Support the arts, eat some shrimp

1. Ellen Noël Art Museum

It’s an annual tradition that combines delicious seafood with a chance to show some love for the arts in Odessa.

The Ellen Noël Art Museum, 4909 E. University Blvd., has scheduled its biggest fundraiser of the year on Feb. 26 at the Ector County Coliseum and will feature a night of live New Orleans-style music, auctions and, of course, shrimp.

This will be the 32nd annual Shrimpfest, which is the primary fundraiser for the museum every year. All of the proceeds from the event go toward funding the museum’s programming, including studio art classes, community art days, the 3-D printing studio, maintenance of Sensory Garden and grounds, and classes and workshops for kids, teens and adults.

Museum officials expect about 1,000 people to eat about 1,200 pounds of shrimp cooked and served for the fundraiser. Odessans will have a wide variety of shrimp to try at the event. Aside from the main shrimp, which is cooked with a Cajun-style recipe from Pascal’s Manale restaurant in New Orleans, the event will also offer all-you-can eat shrimp pontchartrain.

The preparation for the event really begins on Sunday, when they begin making the side dishes, including bread, red potatoes and corn. The shrimp cooking begins Monday morning when they begin thawing the shrimp, and they start cooking it all beginning Monday afternoon, around five or six hours before the event actually starts.

Tickets for the event are available for $40 online at noelartmuseum.org or they can be purchased at the door for $45 each. Sponsor tables for the event are also still available, ranging in price between $1,000 and $5,000. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Ector County Coliseum, Building G, 4201 Andrews Highway.

Several exhibits are currently on show at the museum including:

• The Work of Annita Delano through Feb. 18. Delano was a leader of the modernist painting movement in California.
• On With the Show, This is it! Chuck Jones and the Animation Art of Looney Tunes through April 1. The show, on loan from the Daura Gallery of Lynchburg College includes the works of Looney Tunes artist Jones.
• Modern Frescoes: Ali Cavanaugh through May 3. Cavanaugh is an internationally represented fine artist who studied painting at Kendall College of Art and Design and New York Studio Residency Program in New York.