Celebrate the arts as a vital force honoring heritage, inspiring imagination and bringing community together.
Join us for a special fundraiser where art, history, flavor, and imagination meet, inspired by The Quest to Dream II: A Rare Collection of the First Printed Don Quixote Illustrations. This special exhibition features original works by more than 28 local artists, each reimagining Don Quixotethrough their own creative lens, drawn from Cliffe Killam’s personal collection.
The evening opens with a conversation moderated by Laredo Center of the Arts Vice Chair and Art Acquisition Committee Chair, Melissa Amici with Cliffe Killam, Maite Gomez-Rejón, and Bobby Gonzalez. They’ll reflect on why Don Quixote—often called the world’s first modern novel—still resonates today, with its timeless themes of imagination, idealism, and the search for meaning in a changing world. The discussion will also explore how traditions of food and wine crossed oceans and mingled with Native ingredients, landscapes, and rituals to shape new cuisines and identities along the Rio Grande.
Guests will then enjoy Don Quixote–inspired tapas, view the exhibition, and take part in a hands-on printmaking workshop.
MENU MAY INCLUDE:
Montadito de Alubias Con Chorizo
Ensalada de Tomate, Manchego, Perejil y Ajo
Cantimpalito Salchicha en Vino Tinto con Migas
Potaje de Garbanzo, Col y Manchego
Gazpacho con Berenjena Asada
The fundraiser supporting the Laredo Center for the Arts (LCA) and celebrate the arts in Laredo and South Texas. Proceeds will help further LCA’s mission to promote, encourage and support multi-disciplinary arts in our community, while also funding a pivotal initiative: the Art Acquisition Project, which is designed to build a collection of local and regional artists work and will become Laredo’s first Museum of Contemporary Art. An inspiring space that will celebrate the creativity of our community and beyond Your support will strengthen our community’s cultural foundation, foster artistic creativity and make art more accessible for all.
By attending, you are on the exciting journey to transform Laredo’s cultural landscape. Together we can help LCA build a stronger cultural foundation, boost tourism and bring the LCA’s artistic vision to life.
PANELIST BIOS:
Cliffe Killam is President & CEO of Killam Development, where he has helped build and lead one of South Texas premiere real estate companies. With deep roots in Laredo and an eye to the future, Cliffe has been involved in helping to revitalize downtown and shape the future of Laredo.
Cliffe is a committed to volunteering his time and serving as a civic leader. He has been involved in education (from pre-primary to middle school and higher education), economic development, healthcare, technology, as well as the arts. He has championed initiatives that expand opportunities for students and young professionals in his hometown, including launching a Petroleum Engineering degree at Texas A&M International University. He also served as an adjunct professor at TAMIU. He endowed a scholarship for the children of Laredo police officers and has raised funds to expand higher education opportunities for South Texas students. He is currently the School Board President of United Day School.
Cliffe’s leadership has touched nearly every facet of community life - serving as a past Chairman of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, a member of YPO, as well as numerous active and advisory roles across the community and the state of Texas. His passion for culture, filmmaking, and creativity has also been a driving force behind downtown revitalization efforts, bringing visibility and support to artists, exhibitions, and community programs that enrich the fabric of Laredo.
Educated at Boston University and The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned both a Master’s and an MBA, Cliffe also studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain through the School Year Abroad program, an experience that continues to inspire his lifelong love of art, history, and global culture.
Today, as an influential voice in arts and downtown development, Cliffe is dedicated to building spaces and opportunities where culture, business, and community can thrive together.
Maite Gomez-Rejón is the founder of ArtBites, where she explores the intersections of art, history, and food through lectures and hands-on cooking classes at museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has appeared on the Today Show, been featured in Food & Wine and Hyperallergic, and interviewed on KCRW’s Good Food and the BBC’s The Food Programme. Her writing has appeared in Life & Thyme, Eaten Magazine, Gastro Obscura, and the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History.
Maite has curated exhibitions on the history of maize, chocolate, and Mexican culinary pioneer Josefina Velázquez de León at LA Plaza Cocina in Los Angeles. She co-hosts the podcast Hungry for History with Eva Longoria and was honored with the 2024 Latino Spirit Award by the California Legislative Caucus.
Born and raised in Laredo, Texas, Maite earned a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Grand Diplôme from the French Culinary Institute in New York City.
Bobby Gonzalez
A Native Laredoan, Roberto (Bobby) Gonzalez received a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Promotion, and Computer Science from Chicago’s Depaul University in 1997. When his studies permitted, he spent time in the kitchen of the pioneering Chicago Japanese fusion restaurant, Yoshi’s Cafe, where he was encouraged to pursue a culinary education. He received his Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from New England Culinary Institute in 1999, and his career has led him to fine-dining restaurant work at the The Jackson House Inn of Woodstock Vermont, the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas and eventually at the famed 3-Michelin Star, Le Bernardin, in New York City.
Gonzalez returned to his home town of Laredo opening El Capataz in 2011 celebrating the flavors rooted in his family and community, but also exploring new flavor horizons with influences from the Carribbean and Latin America. Opening Tabernilla in 2016 gave a nod to Spanish traditions and influences which was one of our seven flags.
As of late, a participation in the Texas Indigenous Food Project sparked an obsession with constructing a historical account of culinary and survival traditions of native peoples of our area spanning thousands of years. Along with ancient artifact analysis and the help of both local and regional geological, archaeological, and botanical experts, this story is coming together for Laredo.
$50