bookish for barbara

Star sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush headline Barbara Bush's bookish affair

Sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush will co-headline the event.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation

Be it a weekly wine-fueled club, celebrated author visit, or just curling up to a nice tome, Houstonians are positively bookish these days. Now, arguably the city’s most prominent family is hosting a celebration for avid readers.

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation has announced the return of its annual event, A Celebration of Reading. Now in its 28th year, the showcase will take place Thursday, April 21 at The Post Oak Hotel and will be hosted by Neil and Maria Bush, who co-founded the organization.

This year’s event features some literary A-listers and familiar faces. The star-studded lineup, per the foundation, includes:

Brad Meltzer is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist, The Inner Circle, plus 11 other thrillers that have topped the charts. Meltzer will speak about his newest thriller, The Lightning Rod (a Zig and Nola novel) set to release on March 8.

Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, the granddaughters of Barbara Bush and twin daughters of President George W. Bush, will share some fun family stories and insight on their new book, The Superpower Sisterhood. Their new book is set to release just two days prior to A Celebration of Reading. (Jenna can be seen weekday mornings on The Today show. Barbara Pierce Bush is the board chair and cofounder of Global Health Corps.)

The Bush sisters also penned the No. 1 New York Times bestsellers Sisters First and Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life.

Alafair Burke, a former prosecutor and also a New York Times bestselling author, just released her latest standalone novel, Find Me, in January.

Dr. Rick Rigsby, an acclaimed speaker and author of Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout and Afraid to Hope, as well as a USA Today, Amazon, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author will also be on hand. His speech on hope has been viewed by over 300 million people worldwide.

Proceeds from A Celebration of Reading advance the mission of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, made famous by the beloved former first lady, who made reading and access to books the forefront of her philanthropic and social efforts.

“My wife, Maria, and I are delighted to present another outstanding A Celebration of Reading featuring some of our nation’s bestselling authors,” said Neil Bush in a statement. “We are grateful to the authors and the many sponsors who give so generously to support Mom’s namesake foundations who work tirelessly to help more children and adults have brighter futures and better lives through the transformative power of learning how to read.”

For more information on A Celebration of Reading, including schedule and sponsorship opportunities, call 346-212-2310 or visit bushhoustonliteracy.org/celebration.

books celebrities

a 14 minute tour

Museum of Fine Arts takes Houston to Paris cathedral with new virtual tour

Still image of digital rendering of Notre- Dame Cathedral, Ars Electronica.

Museum of Fine Arts courtesy image.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.” (Still image of digital rendering of Notre- Dame Cathedral, Ars Electronica.)

Lovers of art and architecture around the world mourned when a 2019 fire destroyed significant portions of the exterior and interior of Notre-Dame Cathedral, one of the most beloved landmarks in all of France. After five years of intense rebuilding and repair, Notre-Dame is set to open again this December. For those who can’t make it to the reopening, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has a very special virtual trip planned this holiday season with their just announced monumental installation, the “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.”

Set within the MFAH’s vast Cullinan Hall, this animated, 14-minute, immersive presentation will surround visitors with images of Notre-Dame, simulating the experience of walking through the medieval cathedral. Viewers will go on a virtual journey from the outside of Notre-Dame as day turns to dusk, then move into the candle-lite interiors and stained-glass windows. The immersive video will also replicate the fire and its aftermath before revealing the cathedral’s newly reconstructed spire, topped with a cross and a golden rooster, a national emblem of France and a symbol of Christianity.

“It is difficult to exaggerate the role Notre-Dame plays in the public imagination, from its iconic architecture, emblematic of the Northern Gothic style, to its magnificent stained-glass rose windows,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston director Gary Tinterow said in a statement. “When fire erupted five years ago, millions of people around the world grieved the loss of a monument that had personal significance to each of them. Happily, the cathedral has been restored, and now Houstonians will be among the first to experience the reconstructed building that rose from the ashes.”

“Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” was created by Ars Electronica Futurelab, in partnership with French start-ups Iconem and Histovery. To create a virtual 3D model of Notre-Dame, the installation uses point cloud data compiled by the late Belgian art historian and Vassar College professor Andrew Tallon, who created 3D laser scans of the cathedral in 2010 that proved instrumental in guiding the reconstruction of the cathedral as well as additional scans and 3D material by Histovery.

Over the years, we’ve come to expect perception-defying immersive artworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston every summer, but this “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” November surprise looks to be a perfect place to take any visiting art, history, or Francophile friends and family for the holidays.

The "Notre-Dame Immersive Experience" will be on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from November 23, 2024, through January 5, 2025.

Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.”

museum of fine arts houston museums notredame cathedral