Art

Houston lights up again for East End park art festival

Houston's Tony Marron Park is set to undergo major renovations at the end of this year. But before then, Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Aurora Picture Show are throwing one last big art fest at the east side park.

Called Night Light, the festival features several visual artists who have created site-specific light installations that will be projected throughout the park on the evening of April 6. It's a continuation of Houston's long-standing embrace of light and space artists, from James Turrel

Another Houston museum may be without a home

A leasing agent for the property at 3121 San Jacinto St. confirmed that the museum was moving out but provided no other information. Officials with The Printing Museum (TPM) did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment on the future of the institution. It's unclear whether the museum, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, is relocating again or closing for good. The property has been listed for lease since the middle of December.

The news comes just a few days after another Hou

Houston's famous Art Car Museum will close for good in April

The closure was announced in a statement posted to the Art Car Museum's site. "Discussions are in progress with local and regional arts organizations to continue and evolve the Art Car Museum's presence, legacy, and mission in the future. The details of those discussions and plans will be shared further as and when they take shape," the statement read in part.

Art Car Museum officials did not respond to emails from Chron last week inquiring about the future of the museum. However, the statement

MFAH's house museum tells the story of 1950s Houston high society

The museum, which is owned by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, first opened in 1999 during the Azalea Trail, the biennial garden tour and fundraiser hosted by the River Oaks Garden Club. Pictures from the opening show Houstonians lined up down the home's long drive and around Kirby, waiting for a chance to tour the museum and its iconic gardens.

The story behind Rienzi follows two threads, according to Christine Gervais, director of the museum and curator of decorative arts at the MFAH. The fir

Revving up: Houston Art Car Parade schedule, grand marshals announced

The Orange Show announced the official schedule for Art Car Weekend earlier this week. Brock Wagner, founder of Saint Arnold Brewing Company and a longtime supporter of Houston arts, will serve as Grand Marshal for the parade. World-renowned sculptor David Best, known for his large-scale templates made of recycled wood at Burning Man, is the Orange Show's 2024 Artist in Residence.

As part of his residency, Best will be constructing a new work called "Houston Temple," a 12-by-12-by-24-foot struc

'Wild' new MFAH exhibit showcases modern art's colorful origins

In 1905, painter Henri Matisse invited young Parisian artist André Derain to join him in the French fishing village of Collioure. Inspired by the exquisite light of the Mediterranean, the two men spent the summer painting, sketching and creating other artworks that would change the course of art history.

That brief moment in time—just nine weeks—is the subject of a new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston called “Vertigo of Color,” opening Feb. 25. During that summer, both Derain and Mati

Upcoming dance performance finds inspiration in Houston billboards

A new dance performance at DiverseWorks will make use of props including giant tarps, ladders, ratchet straps and even a 1970s-era overhead projector to explore themes of physical labor, fatigue, and the way we define art.

Called "In Tarps I Trust," the solo performance is inspired by dancer Laura Gutierrez's father, who works as a billboard painter. Gutierrez will use tools that were frequently present in her childhood household "focusing on their awkward and imposing nature, before gradually

MFAH explores Black American identity through collage in new exhibit

Artist Howardena Pindell was dining with her father at a Southern cafe as a child when she noticed red dots on the dishware they were using. She asked her father about the marks, who told her that the dots indicated dishes that were for use by Black customers only.

“I realized that’s really the origin of my being driven to try to change the circle in my mind, trying to take the sting out of that,” she told ArtNews in 2018.

Since then, dots and circles have been predominant in the artist's work

Meow Wolf unveils local artists for upcoming Houston location

Environmental sculptors Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, screenprint artist Carlos Hernandez, and internationally known street artist KillJoy are among the creatives selected for the Houston location of Meow Wolf, set to open later this year in the Fifth Ward.

The artists were announced during a ceremony at Saint Arnold Brewing on Feb. 15. More than 40 Houston-based artists will be partners in the immersive, experiential art playground.

Meow Wolf's first location was founded by a group of artists in S

This Houston mural is constantly changing. That's the point.

The mural is a project by Swiss artist Marc Bauer. Called “Resilience: Drawing the Line,” the work takes inspiration from graphic novels, film, art history, cable news, and other sources to depict scenes of resistance and solidarity in the face of oppression. The work is the fifth in a series called “Wall Drawings,” which the Menil began in 2018 as part of the institution's "commitment to seeking new approaches to the form and language of drawing." Previous Wall Drawings have been made by artist

Houston to host city-wide art crawl celebrating Black History Month

Houston's creative community will host a city-wide art crawl during President's Day weekend to honor Black History Month and showcase several exhibits focused on African American culture and art.

Black Art Houston, which takes place Feb. 17–19, is a collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and several other institutions, including the Holocaust Museum Houston, Sanman Studios, the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, The Reading Room HTX, Project Row Houses and more. The weekend wil

Cistern installation brings ‘Velveteen Rabbit' to life with VR

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership teamed up with pioneering New York-based artist and programmer Rachel Rossin to create the exhibit, called “Haha Real.” Musician and native Houstonian Frewuhn created the score for the installation. The exhibit opens Feb. 2 and will be on view through Nov. 10.

