XL Fortunate 500
Arts stars
People who decorate the arts social scene
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
It's not just that Rosa Rivera and Juan Miró are everywhere. It's that they supply a missing ingredient to any occasion, be it an arts gala, a board meeting for an educational group, or a City Council hearing about a public space.
Their cultural sensibilities are partly European (he's from Spain), partly Hispano-Caribbean (she's from Puerto Rico). But this happily loquacious power couple is all Austin.
They've given their money and, especially, their time and energies to Ballet Austin, Arthouse, Ransom Center, KLRU, an East Austin charter school and the Town Lake Trail Foundation, among other causes.
Their myriad contributions are all the more impressive when one considers that they work together — she's the president of Miró Rivera Architects, he's a principal architect — as well as live as a married couple with their two children, Diego, 6, and Daniela, 3, in a painstakingly renovated home in West Lake Hills.
Rosa's brother, who introduced the couple at a New York City spring equinox party in 1992, is another principal in the firm.
In conversations peppered with Spanish and outbursts of laughter, they discuss their art collection, heavy on Latin American artists, which graces every room in their house.
"Oh, we just collect what we like," says Rivera, 33.
Of their causes, she is especially passionate about the KIPP literacy project.
"We are trying to a build a bridge with the Hispanic community," she says. "I feel like it's my responsibility, to reach out, to empower people.
Miró, distantly related to Barcelona artist Joan Miró, is perhaps best know for his advocacy of public social spaces, such as plazas.
"In Europe, the government ensures that public dimension," says Miró, 41, says. "Here, it is left to the market."
Their sociability extends to the local party circuit.
"It's an opportunity to see friends and meet new people," Rivera says. "It's one of the great things about Austin. You can have so many interesting conversations in one evening."
"You get a feel of what's happening," Miró says. "You feel the real pulse of Austin that way."
Carol and Chris Adams
Zachary Scott Theatre
Ellen Bartel
Spank Dance Company, Austin Independent Choreographers
Peter Bay
Austin Symphony Orchestra
Sarah and Ernest Butler
Butler Opera Center, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin Museum of Art, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Austin, Austin Lyric Opera
Lisa Byrd and Ana Ixchel Rosal
ProArts Collective, University of Texas
Katherine Catmull and Ken Webster
Hyde Park Theatre, Refraction Arts Project Inc.
Joanne Christian
Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Harry Ransom Center, Long Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Ciccolella
Zachary Scott Theatre
Barbara Chisholm and Robert Faires
Zachary Scott Theatre, Austin Chronicle
Tana and Joe Christie
Austin Lyric Opera, Ballet Austin, Junior League, Senate Ladies Club, El Buen Samaritano, Human Rights Campaign
Jacqui Cross
Zachary Scott Theatre, Austin Playhouse
Melissa Eddy
Classical Music Consortium of Austin
Howard Falkenberg
Long Center for the Performing Arts, Staats Falkenberg & Partners
Dana Friis-Hansen and Mark Holzbach
Austin Museum of Art, Zebra Imaging, Rude Mechanicals
Sue Graze
Arthouse
Tom Green
Austin Theatre Alliance, Zachary Scott Theatre
Joan Plaster Haas and Stan Haas
Team Haas Architects, Long Center for the Performing Arts
Brent Hasty and Stephen Mills
Ballet Austin, University of Texas
Mary Ann and Andrew Heller
Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Long Center for the Performing Arts
Jessie Otto Hite
Blanton Museum of Art
Lina Husodo and James Linville
Studio H + L
Kevin Keim
Charles W. Moore Foundation
Jeanne and Michael Klein
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin Museum of Art
Rachel Koper
Gallery Lombardi, Austin Chronicle
Karen Kuykendall
Zachary Scott Theatre, Ballet Austin
Mari and Greg Marchbanks
Austin Theatre Alliance
Stuart Moulton
Austin Cabaret Theatre
Don R. Mullins Jr.
Arthouse, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin Museum of Art
Anton Nel
University of Texas
Jason Neulander
Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin Arts Commission
Bettye and Bill Nowlin
University of Texas, Austin Museum of Art, Austin Theatre Alliance, Austin Community Development Corp.
Sylvia Orozco
Mexic-Arte Musem
Arturo Palacios
Art Palace, Dougherty Arts Center
Damian Priour
Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Austin Museum of Art
Cliff Redd
Long Center for the Performing Arts
Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza
Austin Lyric Opera, Travis County District Clerk
Cookie Ruiz
Ballet Austin, Junior League of Austin, Capitol Area Food Bank of Texas
Nancy Scanlan and John Watson
St. Stephen's Episcopal School, Save Our Springs Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Sheree Scarborough
Blanton Museum of Art
Jane Sibley
Austin Symphony Orchestra, Long Center for the Performing Arts
Jare and Jim Smith
Ballet Austin, Long Center for the Performing Arts
Larry Speck
University of Texas, Lawrence W. Speck Associates
Dave Steakley
Zachary Scott Theatre
Ken Stein
Austin Theatre Alliance
Latifah Taormina
Austin Circle of Theaters
Pebbles Wadsworth
UT Performing Arts Center
Judy Wilcott and Laurence Miller
Fluent ~ Collaborative, Texas French Bread
Ann Wilson
Blanton Museum of Art
Hilary and Stan Young
Austin Theatre Alliance
