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Your weekly guide to Houston: Five (plus) don't-miss events, professional sexy burlesque show included

January is back with a vengeance with events that have me scratching my head as I try to schedule my artsy adventures. With so much on the calendar, this week's suggestions only cover a slice of what's keeping Houstonians off their couches and out on the streets.

So here we go. My suggestions include a concert with beer, criminal shadow puppets, girls with hot boxes, tunes of today and a shopping event brimming with local goodness.

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra presents "Beer and Brass"

La Traviata's "Brindisi" (the first line of which translates to "Let us drink from the goblets of joy") and Don Giovanni's "Finch'han dal vino" (do you need more intel than there's vino in the title?) are just two quick examples off the top of my head that pretty much tell you that drinking and classical music are bros.

While I can't vouch that those selections are on tap for ROCO's "Beer and Brass" sudsy musicale, the friendly brass quintet — no brassholes here — will perform tunes, some of which have been arranged by ROCO violinist Lorento Golofeev, that encourage brotherhood (fine, sisterhood also) and merriment over Saint Arnold Brewing Company brews.

The skinny: Thursday, 6 p.m.; Saint Arnold Brewing Company.; individual tickets start at $35.

BooTown presents Death and a Roller Coaster

It's hard not to shake my head when info on a BooTown show comes through my desk. Only because this creative troupe always does something unexpected. Such as using shadow puppets to tell a story of murder, pyromania and thrill rides that's set in a small Texas town. Lots of new talent is featured in this second installment of BooTown's River bottom Series.

The skinny: Through Jan. 24; various locations; performances are pay-what-you-can, $10 suggested ticket price.

Society for the Performing Arts presents the Hot Box Girls

You better hurry up and snatch tickets for this sassy number as many sections are already sold out. And who would be surprised by this show's popularity? It's top-notch sexy burlesque, after all, a genre that's as in vogue now as it was during the Roaring '20s.

Founded by Texan Rebecca Greenstein, this provocative group gets intimate with the audience (but not that intimate).

The skinny: Saturday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; Jones Hall; tickets start at $63.

Musiqa presents "Myths and Legends"

If you'd rather experience something that's more today and now, then Musiqa is your ticket to present-day art experiences with a strong local connection. As in many of the avant garde presenter's performances, concert goers can expect world premieres that resonate with 21st century zeitgeist.

Without going into too much detail about the program (which you can peruse here), know that the high caliber, thoughtful compositions are appropriately matched with performers who give it their all on stage. It's why Musiqa continues to win awards from Chamber Music America, ASCAP and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The skinny: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Hobby Center for the Performing Arts; tickets are $20 - $40.

"Pop-Up in the Park" benefiting Evelyn's Park Conservancy

Some of us are suffering from retail therapy withdrawal now that the December shopping frenzy is bye bye, particularly with the myriad pop up markets that offered great buys from local merchants during the holidays. Get your fix now with the 2015 reprise of Evelyn's Park Conservancy's "Pop-Up in the Park" event that features vendors such as Cuteheads, ZayZak Designs, A to Zen Meditation, EcoFab, Tomboy Pretty, Bula Ties and Devon Center for the Visual and Expressive Arts

The skinny: Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Evelyn's Park; free event.

Staff writer and resident gourmand Eric Sandler's pick: Hey Baetender

Eric says: "Fresh off her stint as bar manager at LA's white hot cocktail bar Harvard & Stone, native Houstonian and super-talented bartender Yael Vengroff will be making drinks at two events this weekend. On Thursday, she'll be at Bad News Bar reprising the weekly "Bitters & Soda" cocktail pop-up she used to conduct at Fitzgerald's with Bad News owner Justin Burrow. On Friday, Harvard and Stone colleague Joey Bernardo joins Vengroff for cocktails made from the Pernod Ricard portfolio.

Whatever she concocts is worth drinking, so find a designated driver and catch Vengroff before she jets off her to next gig."

The skinny: Friday, 5 p.m.- 9 p.m.; Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge; drink prices TBA.

ROCO's "Beer and Brass" presents tunes that encourage brotherhood and merriment over Saint Arnold Brewing Co. brews.

