Although I've never experienced a musical performance, wedding or even the light sequence at…read moreTwilight Epiphany, it's still a 5-star experience. As an art head and aesthetic enthusiast I've always wanted a Claes Oldenburg installation or architectural wonder open to the public in my city. Around 2012 my wish was granted! Located on the Rice campus, this spot has provided many a memory. Highlighting art, space and nature, this beautifully constructed, sparsely attended, and (imo) under appreciated spot is truly a standout in the community. I understand how this spot may feel ordinary to some, but between this, Rothko chapel, and Menil, all my aesthetic dreams are answered. Pro tip: This installation requires parking at the Rice Campus, and a short walk so be prepared! If you're visiting someone at Rice, St.Thomas TIRR, or the nearby hospital, it's def worth the stop in.

See the sky through a different light at sunrise and sunset…read more Twilight Epiphany Skyspace by James Turrell is part of the Skyspace series of monumental, interactive sculptures that can be found throughout the world. These works of immersive art are meant to have the viewer experience the sky and the surroundings. Twilight Epiphany Skyscape is located on a pyramid mound of earth. It is interesting to see the light sequence projected on the concrete "roof." The 40 minute light sequence starts 40 minutes before sunrise and 10 minutes before sunset. Climb the stairs to the second level seats or sit inside the pyramid. Or view the show from outside the pyramid. I think that is the better view. Look at the Moody Center for the Arts calendar to take a guided tour to learn more.

This is a cool hidden gem of a park. I love the mosaic art and it looks like Dia de los Muertos…read morecouple, a flower Man, a mermaid, a dog, a snowman, and many more. It's so cool!! While I was here I kept thinking about how much stuff was purchased at the thrift broken up and made to create beautiful unique art. I love it!! The weather was great viewing everything. I love that they placed a willow tree here since they it provides shade. The path is smooth. There are plenty of benches to sit and enjoy. I didn't see a designated parking area and so I parked on the right side, it's located on a packed street with houses on the left side. I had fun at this place!

WOW! Walking through those gates I was not expecting this beacon of mosaic magic! There was SO much…read moreto take in and the mid-November breezy, sunny skies only illuminated the beautiful details lining every inch fo the park even more. I loved most that there were so many folks there: having picnics, learning how to perfect their roller skating skills, and simply gawking at all of the gates covered in artistic, glass, and beaded masterpieces. The live music was a nice surprise, as well as the arena covered in Houston street signs. Every head turn greeted me with original and unique art ond display: speedometers, affirmations of the power of love, and even dancing mermaids and skeletons engaged in intense conversations. I loved it all! Glad that the winters are mild enough to enjoy this park all year long.

Finally made it to Houston, explored with my family and this had been on my list of places to check…read moreout. I love me a good mural with the city/place I'm exploring, so this was a MUST! We parked at the POST and walked around u til we made it to here, overall it wasn't a bad walk and it was fairly empty, two other groups taking pictures, waited a bit but not a whole lot. Definitely a place to check out if you're in Houston, TX

Drove downtown and saw this mural and thought we'd take a few pix with the car…read more We didn't realize there were a few murals around town and this one is one of the colourful murals and glad we were able to snap a few pix. Thanks and credit to the artist who worked on this project. Well done mate!

Life is too short to color inside the lines so why not go wild and explore the universe of color!…read more After visiting the NYC location, this was a must on our trip to Houston. It was a world of fun photo props rooms and cool FYI about the categories of color. You can book tickets online using their website or Instagram to reserve your day and time a lot. FYI, kids of all ages are welcome but no strollers are allowed as there are stairs to climb and go down. They have cute snack pairings like fortune cookies , taffy and ice cream as you explore each art room. I absolutely loved it and we did the entire place in about an hour. You can take even more time If you wish . Bonus: after you register inside , you keep a cool QR card to take all your photos and they email them to you after the experience! You can also use the kiosk to print your photos out for a fee . There are beverages for purchase as well ( beer, wine, water and poppi soda ) It's a must for a solo trip, date or group !

