The silent auction is reopening! After an issue led us to close the auction during the Gala, we’re reopening bidding through Thursday, October 22, at 8 PM CT. Thank you for your patience and for showing up for Houston artists. There’s still time to bid and support what we’re building!

On October 15, we launched the inaugural I’m With You Gala at Houston’s historic Eldorado Ballroom. It started when I asked my friend, Houston musician Sara Van Buskirk, how I could help them launch their new album. Sara’s answer stuck with me: “If I need a resource, I want to become a resource.”

So instead of building a one-time fundraiser around one artist, we started asking a much bigger question: What would it look like if communities had the power and infrastructure to decide what art gets to exist and thrive? And what if artists actually felt held and resourced by the communities around them?

The more I talked about the Gala, the more political that question felt. Public funding for the arts is being stripped away, while an increasingly consolidated industry asks artists to prove their financial value before anyone will invest in their work. Meanwhile, corporations and algorithms have enormous power over what reaches us in the first place.

But art shapes what communities imagine is possible. I want US to have a say in what gets made, whose work gets amplified, and what survives. So we’re building a different model: each year, I’m With You will put real resources behind a local artist, while continuing to build the infrastructure to support whoever comes next.

And because none of us wanted this to feel like a traditional fundraiser, we made one hell of a night out of it: dinner by Lucille’s, an open bar, Sha Davis, Rachel B*tchface, and Sara and her band... all inside one of the most storied music rooms in Houston.

If you want more independent art in this city, help us keep creating the conditions for it. Browse the auction, place your bids, and be part of what comes next.

Auction bidding closes Thursday, October 22, at 8 PM CT. 🌹

I'm With You Gala

If you need a resource, become a resource.