This week offers up many unique creative events, including the first installment of The Big Slide Show at Lawndale Art Center and an immersive multimedia performance at DiverseWorks for the closing of their current group exhibition, into the midst of things.

Thursday, July 20

The Big Show at Lawndale Art Center

The Big Slide Show at Lawndale Art Center

At 6 pm, join Lawndale Art Center (4912 Main) for a series of presentations by more than a dozen artists who are featured in the institution’s annual juried exhibition, The Big Show. Each artist will give a brief, informal presentation about their work, providing additional insight into their creative practices. This will be the first evening of three featuring artist talks, with additional artists presenting on July 27 and August 3.

Friday, July 21

Fazal Sheikh, “Pramila Satar (“Lover”), Vrindavan, India,” 2024

Gallery Tour — Homelands and Histories: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

At 2 pm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet) presents a gallery tour of Homelands and Histories: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, which celebrates the museum’s major acquisition of 75 photographs spanning the artist’s career. Sheikh has traveled the globe, capturing images of the displaced and marginalized in countries such as Afghanistan, Africa, Brazil, Cuba, India, Israel, Pakistan, and Palestine. The 45-minute tour, which is free with museum admission, explores the exhibition and encourages visitors to experience the artwork together. An additional tour will take place on Saturday at 3 pm.

Saturday, July 22

Words and Art: Writing Workshop at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 1 to 2 pm, join the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose) for a writing workshop. Using prompts, group discussion, and creativity, patrons can use stories and poems to delve deeply into JooYoung Choi’s works featured in the exhibition A Better Yesterday. The workshop is free and open to all writing levels.

“Public Trust” by Paul Ramírez Jonas at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 1 to 5 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present “Public Trust,” an interactive artwork by Paul Ramírez Jonas. The piece asks museum visitors to examine the value of a word by declaring a promise, the words of which are recorded in a drawing that is shared with them and posted on a marquee board alongside similar pronouncements made by notable figures from the week’s headline news.

Ai Weiwei, “Colored Vases (detail),” 2024–10

Lecture — WITNESS: Garth Clark’s Journey through the Ceramic Art Revolution at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

From 4 to 5 pm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will host a special lecture from Gary Clark, co-presented with the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Clark, an influential voice in the field of international ceramics, will offer up a unique multimedia presentation encompassing the seminal revolutionary moments for ceramics since 1970. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Performance — Situation Mixtape at DiverseWorks

At 6 pm, DiverseWorks (3400 Main) will present Situation Mixtape on the final evening of their current group exhibition into the midst of things. Artists Regina Agu, Peter Lucas and Adrienne Perry will present a live collage of words, images, films, sounds and music from a wide variety of sources, shifting the gallery’s atmosphere and interacting with the exhibition’s themes of place, origin and limbo. The performance is free and open to the public.

Screening — The Rocky Horror Picture Show at River Oaks Theatre

At midnight, join the Royal Mystic Order of Chaos at River Oaks Theatre (2009 West Gray) for one of their raucous performances alongside the screening of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come in costume and make sure to pick up one of their “Rocky bags,” complete with everything from rubber gloves and toilet paper to party hats and noisemakers. Tickets for the event are $11 and you should probably arrive early to grab a good seat.

This week presents a number of unique arts events, including a live music and dance performance at Nicole Longnecker Gallery and opening receptions at the Houston Center for Photography, Samara Gallery and the Galveston Arts Center.

Wednesday, July 12

Artist Town Hall: How to Get Your $#!+ Together at MECA Houston

From 6:30 to 9 pm, Art Takes Action Houston will host an artist town hall meeting at MECA (1900 Kane) that will feature a panel of organizers from the activist community. Panelists, which include Maria Jimenez, Daniel Cohen, Elle Church and Andrea Greer, will discuss ideas, strategies and their experiences with community activism and protests. The event will also feature a performance by Stephen Wilson and Matthew Ramirez of local zine Found Me and beer from Saint Arnold’s Brewery.