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Best March Art

9 new art museum and gallery exhibits opening in Houston this month

Ernesto Neto, SunForceOceanLife (installation view), 2020, crocheted textile and plastic balls, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund

As spring returns so does a flowering of biannual, annual, and biennial art festivals and events this month. Art blooms indoors in Houston's favorite museums but also on the city's streets, parks, and even waterways. Lots of immersive art invites viewers to journey into the picture.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gets contemplative, and the Menil Collection displays some rare recent gifts. If that’s not enough art for one month, FotoFest celebrates a big anniversary, and the yearly “Night Light” art party heads downtown.

“Global Visions – FotoFest at 40” programming across Houston (March)
Marking four decades of photographic arts and education programming in Houston, this 2026 FotoFest looks back on key works and themes from the 20 previous biennials between 1986 and 2024. With participating art galleries and museums around the city offering special photography exhibitions over the next several month, FotoFest will feature more than 450 artists from the United States and 58 countries. Curated by FotoFest co-founder and former artistic director Wendy Watriss and FotoFest executive director Steven Evans, with co-curators Annick Dekiouk and Madi Murphy, “Global Visions” will explore some of the previous festival themes including geography, identity, war, ecology, and social change, while also celebrating FotoFest’s global reach and impact. Look for auctions, tours, conversations, art walks, and workshops as part of the programming.

“Buddha/Nature: Five Dialogues on a Shared World” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now through May 10)
Ancient and contemporary art converse in this extraordinary new exhibition at the MFAH that explores key teachings of Buddhism centered on how we engage with the natural world. The exhibition is organized crossed five thematically focused galleries, including Samsara, Impermanence, Karma, Compassion, and Awakening. Each gallery features one of five ancient Buddhist sculptures from the Xuzhou Collection, a private collection of Buddhist masterpieces, along with works by international and Texas contemporary artists.

“This exhibition brings ancient Buddhist sculptures into dynamic dialogue with contemporary art,” explains Hao Sheng, consulting curator to the MFAH and organizing curator of the exhibition. “These sacred objects take on new resonance when paired with modern works that explore fundamental questions about existence and harmony. As we witness shifts in our natural environment, we are invited to reflect on the impact of our collective choices in order to achieve a deeper understanding of our place within a changing world.”

“Blooming Wonders: A Celebration of Spring” at Artechouse (now through May 31)
The Houston venue that acts as a greenhouse for art, science, and technology to grow together, Artechouse, brings back this hit exhibition from last year.To explore themes of growth, renewal, and sustainability, “Bloom wonders” showcases several dynamic installations, including “PIXELBLOOM: Timeless Butterflies,” a 270 degrees projection space that puts visitors in the middle of a butterfly cloud. Audiences journey with a flock of butterflies into an immense garden of flowers. In another immersive space, “BloomFall: Through the Infinite” guests enter an mirrored infinity room full of shifting floral dimensions. The installation, “Akousmaflore et Lux” creates a very different type of garden where plants transform into musical instruments. “Clay Pillar” invites visitors to sculpt new forms using clay and a little help from an AI program.

“Ernesto Neto: SunForceOceanLife” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now-September 7)
Immersive art gets elevated as the MFAH brings back this commissioned installation that had museum goers walking on air. Looking something like a giant starfish or spiral galaxy from underneath, Ernesto Neto’s singular work floats above almost the entirety of Cullinan Hall in the Caroline Wiess Law Building. One of the largest crochet works to date by Neto, the sculpture consists of yellow, orange, and green materials hand-woven into a myriad of patterns and sewn together in a spiral formation. Visitors can enter this rising labyrinth and wander through different sections filled with soft, plastic balls underfoot that move with each step. Once they reach the center of work, they might pause to view the piece from within the art and reflect on their own journey through “SunForceOceanLife.”

“Ernesto Neto created this site-specific piece as a tribute to the life-giving forces of the sun and the ocean. Inspired by crochet, which he learned from his grandmother, the piece transforms this traditional Brazilian craft into a massive, enveloping structure that engages the body and the mind,” remark Mari Carmen Ramírez, Wortham Curator of Latin American Art on the return of the monumental installation.

