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Monday, August 31, 2015

Revention (not Invention) at Bayou Place


Following a change in corporate sponsorship, the performance venue at Bayou Center that had been known as the Verizon Wireless Theater is now Revention Music Center.  

Revention Music Center - 520 Texas St, Houston, TX 77002

Revention Music Center 
 520 Texas St, Houston, TX 77002
Live at Bayou Place
Live at Bayou Place 
Read press release here ("HOUSTON, Aug. 11, 2015 / PRNewswire -- Live Nation Entertainment and Revention today announced a new multi-year naming rights deal to the premier indoor music theater located in downtown Houston. The new venue name is Revention Music Center.")





BELOW: ARCHIVAL PIC OF BAYOU PLACE PERFORMANCE VENUE WHEN IT WAS KNOWN AS VERIZON WIRELESS THEATER  

Former Verizon Wireless Theater at Bayou Place (archival pic)




Saturday, August 29, 2015

Downtown Street Beautification - New Banners on Milam Street



BELOW: WITNESSING THE BANNER-HANGING


New vertical banners being installed 



This is another example of street art on Milam. Unfortunately, the large mural-like paintings that were on display on the row of old buildings on the West side of the 100 Block of Milam Street have been removed. See archival pic below. Also see One Ten Milam and Blaffer Art Museum at UHD. 

One Ten Milam Building with large-mural-like paintings hung on facade 



Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Concrete Jungle and more City Hall Art:

If you fail to see the jewel in the junk, there is always City Hall itself as an object of aesthetic appreciation that has stood the test of times.

It may not be everyone's piece of tea to sip and savor, but there it is, -- ready to raise eyebrows, and spur white and gray matter activity. That opening sentence may mix metaphors, but that should be no cause for offense when it comes to commenting on demonstrative art consisting of a hodge-podge of re-purposed materials and debris.




Patrick Renner Art Exhibits 

And for those who  find themselves challenged when it comes to appreciation of abstract modern art, not to mention distilling the aesthetics from objects consisting of discarded materials and sundry items of junk, there is always City Hall itself, built with federal funds in the 1930s, and functional for decades. At least as a building.

City Hall seen from Plaza in front of Central Library
It's actually quite artistic, especially once you look at the details, the reliefs on the sandstone, and the imagery on the aluminum portals.

South Portal of City Hall facing Hermann Square 
Heads of important people that have come before, people of historic significance and of epic proportions. Nothing of the sort is evoked by the current collection of art objects on display outside, but a commentary on the post-millennial city it is nonetheless; -- especially the piece consisting of the uprooted and inverted metal poles with the chunk of concrete that went into the hole still attached. Aptly titled "Concrete Jungle". 

"Concrete Jungle" - Art work by Patrick Renner

Michael Macedo Meazell: Art work titled "Steadfast"
Michael Macedo Meazell: Art work titled "Steadfast" 
Hermann Square Park with reflection pool that does double-duty as a
bathing facility for the homeless during the scorching Houston summer. 
Like City Hall, the reflection pool has practical functionality also. It serves not only as a bird bath, but as a cooling and cleaning facility for the City's plentiful homeless. If only city leaders had the wisdom and foresight to also erect Texas Outhouses to direct the flow generated by the park's most loyal constituency in a sanitary fashion. If it is feasible in Memorial Park, and on innumerable construction sites in the Central Business District and elsewhere, why not around City Hall? 

It might even make the appreciation of the art at the park -- whether contemporary or yesteryears' -- all the more enjoyable. In the hot summer heat.  







Monday, August 24, 2015

Rusty Steam Engine cloaked in white sheets


THE NAU CENTER EXHIBIT THAT'S NOT BEING EXHIBITED 

Southern Pacific Locomotive No. 982 under wraps


The old Southern Pacific steam engine was donated decades ago and used to be parked on the shore of the lake in Hermann Park, quietly rusting away. It was only recently that it has been "gift-wrapped"; -- at its current interim resting place between the GRB Convention Center and the MinuteMaid Stadium. Presumably, it's all for good: To keep it from crumbling, while the Nau Center for Texas Cultural Heritage, of which it was to be an exhibit, is on hold. In the meantime, the conventioneers and sundry out-of-towners must be wondering what's hidden under the big white sheets.  