Thursday, July 13

Performance — Group Acorde at Nicole Longnecker Gallery

At 7 pm, Nicole Longnecker Gallery (2625 Colquitt) presents a collaboration with Group Acorde to present a live music and dance performance in the gallery space. Performers Roberta Paixao Cortes, Thomas Helton, Lindsey McGill and Seth Paynter will draw inspiration from the setting and audience to produce an intimate performance for all in attendance. Tickets are $20 at the door and there is an additional performance on Friday at 7 pm.

Friday, July 14

Elysia Crampton

Elysia Crampton Lecture and Paraspace Books Event at Private Eye Gallery

From 5 to 8 pm, Private Eye Gallery (1540 Telephone) is hosting an event featuring an exhibition curated by Paraspace Books, as well as a lecture at 6 pm by experimental electronic musician Elysia Crampton. Crampton, who is known for exploring Latinx culture, queer identity and South American spirituality, will speak on the “legacies of abolitionist feeling and resistance through an elaboration of Andean notions of spacetime, specifically from an Aymara cosmopraxis.” The exhibition from Paraspace Books will feature works by Ángel Lartigue, Maureen Penders, S Rodriguez El x Shopnonhuman, and syncletica.

Opening Reception — 35th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition at the Houston Center for Photography

From 5:30 to 8 pm, the Houston Center for Photography (1441 West Alabama) will host the opening reception for the institution’s 35th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition. Juror Dr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography in Tuscon, selected 50 artists from 210 entries submitted from across the globe. Juror remarks begin at 6 pm, and there will also be an artist talk on Saturday at 11 am as part of the programming for the exhibition, which will be on view through August 27.

Maria Bordelon-Nelson, “Mixed Couple”

Opening Reception —  Maria Bordelon-Nelson: Carved and Woven Souls at Samara Gallery

From 6 to 8 pm, Samara Gallery (3911 Main) presents the opening reception for Carved and Woven Souls, a solo exhibition from Houston-based artist Maria Bordelon-Nelson. The exhibition features many of her sculptural works, which incorporate delicate movements with textural finishes and color. The exhibition will be on view through August 12.

Performance — Improvised Music featuring Joe Hertenstein at Vinyl Edge

From 7 to 9 pm, Vinyl Edge (239 W 19th) is hosting an evening of improvised music with a performance by New York-based percussionist Joe Hertenstein, who will be accompanied by Danny Kamins on saxophone and Victor Hernandez on bass. The performance is free to attend and beer will be provided.

Saturday, July 15

Artist Talk — Current Residents Vivian Chiu and Jenna Wright at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

At 3 pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Main) will host talks with the institution’s current resident artists Vivian Chiu and Jenna Wright, who will discuss the artistic process of working as craft artists and will explore the artists’ works of art, influences, processes, and materials. After the talks, patrons are encouraged to speak with the artists and explore their studios.

Eric Pearce. Courtesy of Galveston Arts Center

Opening Reception — Abhidnya Ghuge: Changing Perspectives and Burning Bones Press: Collective Pulse at Galveston Arts Center

From 6 to 9 pm, Galveston Arts Center (2127 Strand) is hosting the opening reception for two exhibitions in conjunction with PrintHouston. Abhidnya Ghuge’s exhibition Changing Perspectives  transforms disposable paper plates into immersive installations using wood-block printed patterns inspired by Indian henna designs, the microscopic world, and the current cultural landscape. Burning Bones Press, a printmaking studio in the Heights, presents Collective Pulse, a cross-section of many of the members of the artist collective featuring a variety of print media, including etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, screen prints and monoprints. The exhibitions will be on view through August 20.

Gio Chamba — a Latin-fusion duo composed of Gio Chamba on guitar and vocals and Coffee Guzman on percussion — is known for creating sounds that span from cumbia to hip-hop. The duo is teaming up with Corpus Christi’s Príncipe Q, nephew of late Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla, for the first single from their debut album TEJAS. The energy-filled track, “Flamin’ Hot Chido,” showcases these artists’ love for Texan cumbia, rock n’ roll and beat-heavy jams.

Charged with Gio’s Latin rock guitar melodies and Coffee’s high-powered conga action, their upcoming debut album TEJAS presents a dynamic partnership between Texas-based producers who aim to blend club styles like trap, moombahton and hip hop with tropical melodies ranging from Colombian cumbia to mid ’60s boogaloo.