Color Factory was just ok to me. It is a bit over rated and over priced for adults; however. the…read morekids loved it but they were looking for more. It is one of those places that can easily be a one and done. There is discounted weekday price starting at $19 for kids 3-12. Something tells me the $19 is if you buy it in advance. Meaning, not the day of. I paid $25 for the kids and $29 for myself online. The photo opps are what you make of it. Like for instance I've been to places where you press a button and the confetti drops down. For this, you have to actually throw the confetti up yourself. Good luck trying to figure this out with kids if you're looking for a good photo. They were also a bit underwhelmed with it. They loved the music room, the light bright room, and the balloon room. The goodies. It was cute. I'm trying bit to give the whole experience away if you are interested in going. It is best to pay for the ice cream online as it is a bit cheaper but not by much. Those cones were cute and delicious. I purchased the photo package. It really isn't necessary as you get to download the photos from a QR code you use when snapping the pics. There is a small parking lot near to it. If you wait for the group before you to leave then you can get a spot without an issue.

Pretty cool new art piece in 5th ward. In October 2011, the Fifth Ward Jam was completed and became…read morea fixture in a small public park. Dan Havel and Dean Ruck created a similar piece that I saw years ago on Montrose called Inversion. Now, they've got another, but this one adds a little something extra to the neighborhood, a performance venue. Fifth Ward Jam is an old building, twisted as if it has been in a crazy tornado, but with a stage in the front for local music and other performances. I love that this is art but not static art... it will add to the neighborhood and hopefully be embraced as a place to gather. It's a pretty cool structure, but the park is front of it needs a little TLC. I hope to see the community embrace the space and help spruce up the green space. As we were leaving, another car pulled up and it was an older woman with 4 young children. They all got out and ran over to the structure. I guess everyone wants a little look at it. You should head on over (during daylight hours) and see it for yourself. You may even be lucky enough to catch a performance.

I stumbled upon this little park and art piece after being diverted on a detour when I-10 was…read moreclosed at 59. As I drove by, I had to make a split second decision - risk getting mugged and check out this intricate art piece or keep on driving. I took a chance, parked my car, and walked towards the wooden structure. Very cool to look at and take a picture of. It reminds me of the Montrose Funnel Tunnel (Google it if you haven't seen it!). The park itself isn't a place I would take my little cousin to play at. It's very small and the area itself still feels a bit sketchy, even though it's probably perfectly fine. I'll have to give it some time though since I have been scammed around this area years before. Overall, if you are around the area, check out this cool piece of art!

Life Living Do…read moreDoing Montrose is like No Other Montrose can handle any and ever and any and ever event. Montrose. The 'Trose

I'm writing a verse of lame prose For want of things to do,…read moreI suppose If you grab for my rainbow I suggest you aim low And then we can go out to Montrose This neighbourhood... my neighbourhood... is such a wonderful neighbourhood to live in, even if it's not such a good neighbourhood to eat in. Yelp thinks it is. Yelp is dead, dead wrong. So let me elaborate. I can't handle how obsessed the out-crowd (it's like an in crowd but with sh** taste in food) is with Montrose food, when it's really overpriced and bad, much like Brooklyn, except Brooklyn invented Brooklyn hipster food (or did San Francisco or Los Angeles, or does it matter). Innovative? Yes in a way all the way, despite copying itself, but it's not real food. It never will be. Hipster food will fade away like bad fashion, whereas real food is more often procured from a less fashionable area. See, real food that has existed for centuries and has been perfected over time, and while it will evolve and adapt and improve itself in ways, it will last forever. It's a shame that the richest group are the loudest on Yelp, on the internet, in life, and thereby influence all the other groups to follow their super-lame rich tastes, and a so those who control Yelp lead everyone to where that kind of food is... which is here, the Heights, and whatever... but some of us know what real food is. And it's not really in Montrose. With a few exceptions. Looking at you Hot Bagel Shop! So for real food, leave Montrose far behind. Try Spring Branch, Chinatown, Alief, Sharpstown (Indiatown), and so on, and so on. However, I don't like that male cats are always trying to mont Starlight. They don't even bring her flowers first. Not even a Rose. Bellaire may be the best neighbourhood in Houston for food, but when it comes to culture, Montrose has to be right up there too. It's a combination of the rich, the hipsters, and the LGBT community, with plenty of crossover of course. This makes for a very eclectic and enjoyable neighbourhood full of awesome and interesting people, although traffic can suck (but not as much as you'd imagine) and prices can be high (but not everywhere). I had the pleasure of living in this district for awhile, on and off, and it was a truly wonderful part of town to reside in. In terms of food, here are some things you must try: B & T Cafe for the best Banh Mi and Viet Iced Coffee Hot Bagel Shop for some of the best bagels, baked goods and kolaches ever - (try the Jalapeno Sausage and the Smoked Sausage) Lankford Grocery for the greatest hamburgers in Texas Niko Niko's for good Gyros Kung Fu Tea on Yoakum for Lemon Black Tea, or Teahouse if you prefer And by the way, my nickname for my equipment is "Mont", and just now, Mont rose.

