On Jan. 11, The Starlite welcomed Lauren Lunsford for the second annual RainBowie night. RainBowie is a tribute celebration of the life of David Bowie.

The Starlite hosts the event because, according to Lunsford, “It’s the Starlite, the Starman, it’s the perfect location and it adds a little Ziggy Stardust vibe to the night.”

The idea for the event had come to Lunsford after an Ihloff Fall Show, where she was dressed to look like Bowie. Since the Ihloff show, RainBowie has become Lunsford’s alter ego. There is a relational significance in the date that the event takes place. The event takes place on the Saturday following Bowie’s birth and death date, because his birth was Jan. 8 and his death was Jan. 10.

Lunsford grew up watching Bowie in her favorite childhood film, “Labyrinth,” and her inspiration only has grown since then. Lunsford understands that many individuals felt inspired by Bowie and shared a great loss after his passing.

Lunsford has been a face and body painter since 2004 and uses her artistic skills during the celebration at The Starlite. This year there were around 100-150 patrons in attendance of RainBowie, which caused the event to move into the larger dance room of The Starlite, while Lunsford did her face and body painting work on patrons in the smaller room. There was no cover fee for the event and though there were not any food trucks present, there was a man that came to The Starlite several times throughout the night to sell food to the patrons of RainBowie.

Lunsford is currently working with her students at the Owasso Ram Academy to create an art project on Bowie and says she has been considering collaborating with other artists for RainBowie 2021. These collaborative considerations are for a second face painter and an art show for artists that love Bowie as much as Lunsford and the event’s patrons do.

For more information about RainBowie 2021, contact The Starlite at (918) 701-0274.