The tourists must be wondering what's been hidden inside 
 Southern Pacific Locomotive No. 982 under wraps 
and in limbo (above); undergoing conservation
work in June 2014 (below). 
Locomotive with scaffolding before the wrapping: Summer 2014 

ARCHIVAL STEAM ENGINE PIC 


Southern Pacific Railroad Logo on RR Bridge in Memorial Park 

Meanwhile nearby another truly historic piece - a piece of significant architecture, rather than locomotive engineering - has been demolished: The Incarnate Word Academy Building, dating from 1905. 
  
At least the old house on Nau Center grounds itself has been spared such an ignominious fate. It sits there patiently, awaiting much-needed restoration work, with a section tarped (unlike the locomotive, its cover is black) and the chimney shored up ... while the high-rise residential and hotel construction frenzy proceeds unabated nearby. 

That Old House in front of the Minute Maid Ballpark 




Friday, August 14, 2015

Historic Houston Architecture Destroyed this year (2015)


BAD SISTER ACT OF THE YEAR:  
THEY HAD THIS ARCHITECTURAL GEM TORN DOWN 
IN THE SUMMER OF 2015

Historic Incarnate Word Catholic School Building
[demolished this year] 

Facade detail 
600 Crawford St - Houston TX 77002 - Incarnate Word Academy
Old building with new school build around it prior to demolition. 
The best piece is gone, leaving a void   

THE ICONIC GLASSELL SCHOOL OF ARTS BUILDING 
IN THE MUSEUM DISTRICT 
DEMOLISHED IN THE NAME OF EXPANSION 


South facade of glass-and-concrete Glassell School of Art Building
seen from the Cullen Sculpture Garden shortly before demolition in Sep. 2015 

HCC'S MULTI-COLORED HOUSE ON ALMEDA AT ALABAMA 
DEMOLISHED IN AUGUST 2015 AFTER THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE 
CRITICIZED THE COLLEGE BOARD'S REAL ESTATE VENTURES  


In better new for historic preservation, the vintage Axelrad Building, on the West side of Almeda at the same intersection,  is being saved, and redeveloped into a beer garden.
--> Axelrad Beer Garden Conversion


Murals that we lost ... Early Houston, Love, and Hope ....


Mural at former Houston Club Building (demolished)
framing Cameron/JPMorgan Chase Park 
"Love You" mural on back side  of Midtown strip mall building on Travis St.
that has since been demolished
Wild version of East wall of restaurant/club property that used to be Mango's
on Lower Westheimer at Taft (murals framing patio area still there)
Original 2008 Obama Campaign "HOPE" mural on West Alabama
Original Obama 2008 Campaign mural on West Alabama
at the Breakfast Klub
AND ONE THAT'S FADING: THE PACMAN MURAL 

Joystix Classic Games and Pinballs 1820 Franklin St Houston, TX 77002
Mural on back wall of building that houses

Eighteen Twenty Lounge and Joystix Classic Games and Pinballs 



Eighteen-Twenty Lounge - 1820 Franklin St Houston, TX 77002
1820 Franklin St Houston, TX 77002

Friday, August 7, 2015

H-Town Murality


Diversity thru the Arts: Mural on North wall of Midtown Arts Center 
Numbers Club Mural in Montrose with faces of musicians in black and white
Looking West: The faces on the Numbers Club Wall 
Animal clinic mural with images of cats and dogs on W. Alabama
Different sorts of faces on West Alabama Clinic 
Mural on west side of Sacred Heart Tattoo Studio on Lower Westheimer Rd at Taft Street
Girl on grass on Taft Street at intersection with Westheimer 
Walk signal at corner of Westheimer and Taft - El Tiempo Cantina - Mural in background
Mural-gazing while street-walking in Montrose 
High End Bear 
Elongated dog mural on East side of wall at La Grange Bar in Montrose
The long hot dog in the grass, with tattoos, heading South  
Adorned walls of Gaslight Company Tatoo Studio on Lower Westheimer / Montrose
Assorted animals, black & white bird gazing West