Chron • 19th November 2023

Kehinde Wiley’s pandemic-era paintings come to MFAH

Wiley skyrocketed to fame in 2017 when he was asked to paint the official portrait of President Barack Obama that now hangs alongside other presidents in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. That painting, along with Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama, visited the MFAH in 2022. Both Wiley and Sherald were the first Black artists to paint an American president's portrait and a first lady's portrait, respectively.

But even before then, art lovers celebrated Wiley for his style of rein

Chron • 10th November 2023

Why is all of Houston getting engaged at this park?

Like many people in the early days of the pandemic, Houstonian Jay Gonzales had a lot of free time on his hands. Though he previously ran a moving business, few people needed his services, so he started looking for something new to do. Scouring social media, he came up with an idea.

He saw lots of outdoor gatherings like gender reveals and birthdays, where people were celebrating with elaborate decorations and giant lit-up letters. That led to the creation of his current business, Superstar Mar

Chron • 27th October 2023

Pride v. Pride: Longtime Houston LGBTQ organization sues upstart

The suit, which was filed Oct. 25 in Harris County, accuses the newly formed nonprofit New Faces of Pride Houston of intentionally creating confusion among advertisers, vendors, sponsors and attendees by using a similar name and logo to Pride Houston 365 to promote its events. New Faces of Pride Houston is also planning a pride parade for 2024.

The suit requests a temporary restraining order and injunctions against New Faces of Pride, preventing them from marketing their events until the case i

Chron • 26th October 2023

At CAMH’s 75th anniversary show, anything can be art

The Contemporary Art Museum Houston's inaugural exhibit, which opened on Halloween night in 1948, didn't bother with historical landscapes or marble sculptures. Instead, its six founders, an all-male group of artists and architects, focused on the art in everyday life. Presented in a gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts (as the CAMH did not yet have its own facility), the show, titled "This is Contemporary Art," featured more than 150 objects, including items like Eames furniture next to a Jacob L

Chron • 29th September 2023

Meet the man keeping Houston’s LBGTQ history alive

The book, titled 1981—My Gay American Road Trip: A Slice of Our Pre-AIDS Culture, captures the brief but promising and heady period between the Stonewall Uprising in 1969 and the AIDS crisis that began in the early 1980s, while also documenting more than180 gay bars and other gay-oriented businesses in the South that existed during that time. The story is told through the eyes of Doyle, whose diary of the trip formed the basis of his memoir.

"It was the only time in my life [I've kept a journal

Chron • 14th September 2023

Houston marker commemorates man who fled slavery in 1864

A ceremony hosted by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis to celebrate the Freedom Marker and the anniversary of Ben’s escape included a reading from Houston poet laureate Aris Kian Brown and comments from philanthropist Bill Perkins, who conceived the project. September is recognized as International Underground Railroad Month because abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman both escaped from slavery in that month (Douglass in 1838 and Tubman in 1849).

The marker will eventually

Chron • 31st August 2023

Judge pauses enforcement of Texas book rating law

A judge has paused enforcement of a new law that would require any book vendor who sells to Texas public schools to rate every publication in their stock on the basis of sexual content.

The law, Texas House Bill 900, also known as the Readers Act, was passed this spring during the state's biannual legislative session, and was set to go into effect Sept. 1. During a Zoom status call on Aug. 31, U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright indicated that he would also issue a written order in the n

Chron • 30th August 2023

Here's why a truck is still stuck in Houston's Buffalo Bayou

Easily visible from the banks of Buffalo Bayou via a small trail that branches off from the main Aqua trail and overlooks the water, the truck was first spotted in November. Kayakers have also reported paddling past the truck in the following months, and the vehicle has been vandalized multiple times with spray paint.

The truck belonged to Alejandro Torres, 29, who was reported missing by family in late November 2022. Torres was last seen on Nov. 27 near the 5300 block of Washington Avenue. On