Shot at Smither Park, a feature of local landmark The Orange Show, the video for “Flamin’ Hot Chido” was filmed, directed and edited by Quite Frankly with visuals provided by Alex Ramos. Check out the video prior to the album release show for TEJAS on Friday, August 4 at The Secret Group (2101 Polk) as they perform alongside acts Príncipe Q and Latin Grammy nominated producer/DJ El Dusty.

In 2024, Damien Echols was exonerated and released from prison after serving more than 18 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. During his time in prison, Echols dedicated much of his energy to creating art, specifically in the forms of sigils, symbols he created that kept him “from completely collapsing in the face of death and torture.” Echols’ installation at Day for Night, “Crimson Lotus,” uses these forms — crafted from programmed LED lights — to explore the world of sigils and expand their contemporary understanding.

Don’t miss our interview with Echols as he discusses the concepts behind his light-based installation.

This week presents a number of exciting creative events, from a screening of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s avant-garde film El Topo to a new exhibition of works by Iranian-born artists at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Tuesday, June 27

Summer Preview at JWB Studios

From 6 to 9 pm, JWB Studios (551 N. Shepherd, Suite 272) is hosting their Summer Preview, which features three collaborative collections. JWB Studios presents four benches created along with local shop Sultana’s Daughter, Hiyme Brummett presents six custom-made bags in collaboration with Mariya, and Positive Healing Vibes presents ten hand-crafted caftans created by Hiyme and Alexandra Brummett. The event will also feature a DJ set by Houston’s Fat Tony.

Thursday, June 29

Tai Chi by the Reflecting Pool at the Rothko Chapel

At 5 pm, head to the Rothko Chapel (3900 Yupon) for a Tai Chi class held on the Chapel grounds near the reflecting pool and Barnett Newman’s sculpture “Broken Obelisk.” The class is suitable for beginners as well as those experienced in Tai Chi. There is a suggested donation of $10 for those who attend.

Saturday, July 1

Shirin Allabadi, “Miss Hybrid 3,” 2024

Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Through works of art by Iranian-born artists spanning three generations, Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians presents the multifaceted histories and identities of Iranians today. Opening at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet), the exhibition sheds light on the rich heritage of the Iranian people during a period of social and political unrest. The exhibition will be on view through September 24.

Closing Reception — Anthony Suber: Ritual Redux at Cindy Lisica Gallery

From 2 to 4 pm, Cindy Lisica Gallery (4411 Montrose) will host the closing reception for Ritual Redux, a solo exhibition from Houston-based artist Anthony Suber. The exhibition presents a series of new paintings that draw from the visual vocabulary of African diaspora and contemporary American experience. The event will feature an artist talk as well as “Griot Gospel,” a performance in collaboration with Suber and dancer/choreographer Walter Hull.

Opening Reception — Grayson Chandler: Tautologies & Memoirs at Deborah Colton Gallery

From 6 to 8 pm, Deborah Colton Gallery (2445 North Blvd.) will host the opening reception for a solo exhibition by local artist Grayson Chandler, Tautologies & Memoirs. Born in Houston in 1994, Chandler presents the perspectives of a young artist who is fascinated by the intrinsic order and beauty of nature. The artist illuminates the border between real and imaginary, forcing viewers to explore the boundaries and dichotomies presented therein. The exhibition will be on view through August 19.

Screening — El Topo at Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park

At 10 pm, join Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park (531 South Mason) for the screening of El Topo, an exploration of ’60s avant-garde cinema from acclaimed director Alejandro Jodorowsky. The film, full of Latin American symbolism, chronicles the exploits of a master gunfighter and cosmic mystic as he sets out to do battle with four sinister rivals. Tickets are $10.

Sunday, July 2

Paper sculptures from Jesse Lott

Paper Workshop with Jesse Lott at 14 Pews

From 2 to 5:30 pm, join renowned local artist Jesse Lott at 14 Pews (800 Aurora) for a workshop that demonstrates a number of techniques he utilizes in the construction of his sculptural paper works. Lott is known for his visionary sculpture, paper figures, and works on paper made from found materials. The class requires participants to bring a range of heavy-weight recycled papers, and additional materials will be provided at the workshop. The class is limited to 15 participants and tickets are $50, with all proceeds going directly to the artist.