True North 2026 along Heights Boulevard (now through December)
Once again, art grows on the Height Boulevard esplanade with this annual outdoor sculpture exhibition sponsored and partnered by the nonprofit Houston Heights Association. The outdoor show features the latest work of some stellar Texas and Houston artists, including Hans Molzberger, Suzette Mouchaty, James D. Phillips, Roger Colombik, Mark Nelson, Robbie Barber, Jim Robertson, Keith Crane/Damon Thomas. Since the artists don’t always install their sculptures on the same days, True North is always an artful excuse to make time for a walk along the boulevard to see what new work has popped up. This beloved tradition is once again thanks to an all-volunteer team, along with the Houston Heights Association in cooperation with the City of Houston Parks and Recreation and Public Works Departments and the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

"Rebel Girl" and “The Vanguard” at Houston Center for Photography (March 12-April 12)
Just a few days after International Women’s Day, HCP continues their historic commitment to championing women’s photographic careers as they present two exhibition exploring the complexities of female identity. “Rebel Girl” exhibits the work of Luisa Dörr, Selina Román, and Jo Ann Chaus, artists whose work challenges convention while questioning stereotypes and illuminating the evolving roles and perceptions of women today. For “The Vanguard,” HCP executive director, Anne Leighton Massoni, went through their archives and selected the work of 20 trailblazing women who exhibited at HCP within its first 20 years. Taken together their work illustrate the diversity of women’s artistic visions and creativity.

“The Gift of Drawing: Cy Twombly” at the Menil Collection (March 27-August 9)
Perhaps as a nod to the Menil Collection being the home of the only permanent retrospective exhibition of 20th century pioneering artist, Cy Twombly’s, work, last year the Cy Twombly Foundation made an extraordinary gift of 121 of Twombly’s drawings to the institute. Now art lovers around the world will get to see some of that landmark gift, as the Menil Drawing Institute presents this exhibition featuring 30 of those works. Covering three decades of the artist’s activity, from the 1950s to the 1980s, the show will feature work created by Twombly’s use of a broad range of materials, from graphite to oil paint; techniques such as drawing and collage; and themes that are fundamental to his entire practice, such as classical antiquity, eroticism, and nature. Some highlight of the exhibition will be a series of lush and unrestrained landscapes from 1986 that verge on pure abstraction; two untitled works from 1970 that are related to the artist’s “blackboard paintings” on view in Cy Twombly Gallery; and Narcissus, 1975, a collage of paper, with oil, charcoal, and wax crayon on paper. None of these works have been exhibited in the U.S. before.

“Night Light” at Allen’s Landing at Buffalo Bayou Park (March 28)
The annual free festival of video art along Buffalo Bayou moves west this year from its usual setting along the industrial and residential landscapes of the Buffalo Bayou East trails to Allen’s Landing in downtown Houston. The concrete bridges and underbellies of the major city freeways that emerge from watery bayou depths become the canvases for three site-specific installations from some of Houston most innovative video and multidisciplinary artists. Co-presented by the Aurora Picture Show and Buffalo Bayou Partnership “Night Light” puts the spotlight on new works from artist, designer, and engineer, Corey De’Juan Sherrard Jr.; video, installation, and performance artist and Rice professor, Kenneth Tam; and award winning collaborative duo Hillerbrand+Magsamen. And it wouldn’t be an outdoor Houston event of any kind without food, so expect a lively night artisan market hosted by East End District and BLCK Market at East River featuring local vendors and food trucks plus tunes from DJ Gracie Chavez.

Bayou City Art Festival Downtown at Sam Houston Park (March 28-29)
Downtown Houston continues to sprout art everywhere, as the last weekend in March also heralds the biannual Bayou City Art Fest in Sam Houston Park. Showcasing art from 250 creators from around the country, the festival always brings a wide selection of paintings, prints, jewelry, sculptures, and functional art at all price levels. Fest goers also have the opportunity to meet the art makers and hear the stories behind the art. This year’s featured artists is Lijah Hanley, a digital photographer from Vancouver, WA who first found his place behind a camera lens when he was 13. Along with a day of art, a ticket includes live music all day long on two stages, roaming performers, exciting kids areas with interactive crafts, and culinary arts demonstrations.

$Ernesto Neto, SunForceOceanLife (installation view), 2020, crocheted textile and\nplastic balls, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the\nCaroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund$