News

All aboard the art bus: Bayou City Art Festival puts on a solid gold preview with gallery crawl

March 7, 2011

The organizers of the Bayou City Art Festival at Memorial Park pumped up ex and current board members, fans and potential attendees Sunday with a catered art crawl to four of Houston’s galleries.

Participants were met at Capital One Bank with wine, champagne and brunch items catered by Mélange, which also set up food stations at each of the gallery stops. We boarded a charter bus to spend the day as tourists in our own city, off to the first stop at Colton & Farb Gallery. En route, long-time organizers remembered the early days of BCAF, back when it was Westheimer Street Fair, took place in a parking lot off Westheimer and Montrose and a drag show on the roof of Mary’s was one of the event’s highlights.

Now in its 40th year the juried fair invites just over 350 artists from more than 1,600 applicants.

After examining my favorite pieces at Colton & Farb, a collection of shadowboxes constructed from old TV screens, it was off to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, where a novel exhibit by Lisa Gralnick captured everyone’s attention. Called “The Gold Standard,” the artist crafted an exhibition in three parts that questions the assumed value of gold — my favorite item was a plaster cast of a face with the nose plated in as much gold as would have paid for the model’s contemporary rhinoplasty.

After yet more wine, we boarded the bus to Winter Street Studios, where we mingled in the Spacetaker Gallery before meeting painter Kevin Petersen and mixed-media artist Nicola Parente in their respective studios. Petersen is drawn to the contrast of children against gritty, urban backgrounds, while Parente is fascinated by the stop-and-go images created by the movement of a train. (Both artists will offer works at the BCAF March 25 through 27.)

Finally, but too soon, the tour ended at Vine Street Studios, where guests enjoyed a gallery talk by director Wendy Watriss, along with cheesecake lollipops, brownies and still more wine by Melange.

The Bayou City Arts Festival will run March 25 through March 27 at Memorial Park. Tickets are $12, free for children under 12 and $10 on First-Look Friday.

More News

August 24, 2023

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce that six new members have joined their board of directors. The team has eagerly welcomed

August 18, 2023

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce its newest class of residents for 2023 – 2024, a group of 11 outstanding local,

August 4, 2023

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present Max Adrian: RIPSTOP, a solo exhibition of patchwork textiles and inflatable sculptures by the Ohio-based

August 1, 2023

Tree of Life showcases sculptural objects made from the African blackwood tree, also known as mpingo or Dalbergia melanoxylon. Native to Tanzania and the territory

July 27, 2023

Two Female Artists Use Unique, Time-Honored Techniques By Saranna Zhang Craft and ceramics made by female artists are getting a new spotlight. “The Land of

June 29, 2023

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present In Residence: 16th Edition, an annual exhibition celebrating the Center’s Artist Residency Program, which has

4848 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is located in the Houston Museum District, two blocks south of Highway 59, near Rosedale St. Visitors should park in the free parking lot located directly behind the building, off Rosedale and Travis Streets, and enter through the back entrance. 

Free Admission

OPEN TUESDAY – SATURDAY, 10 AM – 5 PM

4848 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is located in the Houston Museum District, two blocks south of Highway 59, near Rosedale St. Visitors should park in the free parking lot located directly behind the building, off Rosedale and Travis Streets, and enter through the back entrance. 

Free Admission

OPEN TUESDAY – SATURDAY, 10 AM – 5 PM

Skip to content