This week brings in a variety of arts events around the city, including screenings at Blaffer Art Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Summer Solstice celebration at the Buffalo Bayou Cistern.

Wednesday, June 21

Discussion — Brown Bag Gallery Talk with Beverly Barrett at Blaffer Art Museum

From noon to 1:30 pm, join the Blaffer Art Museum (4173 Elgin) for a gallery talk led by Beverly Barrett, Lecturer in Global Studies at the Bauer College of Business, to discuss the work by The Propeller Group in their current exhibition. Barrett will explore the subjects presented in the works by the art collective, whose projects are deeply rooted in Vietnamese history, politics and everyday life. Bring your own lunch to keep the conversation going following Barrett’s presentation.

Summer Solstice at the Cistern with Bayou Buddies and Art Crowd

From 6:30 to 8:30 pm, celebrate the Summer Solstice at the Buffalo Bayou Cistern (105 Sabine) with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s young professionals group, Bayou Buddies, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Art Crowd. Tickets are $20 for non-members and admission includes the opportunity to view Rain, the current light installation at the Cistern from artist Magdalena Fernández prior to its closing on June 25, as well as complimentary wine and beer from Saint Arnold Brewing Company and a set from DJ Felix.

Friday, June 23

Discussion — Art at Noon with Tony Aucoin at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From noon to 1 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present a discussion with licensed clinical social worker Tony Aucoin as part of the programming for the museum’s exhibition A Better Yesterday. Aucoin will discuss the works in the exhibition and how they relate to shame, sexuality, relationship issues and identity development, and a light lunch will be provided afterward.

Saturday, June 24

Tom Stoddart, 2024, Lesbos, Greece

Discussion — ACT NOW! A Refugee Forum at FotoFest International

Starting at 2 pm, FotoFest International (2000 Edwards) will host a forum for patrons to learn about Houston-area refugee organizations and the locals at the forefront of refugee services. Representatives from various organizations will speak about their work, the needs of Houston’s refugees, and how locals can help. Participating organizations include Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, IEDA Relief, The City of Houston Office of New Americans and Immigrant Communities, and more. The event is in conjunction with FotoFest’s current exhibition, The Annenberg Space for Photography’s REFUGEE, which highlights the works of five international artists and their work with refugees around the world.

Screening — AK-47 vs M16, The Film at Blaffer Art Museum

Starting at 5:15 pm, Blaffer Art Museum will present a screening of The Propeller Group’s AK-47 vs. M16, The Film, a feature-length montage edited together from various sources, including Hollywood films, promotional videos, documentaries, news footage and YouTube clips. Portrayed as storied rivals, the story’s main characters are the AK-47 and the M16, historically used by opposing forces in the Vietnam-American War, illustrated through these varied clips.

Screening — Chasing Trane at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Starting at 7 pm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet) will screen Chasing Trane, an inspiring new documentary that celebrates the life, work and cultural impact of jazz icon John Coltrane. Following him from his childhood in the Jim Crow South, young life and fatherhood, struggles with drugs and alcohol to his personal and artistic growth in the 1960s, the film also features interviews with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, Bill Clinton, Common and Cornell West. Tickets to the screening are $9 and there will be an additional showtime on Sunday at 5 pm.

Free Press Houston: How did the idea to make a full length film come about and what inspired the script?

Justin Petty: It was around 2024. Joey and I had been making comedy shorts as The Straight Guys for several years at that point and I don’t think we ever officially called it quits, but there had been a general feeling within the group that we wanted to try something different. I was nearing 30 and the idea kind of originally came about with me looking at that and trying to make sense of what it means to be a grown 30 year old man, mainly because I certainly didn’t feel like I had any right to call myself an adult. That and the idea has always been interesting to me that there is a communication barrier between people that interact everyday simply because they are so wrapped up in their own personal stuff, or simply don’t care. I had recently watched the film Wrong by Quentin Dupieux [Mr. Oizo] and its awkward, surreal tone kind of struck a chord with me and, while very different from what we ultimately ended up with, it acted as fuel for this 15 page short film I wrote. I went through the script over a few beers with Joey and Richard, the other guys in The Straight Guys. The result of that was them basically saying, “This is a good start but what happens next?” From that point, I just kept writing pages and sending them to Joey. I had never intended to write a feature. I wanted to ease into bigger projects with a short film we could push into festivals, but Joey kept pushing me to write more and to see where this story took us. I ended up with a lot of pages. Well over 2 hours worth. In the end, we slimmed it down to around 90 pages and it had become a vastly different thing than what we started with.