Not to be confused with the Ride Wall (where you can get laid, on a wall), the Bride Wall (where…read moreyou can marry the person you get laid with), or the Crimson Tide Wall (where you can turn someone down when they want to get laid with you and cite "that time of the month"). This is a beautiful wall with rainbow colours to show you that you're in a neighbourhood that welcomes all, and discriminates against none. Homophobia is an enormous problem in the US and around the world, and we should be the pioneers of stopping it. This sort of public art is part of a big ongoing project to shut the hateful people up and put everyone in the "equal" zone that they should always have been in. Montrose is great. There are a lot of beautiful things here. I absolutely love this pride wall.

Nicely done #PrideWallHTX. Not to mention it's for a great cause, but also attracted many onlookers…read moreto this spot. Here is the story I found through David N's photo caption. http://about-online.com/featured/pride-wall-goes-up-in-montrose/ and Instagram posts https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/pridewallhtx/. I'm glad City of Houston has so many artist displays in public spaces. Oh, one more thing - no parking. I walked from a nearby business to see this wall.

The Beer Can House in Houston is one of my favorite places to take out-of-town guests because it's…read moreso unique to the city. This folk art style house, located in the Rice Military neighborhood, is covered in beer cans, bottles, and pull tabs, making it kind of a Houston landmark. The project was started by John Milkovisch, who, along with his wife Mary, saved empty beer cans for 17 years. While it may not have started as an artistic endeavor, it definitely became one. Ripley's Believe It or Not estimated that over 50,000 beer cans were used, though a more detailed count by a restoration team puts it closer to 30,000. Honestly, I don't know how many cans there are--but the sheer scale and creativity of it make the place undeniably unique and interesting. The Beer Can House is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM, and admission is free, which makes it an easy and fun stop. Walking around, you can see how every detail is covered in some form of recycled beer material. It's whimsical, creative, and just so quirky. If you're looking for something different to do in Houston, this is a must-see. It's a great mix of folk art, local culture, and a testament to how even the most ordinary materials can be transformed into something extraordinary. Love it!

Unfortunately, it was closed when I visited, but I am determined to return before my departure to…read moreexplore its offerings. The intriguing facade has piqued my interest, particularly its juxtaposition with the neighboring modern apartments.

Very cool unique place to see in Houston. Great photo op and nice story behind the park and the…read moresculpture.

Ever wish you could join Alice and the Mad Hatter for a spot of tea? At Evelyn Park, located in the…read moresoutheast corner of the park that is close to the parking lot, you now can. This amazing and incredibly detailed bronzed sculpture of the story book tea party was created by a local artist, Bridgette Mongeon, and was installed in the park back in April 2019. This structure has a 10 foot table with benches that invite you to sit for a tea party and take photos with Mad Hatter, Alice, Cheshire Cat and the white rabbit. This sculpture has so much detail from the Lewis Carroll's classic tale that you will find yourself wanting to stay as long as you can to see it. For some examples of the details, there is a bottle that says "drink me" kept in Alice's pocket. You will find a mouse in one of Mad Hatter's pockets. There are two buttons on the back of the white rabbit's jacket that has both tweedle dee and tweedle dum on them. There is also 150 hidden items that this talented local artist decided to put within this sculpture (60 of the 150 items are found under the table). I found a lot of interesting hidden items under the table, which includes the white rabbit's house and Humpty Dumpty. If only I lived nearby, I would come back here. On the day that I came here, it had rained earlier and started to rain again. But I still took photos and sat on a wet bench (which left my pants wet, lol) and wished I had stayed longer to find more of the hidden items. I would definitely come back to this sculpture the next time I am visiting the Houston area.

Very awesome collection of graffiti / street art and also mural art, and additionally an amazing…read moreplace for IG photos. Recommended as a place to check out if you are in Houston!

I was browsing for a sunrise area in Houston and found this place on Tour advisor sort of a site,…read moreso decided to explore it. Graffiti on the wall, great! But the area is so so. I read that the graffiti keeps changing with artists using it as an open gallery and lots of walls in and around have art on them, but the area needs to become something more clean ( a lottt more clean and inviting) and more... how do I put it, lets just say I would not venture there alone. The rising sun does make a great lighting for some interesting pics though.