wolford McCue, Carlson president and executive director of TACA. "Each year we gather to recognize two individuals who've enriched our lives through their devotion to the arts. Margot Perot and J. Davis Hamlin are unequaled champions of our city. Their contributions enrich our lives each day, and we are thrilled to honor them as our 2019 TACA Silver Cup recipients."

Last year's Silver Cup recipients, Julie K. Hersh and Donald J. Stone, presented the awards to Perot and Hamlin.

Emcee Lee Cullum peppered the program with personal anecdotes about the honorees and the speakers, who included Mayor Mike Rawlings, 2008 Silver Cup recipient and JPMorgan Chase chairman Elaine Agather, and TACA board chair Michelle Thomas.

In addition to a performance from the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and its jazz combo, featuring award-winning (and 18-year-old) cellist Bryan Han, the audience was treated to an original work by performance artist Will Richey. Titled Dallas: A Glimpse of Our Soul, the piece combined movement from Iv Amenti, vocals from Richey and Alejandra Gomez, percussion (the doumbek, to be precise) by Jamal Mohamed, indigenous American drone flute by S-Ankh Rasa, and violin from his two daughters, Aissatou and Kaira Rasa.

Since its founding in 1967, TACA has worked to establish North Texas' cultural community as one of the strongest in the nation. Its mission is to champion artistic excellence in performing arts organizations and encourage innovation, collaboration, and engagement through financial support, stewardship, and resources.

Margot Perot

Photo courtesy of TACA

Margot Perot

A Glittering Celebration

Christine Baranski brings Hollywood sparkle to Dallas luncheon

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

The Omni Dallas Hotel shimmered in ruby tones on November 14 as more than 950 supporters gathered to celebrate a milestone four decades in the making: the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Ruby Anniversary Luncheon.

The afternoon blended Hollywood sparkle — courtesy of award-winning actress Christine Baranski — with heartfelt tributes to the visionary women who sparked a movement in Texas 40 years ago.

The annual luncheon, one of the region’s most significant events advancing women and girls, raised an impressive $840,000. More than $112,000 of that came in during the program itself, underscoring the energy in the room and the urgency of the mission.

TXWF used the occasion to announce a landmark figure: a cumulative $115 million in impact since its founding in 1985. That number includes nearly $90 million in grants to organizations serving women and girls, as well as more than $25 million invested in research, advocacy, and leadership initiatives designed to shape long-term change.

Board chair Cris Zertuche Wong opened the program by welcoming seven of the Foundation’s 11 living founders, who also served as the event's honorary co-chairs: Susan Shamburger Bagwell, the Honorable Harryette Ehrhardt, Catalina E. Garcia, Frances Griffin-Brown, Helen LaKelly Hunt, the Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, Madeline Mandell, Patricia Meadows, Gwendolyn Oliver, CoYoTe PhoeNix, and Rebecca Russell Sykes.

Their presence cast a powerful through line from 1985 to 2025, reminding guests how a collective of 19 bold women stepped across differences in background, beliefs, and political leanings to create an organization with the singular purpose of supporting Texas women and their families.

Wong also recognized former Foundation leaders and Ruby Anniversary co-chairs from across the decades: Gail Griswold and Brenda Jackson representing the 1980s; Laura Estrada, the 1990s; Helen Frank, the 2000s; and Shonn Brown, the 2020s.

TXWF president and CEO Karen Hughes White spoke to the road ahead, noting that while the founders’ vision remains timeless, the challenges facing Texas women have grown more complex. “It will take all of us to create meaningful, lasting, systemic change that levels the playing field for women and, in turn, creates a strong and vibrant Texas for all,” she said.

Throughout the luncheon, guests were treated to archival video clips of the founders recalling how they built TXWF from scratch: the meetings held around kitchen tables, the spirited debates, the shared belief that change was not only possible but necessary.

Brown then honored each of the 11 living founders, as well as those who have passed, noting that their collective voice will be further amplified in a forthcoming 40-story collection documenting TXWF's history.

The afternoon’s featured guest, introduced by Target executive and event sponsor Sabrina Thomas, was the incomparable Christine Baranski, the Emmy and Tony-winning actress of The Good Wife, Cybil, and The Gilded Age.

In an onstage conversation moderated by former board chair Caren Lock, Baranski charmed the audience with stories from her upbringing in Buffalo, New York, where she grew up in a working-class Polish American family. She spoke of perseverance, discipline, and dreaming big, qualities that carried her to Juilliard and ultimately into a celebrated four-decade career spanning television, film, and theater.

As the luncheon drew to a close, the mood was equal parts celebratory and forward-looking. Forty years in, the Texas Women’s Foundation continues to push for equity with the same passion that fueled its founding.

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

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