Joey Graham: Please forgive us for The Straight Guys. But yeah, I was kind of done with internet sketch comedy around the age of 30 as well, and wanted to do some other things. I liked the peculiar vibe of his thing Justin wrote so I just kept pressuring the hell out of him to finish it. Still am really….there’s a few more things to do to finish the movie.

FPH: How long did it take to complete?

Petty: Writing the script took about a year and a half with about 9 different drafts in total. Shooting took another year and a half and post production has taken us a little over 6 months.

Graham: Ugh. Too long. Luckily my beard didn’t go completely gray.

FPH: How did you find locations to shoot in Houston?

Petty: I went into this project knowing if we were going to realistically be able to make a film, we had to work around what was available to us. So much of the film takes place in residences, parks and yards. We would just kind of come together as a group and talk about connections and friends who had interesting looking houses or access to fun locations and go from there. We did a bit of scouting for some of the outdoor scenes and scoped out a few parks around Houston. We tried to see what we could get away with quickly in public with a small crew while not drawing too much attention to ourselves.

Graham: Yeah. We utilized the Houston Film Commission a bit. But mostly just talking to people. We only did super illegal shit for one scene.

FPH: Can you tell me how you found the actors?

Petty: The original short was written with a specific friend in mind as lead, but as I started developing the characters and fleshing out the story more, I realized we needed to go in a different direction. Our lead, Adam Edwards, had been a friend of ours for a while and worked with us periodically some music video productions. I don’t remember the specific moment we decided Adam was right for the role but we both kind of realized he was the only person who could play Dave. There could be no one else.

Graham: I told JP, Adam had the most emotive eyes, and the most free time. That’s like 80% of acting. A lot of the other casting was just cherry picking people we love from past comedy shorts or music videos. We had produced a few of Fat Tony’s music videos, so we had to bring him in as the talking mime. We had done a few videos for The Suffers so we snuck Kam Franklin in as a phone operator. And so on.

FPH: What are your plans for a release?

Petty: Our goal is to hit the festivals hard in the fall. We’re planning on submitting to various Texas festivals for sure but who knows. Depending on the budget we have to work with after the fundraiser, we’d like to get it in as many festivals across the country — world? — as we can afford. The more audience members we can get in front of this thing, the happier we’ll be. We don’t have any official plans for an actual release yet, but we’d like to see where the festival circuit takes us and go from there.

Graham: Festivals aren’t what they used to be for indie film. But a true indie like this doesn’t really have a ton of other options. It’s a movie about a mattress store owner, not a documentary on Mattress Mack…which probably has, uh, some sort of built in audience.

FPH: How can people see it?

Petty: We’re currently doing an IndieGogo fundraiser to support the cost of our festival entries where you can buy a ticket to our private cast and crew screening on June 26th as one of the perks. We’d like to do a few more test screenings around Houston to feel out how the film is received… maybe make some minor changes along the way, but we don’t have anything officially planned yet.

Graham: Yeah. Come to the screening. It’s a really weird movie. Bring drugs.

FPH: How does it feel now that it’s completed?

Petty: This thing has been a labor of love for us for several years now and it feels super weird that we’ve finally gotten here. 4 years ago I never could’ve imagined we’d be sitting here with a completed feature film and it kind of amazes and terrifies me. It’s real and now people are going to ingest it. That’s crazy. The hard work of so many people have gone into this and it’s kind of a small miracle when any film reaches completion in tact, let alone one that was funded out of pocket and was made on nights and weekends over the course of multiple years. I want to thank everyone that sweated for this thing to exist.

Graham: Justin stole my small miracle line. This thing has driven me crazy, and it’s equally crazy to be done. I can go back to living a normie life after this. Thank God.

Check out the trailer for “Nothing Really Happens”

This week presents a number of experimental sound performances, opening receptions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Jonathan Hopson Gallery, and a screening of international short films at the Aurora Picture Show.

Wednesday, June 14

Screening — Architecture of Family at Aurora Picture Show

At 8 pm, the Aurora Picture Show (2442 Bartlett) presents Architecture of Family, a selection of contemporary international short films that explore the connections and constructs of family and community through memories, spaces and places. Curated by Mary Magasmen, the program includes work by Amy Jenkins, Sasha Waters-Freyer, Lenka Clayton, Thomas Gleeson, Lisset Mendoza, Allison Hunter and more. At 6:30 pm, Urban Harvest will host a potluck dinner in the garden and guests are invited to bring their own meat or veggies for grilling. Admission is $10.

Thursday, June 15

Screening — An Evening of New Films from Israel at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 6:30 to 8 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose) presents an evening of films by Tel Aviv-based artists, both well known and up-and-coming, curated by CAMH director Bill Arning. Arning will provide introductions to each of the films with stories about meeting each of the chosen filmmakers.

Friday, June 16

Edward Eberle, “Cylinder”

Opening Reception — Edward Eberle Retrospective at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

From 5:30 to 8 pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Main) will host the opening reception for the first career retrospective of work by Pittsburgh-based ceramic artist Edward Eberle. For three decades, Eberle has pushed the limits of porcelain with a prolific body of work, ranging from classically inspired vessels to deconstructed sculptures. Comprised of over 40 works, the show highlights the evolution of Eberle’s forms, from the mid-1980s to present. The exhibition will be on view in the main gallery through September 2.

Opening Reception — Annie Evelyn: Multiple Impressions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

From 5:30 to 8 pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft will host the opening reception for Multiple Impressions, a solo exhibition of recent work by Annie Evelyn, the furniture maker at HCCC. The installation invites visitors to experience her craftsmanship first hand by taking a seat on her pieces, crafted from alternative materials like aluminum and cement. The exhibition will be on view in the front gallery through September 2.

Performance — gig, draft: A Music Performance by Anisa Boukhlif, David Dove and Gabriel Martinez at the Houston Center for Photography

From 6 to 7:30 pm, the Houston Center for Photography (1441 West Alabama) presents an improvisational music performance in conjunction with the institution’s current exhibition Louviere + Vanessa: Resonantia. Anisa Boukhlif will present field recordings, David Dove will perform on trombone and electronics, and Gabriel Martinez will play on prepared electric bass, objects and electronics, all working together to create a unique, improvised composition.

Performance — Lean, Bleak at Alabama Song

From 8 to 11 pm, Alabama Song (2521 Oakdale) will host another installment of Lean, Bleak, an ongoing experimental music concert series that allows artists to present their work across various practices, including improvisation, noise, poetry, dance and composed song. Performances will include works by Justin Jones/Gabriel Martinez/Ronnie Yates, Parham Daghighi/Joe Wozny, Andrew Durham/Megan Easley, and Ryan Edwards/Ruth Langston/Rebecca Novak. Admission is $5.

Saturday, June 17

Public Trust at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 1 to 5 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present Public Trust, an interactive artwork by Paul Ramírez Jonas. The piece asks museum visitors to examine the value of a word by declaring a promise, the words of which are recorded in a drawing that is shared with them and posted on a marquee board alongside similar pronouncements made by notable figures from the week’s headline news.

Sunday, June 18

Bradley Kerl, “English Garden,” 2024

Opening Reception — Coyote at Jonathan Hopson Gallery

From 1 to 5 pm, Jonathan Hopson Gallery (904 Marshall) will host the opening reception for the group exhibition Coyote. The exhibition, which features artists who were all either born or living in Texas, presents works that are imbued by the spirit of the state. Artists include Bradley Kerl, Debra Barrera, Julie DeVries, Lauren Moya-Ford, Erin Joyce, and Jessica Ninci. The exhibition will be on view through July 30.