Art and Design Converge in The Study

The table was set for 40. Stevie Wonder seamlessly transitioned into Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five in the DJ’s turntable. Top-shelf tequila flowed, burning candles filled with atmosphere with bergamot and teak, and sumptuous floral arrangements punctuated a whitegold, crystal and gold table-scape.  

One thing was clear: Jacqueline Levine and Sarah and Saba Jawda understand just how to throw a party.

The prior is a Houston-grown, L.A.-based urban legend who uses the moniker JALE; the latter, with a group of stylish sisters behind full size H-Town design company Jawda+Jawda.

The most likely trio joined forces to offer “The Study,” a temporary space at 7800 Washington that homes the collaboration between Levine and the Jawdas’ vacation pop-up shop.

The mixed-use space, a fresh acquisition by programmer Levcor–based and fronted by Levine’s father, Larry–will finally house loft offices, furniture showrooms and also a restaurant in Houston’s urban center. The project is presently leasing tenants to get an early 2018 move-in.

For the time being, though, its corner area is now home to the pop-up envisioned, pre-Harvey, by Levine and the Jawdas. Their vacation shop is open every day from 11%–seven p.m. through December 23.

Constructed in 1960, the 66,000-square foot red-brick warehouse was formerly home to The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company–better called A&P, the now-shuttered grocer. Nowadays, it’s decidedly industrial smart; imposing, 19-foot ceilings and concrete floors function as foils to glistening white fixtures adorned with vibrant artwork and lively merchandise.

On opening night last Monday, Levine and the Jawdas hosted a dinner celebration nothing short of glamorous. Guests cheered new beginnings with “The Pink Panther,” a grapefruit-heavy cocktail made with Casa Dragones Blanco tequila, a dinner host along with Montrose restaurant Riel. Chef Ryan LaChaine served diners corn gnocchi, snapper and a peanut butter cake with honey and milk ice cream.

Before the dinner, Sarah Jawda believed everyone could still stand to loosen up.

“Shots?” She called, to that black clad waitstaff almost immediately descended on seated guests, armed with plastic cups of tequila.  

The identical lively attitude imbued the rest of the space. Brilliant, cartoonish characters adorn Levine’s artwork, googly eyes and technicolor monsters populating static, phone examples and even clocks.

Artists in their own right, the Jawdas’ aesthetic can be found anywhere from Saba’s epic modern abstracts to closely curated shelves–every block its vignette styled with items like Dian Hanson’s “The Big Butt Book” (exactly what it sounds) and styled prints from Jawda+Jawda’s “Veritas” greeting card line. Simple, bold graphics offer such witticisms as “will the bridges I burn off light the way” and “my love is conditional.”

Much like missives were plastered on hand-poured soy candles from Manready Mercantile–including, adroitly, “it’s lit.”

The night ended as celebratory since it started when servers introduced Larry Levine having a birthday cake topped with firecrackers.  

He remembered an inquiry from his business partner about 7800 Washington: “What would you think about us purchasing it and making it into something very awesome?”

“We started speaking about it, and we bought it,” Levine said, “and we are gonna make it into something awesome.”

Manready Mercantile

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source http://www.artingerdesigns.com/art-and-design-converge-in-the-study/