Ogden Museum of Southern Art, with our 2026 O What a Night! Gala Co-Chairs, Suzie & Ted Bloch III, M.D, Beverly Dale and Dayna Haynie, invite you to join us for our signature fundraising event, O What a Night! The Gala will be held on Saturday, October 17 and will feature a silent auction preview cocktail reception in the historic Patrick F. Taylor Library, a seated dinner amongst a community of Southern artists and art enthusiasts, a live auction of artwork and arts-centric experiences, live music and dancing.

The 2026 O What a Night! Gala will honor Opus Award recipients: Francis X. Pavy, an internationally acclaimed, Lafayette, Louisiana-based artist, and Stacey & Michael Burke, major collection donors, and longstanding advocates and philanthropists for the art of the American South.

In advance of the Gala, a Patron Party will be held on Thursday, October 15 at Jessie and Beau Haynes’ stunning Mid-Century Modern home, a national landmark, designed by Nathanial “Buster” Curtis as his private residence, providing an exclusive preview of the live auction artwork and opportunities to engage with many of the artists.

An online silent auction opens the week of the Gala, providing art lovers the opportunity to support Southern artists while expanding their collections.

Please consider supporting Ogden Museum’s premier benefit, which provides critical funds for our award-winning educational programs and dynamic exhibitions of art of the American South.

Learn more about our 2026 Opus Awards recipients below!

About Francis X. Pavy

/// Headshot courtesy of Olivia Perillo

A lifelong resident of Louisiana, Francis X. Pavy was born in Lafayette in 1954. As a child, Francis studied art under the direction of Elemore Morgan Jr. When he was 12, Pavy was an avid photographer and set up a darkroom in the attic of his parent’s house. In college he studied music, ceramics, animation, painting, printmaking and sculpture, graduating in 1976 with a Fine Arts degree in Sculpture. In 1977, Pavy started working in a glass shop, making leaded and beveled glass windows. In 1982 he opened his own glass studio. He adopted painting as his primary medium in 1985.

Since then, Pavy’s work has been well received regionally, nationally and internationally with one-man exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Aspen and New Orleans, as well as France and Switzerland. Pavy has participated in notable group shows such as Outward Bound: American Art on the Brink of the 21st Century (traveling from the United States to Indonesia and the Middle East), Elvis And Marilyn: 2 Times Immortal (traveling from the United States to Japan), Southern Narrative Painting (Southeast U.S.) and Invites: Peintres Louisianais (Paris, France).

Major corporations such as BMG Music and Capitol Records have collected Pavy’s work, in addition to many museums and individual collectors, notably Ron Howard, Lorne Michael, Paul Simon and Walker Percy. Pavy’s work has been published in a variety of catalogs, books and magazine articles, including The South: A Treasury Of Art and Literature; Francis X. Pavy, La Musique Zydeco: The Colors of Rhythm, and Outward Bound: American Art on the Brink of the 21st Century.

Francis X. Pavy lives with his wife and two children in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About Stacey & Michael Burke

For more than four decades, Michael Burke has assembled a collection of Southern vernacular art rooted in an appreciation for authenticity, ingenuity and individual expression. Since meeting Stacey in 2005, collecting has become a shared passion, shaped by friendships with artists and travels throughout the American South and beyond.

Michael Burke, born in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1952, spent nearly 50 years working as a lighting technician in the motion picture industry. His time working on the Coen Brothers’ film “Miller’s Crossing” in New Orleans deepened his connection to the city and its art, architecture, music and culture. Stacey Kmetyk Burke, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, trained as a silversmith and operated a jewelry design company in New York for 30 years.

Their shared love of art, music and New Orleans has made collecting not simply an avocation but a way of life. The couple have now made New Orleans their primary residence and are deeply involved in the cultural fabric of the city, especially related to music, art and Carnival.

In recent years, the Burkes have donated more than 80 works by over 50 artists to Ogden Museum of Southern Art, along with 30 photographs by Herman Leonard and works by Michael Pajon, Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick. Currently on view, Burke’s Delight: The Stacey and Michael Burke Collection celebrates their vision, curiosity and philanthropy.

Coleman E‭. ‬Adler II‭, ‬Tiffany Adler‭, ‬Suzie‭ & ‬Ted Bloch III‭, ‬M.D‭., ‬Meaghan‭ & ‬Joe Bonavita‭, ‬Susan‭ & ‬Ralph Brennan‭,‬ Carlos Carmona‭ & ‬David Pine‭, ‬Paola Paoli Corrada‭, ‬Catherine‭ & ‬Chad Edmonson‭, ‬Debra J‭. ‬Fischman‭, ‬Penny‭ & ‬Todd Francis‭, ‬Monica Ann Frois‭ & ‬Eve Barrie Masinter‭, ‬Monique‭ & ‬Warren Gardner‭, ‬Tyson Geary‭, ‬Alice‭ & ‬Brodie Glenn‭, ‬William Goldring‭,‬ Daynese‭ & ‬Randy Haynie‭, ‬Alana‭ & ‬Ryan Haynie‭, ‬Jessie‭ & ‬Beau Haynes‭, ‬Deirdre‭ & ‬Christian Hooper‭, ‬Catherine‭ & ‬Jason Kuuskraa‭, ‬Catherine Makk‭, ‬Sarah Martzolf‭, ‬Matthew B‭. ‬Moreland‭, ‬Stephanie‭ & ‬Pete‭ ‬November‭, ‬Michelle‭ & ‬Field Ogden‭, ‬Roger H‭. ‬Ogden‭ & ‬Ken Barnes‭, ‬Judith Young Oudt‭, ‬Deanna Rodriguez‭, ‬Laura‭ & ‬Sonny Shields‭, ‬Nathalie Simon‭, ‬Holly‭ & ‬Geoffrey P‭. ‬Snodgrass‭, ‬Rivers Spencer‭ & ‬Guy Feltenstein‭, ‬Charles Urstadt‭ & ‬David Bernard‭,‬ Jason Waguespack‭ & ‬Jeffery Morgan‭, ‬Elizabeth‭ & ‬James Williams‭, ‬Sharonda R‭. ‬Williams‭, ‬Leslie Sisco-Wise‭ & ‬Whit Wise

O What a Night! 2025 Patron Party

O What a Night! 2025 Gala