The Velveteen Rabbit, first published in 1921, tells the story of a stuffed rabbit toy who longs to become a real bunny. The rabbit spends his days in the company of his owner, a young boy sick with scarlet f

Former Orange Show curator, artist of Houston has died

Danny Kerschen, an artist and curator well-known in Houston's alternative art scene, has died, according to friends and family. His death was announced on Instagram on Jan. 30 by DKULTRA, the curatorial project he founded. According to his obituary, Kerschen died on Jan. 25 after a six-year battle with cancer. He was 46.

Born in Norwich, England, Kerschen was raised in Houston. He lived and worked in numerous cities and countries, earning an MFA in art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany;

Two new exhibits highlight art's behind-the-scenes labor

The first exhibit, called “Fiber In 3D: Indigo Houston,” consists of a web-like installation of rope made from recycled denim, stretching through the museum's Asher Gallery. The second, called “This Side Up,” features works of art made by art installers, preparators and exhibition fabricators. The shows opened on Jan. 27 as part of HCCC's 2024 Winter/Spring Exhibitions.

For “Indigo Houston,” Chattanooga-based artist Baggs McKelvey used 67 pairs of donated jeans to create nearly 6,000 feet of ha

Holocaust Museum exhibit highlights Black contributions to history

When Bernard and Shirley Kinsey got married in 1967, they made a pact to themselves to see 100 countries together. They were both children of educators and had grown up fascinated by historical, foreign places. For Bernard, it was the temples of the Parthenon and Machu Picchu. For Shirley, it was postcards sent to her by a beloved uncle of the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, and other landmarks.

The couple, who grew up in Florida during the tail end of the Jim Crow era, moved to California

Museum of Fine Arts Houston announces Winter Nights series

Fresh off the success of the Museum of Fine Arts' new Summer Nights series last year, the museum has announced a new slate of nightlife events taking place every week in February.

Winter Nights will give museum-goers a chance to wander the MFAH's galleries and exhibitions when it’s less crowded while also sipping cocktails and listening to live music. MFAH curators will also be on hand for each event to answer questions about the artwork. Winter Nights take place every Saturday in February from

Houston Rodeo is bringing back the drone shows

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo hosted its first drone show in 2023, featuring more than 200 programmed and synchronized drones flying above the carnival in formations such as the RodeoHouston "Howdy" logo, a bull rider and a cowgirl. The 2023 show lasted more than 10 minutes and was produced by Fort Worth-based drone company Sky Elements. Tyler Johnson, the director of operations for Sky Elements, told KHOU last year that the animations took between 30 and 50 hours to program.

This year,

'Trains Over Texas' exhibit celebrates Houston's graffiti artists

The Houston Museum of Natural Science's annual holiday display, Trains Over Texas, now includes model train cars graffiti'd by local street artists and muralists. The project is the brainchild of museum employee Manny Arciniega, whose role includes building and maintaining exhibits at HMNS. Arciniega said he's been toying with the idea of adding painted-up cars to the train exhibit for a few years. When he randomly approached HMNS director Joel A. Bartsch with the idea earlier this year, Bartsch

Exhibit tells story of neighborhood created from Juneteenth

The partnership between CAMH and HFTC was first announced in January after the organizations, along with the City of Houston and Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, received a $1.25 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The purpose of the grant was to create community engagement, artist-led activations, a residency program for up-and-coming Black artists, and to help facilitate infrastructure improvements in the Freedmen's Town neighborhood.

MFAH opens gallery dedicated to Jewish artifacts

The Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica officially opens to the public on Dec. 3. The small gallery, located near the main lobby of the museum's Caroline Wiess Law Building, currently contains about 30 items in a collection that the museum hopes to continue expanding. Though some of the items in the gallery are on loan or will be rotated out, the exhibit itself is a permanent addition to the museum.

Museum director Gary Tinterow said that when he first joined the MFAH in 2012, the mu

Massive new sculpture debuts on MFAH grounds

A colossal new sculpture by American artist Simone Leigh is being installed on the campus of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston this week, and you're likely to see it outside the museum's Kinder building the next time you drive by.

Called Satellite, the 24-foot-tall bronze sculpture evokes traditional African depictions of fertility and femininity. According to the museum, Leigh took inspiration from the D’mba headdresses made by the Baga peoples of Guinea, the ceremonial ladles of the Dan peoples

Cistern Illuminated exhibition is back at Buffalo Bayou

One of the Buffalo Bayou Cistern's most popular art installations is returning for a second year, this time with all-new interactive elements just in time for the holidays.

Cistern Illuminated will run from Nov. 25 through Jan. 7. The installation by Houston-based artist Kelly O’Brien was first conceived as a way to highlight the 1920s-era cistern's unique subterranean architecture, according to Karen Farber, vice president of external affairs for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. O'Brien, a licen

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

Giant dream-like sculptures return to MFAH with fall festival

For the second year in a row, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston will present a family-friendly fall festival featuring alebrijes, the large-scale, colorful papier-mâché sculptures inspired by Mexican folk art.

The free event will take place at the museum's outdoor sculpture garden and plaza from 1–5 p.m. on Nov. 5. Six Houston-based Latinx artists have been commissioned to create sculptures for the festival, called Dream with Alebrijes. The event will also include music and dance performances, ar
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