On Saturday night, in addition to seeing the final performance of the final edition of Houston’s favorite musical comedy, we attended a fundraiser for Spacetaker, Houston’s best online arts resource. (Fair disclosure: we wrote the back-end code for Spacetaker, and serve informally as chief technical advisor — but we wouldn’t do that if we didn’t think it was awesome.)

The fundraiser was at the home of Lester Marks, perhaps Houston’s most prominent living art collector. His home is essentially a gallery; a huge percentage of the space is given over to art installations. A Basquiat hangs over the fireplace; a Dan Flavin installation adorns an upstairs corner. There were several Joseph Cornell boxes on the walls. That’s just the beginning.

On the wall next to the kitchen, though, were these two quotes. We think they say volumes, so we wrote them down.

First, this from Glen Gould:

The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity

And this, from Dominique de Menil, perhaps Houston’s all-time champion art collector:

Stored away, objects remain inert. Art of the past, like art of the present, needs attention and love to become alive. We are familiar, by now, with the famous statement of Mark Rothko: “Art lives by companionship.”

Yes. And thank God for people like Mr Marks, who have the means and the passion to patronize local and regional artists, and then open their homes for events like this. And thank God in particular for the whole idea of Art in the wake of events like those of the last week or so. Art lifts spirits, challenges ideas, fuels dreams, and reminds us of beauty and the pursuit thereof. Art enriches us all. It won’t save anyone from a Ninth Ward rooftop all by itself, but it is part of what makes any human place worth protecting and rebuilding, especially one as steeped in it as New Orleans or the Mississippi Coast.