Galveston has one of the oldest, and richest art history backgrounds in Texas. Houston is a bubbling metropolis featuring some of the finest museums and galleries in the country. Harborwalk is right in between these two great cities, and it sits as a perfect place for any art/history buff. With new exhibits all the time, and a staggering list of museums and galleries, you'll never get bored.
Here is a list of all of the local hot spots, and need-to-know places at Harborwalk:
Incorporated in 1986, the Galveston Art Center (GAC) is as an independent nonprofit organization that presents pacesetting contemporary art in a historic building on Galveston's Strand donated by the Junior League of Galveston County.
The Galveston Arts Center is the only visual arts organization in Galveston with a permanent location, a rotating exhibition schedule with free admission at all times, and a full-time staff. Curator Clint Willour brings contemporary art from all over the state in approximately 25 exhibitions a year, offering both emerging and established artists a home here. Over 50,000 visitors annually visit GAC exhibitions. In addition, the GAC regularly tours exhibitions to other arts spaces in the state and produces award-winning publications. Willour often draws insightful parallels among the shows he installs in each of the three galleries, presenting unique ways of thinking about art.†
An island favorite for many years, Galveston Gallery offers a superb collection of items that stand out from the ordinary.
Every nook and cranny, including the stairs, of this beautifully-restored home-turned-business in the island's historical Silk Stocking district is filled with an unsurpassed selection of treasures guaranteed to delight islanders and visitors alike.
Noted for its extraordinary selection of gourmet coffees and teas, specialty foods, decorative home furnishings and antiques, Galveston Gallery also offers shoppers an eclectic array of unique gifts and gift ideas.†
The Lone Star Flight Museum is home to one of the finest collections of restored aircraft and aviation exhibits in the nation. Over 40 restored aircraft are displayed and most are in working condition. The collection includes WWII Fighters, Bombers, Liaison Trainers, and Executive Planes.
The museum is a volunteer, not-for-profit, tax exempt 501 (c) (3), educational museum, dedicated to the men and women who developed aviation to the science it is today; and, to the memory and spirit of those who flew in the defense of our country and freedom throughout the world. This self-supporting membership organization derives funds from admissions, donations and fund raising activities. No State or Federal funding is received. All donations are tax deductible within IRS guidelines.†
Founded in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is the largest art museum in America south of Chicago, west of Washington, D.C., and east of Los Angeles. The encyclopedic collection of the MFAH numbers more than 57,000 works and embraces the art of antiquity to the present. Featured are the finest artistic examples of the major civilizations of Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa. Italian Renaissance paintings, French Impressionist works, photographs, American and European decorative arts, African and Pre-Columbian gold, American art, and European and American paintings and sculpture from post-1945 are particularly strong holdings.
The MFAH collections are presented in six locations that make up the institutional complex. Together, these facilities provide a total of 300,000 square feet of space dedicated to the display of art.
The MFAH comprises:
Two major museum buildings: the Caroline Wiess Law Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe, and the Audrey Jones Beck Building, designed by Rafael Moneo
Two facilities for the Glassell School of Art: one with studio spaces for children and another with studio spaces for adults
Two house museums that exhibit decorative arts: Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens features American works, Rienzi features European works
The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, created by Isamu Noguchi†
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a non-collecting institution dedicated to presenting the best and most exciting international, national and regional art of the last 40 years. Founded in 1948, the Museum prides itself on presenting new art and documenting its role in modern life through exhibitions, lectures, original publications and a variety of educational programs and events.
The CAMH is located at the corner of Montrose and Bissonet, in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, housed in a renowned stainless steel structure designed by award-winning architect Gunnar Birkerts. Thanks to its generous donors, the CAMH is always free to the public.
Renowned for helping to define the cutting edge of culture, the CAMH’s last 15 years have seen shows by acclaimed artists Uta Barth, Alighiero e Boetti, Tony Cragg, Ann Hamilton, William Kentridge, Richard Long, Juan Muñoz, Nic Nicosia, Tony Oursler, Lari Pittman, Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Smith, James Turrell, William Wegman, and Robert Wilson, to name a few.†
The Houston Museum of Natural Science, a centerpiece of the Houston Museum District and the region's major science museum, welcomes more than 2 million visitors each year, including 600,000 school children. With four floors of permanent exhibit halls comprising over one million objects and specimens, the Wortham IMAX® Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center, Burke Baker Planetarium, George Observatory, and world-class touring exhibitions throughout the year, the Museum has something to delight every age group.†
