Menil Collection closes main building for artful updates, but the shows go on

The Menil's main building is closed, but there is plenty of auxiliary programming this season.

Courtesy photo

After giving the city quite the temporary goodbye present in the form of two stellar exhibitions Thirty Works for Thirty Years and Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma, the Menil Collection’s main building closed its door on February 25 for the season. As CultureMap previously reported last summer, the main building will close to the public for updates and repairs for several months.

We’ll grudgingly forgive the 30 years young Menil Collection for closing the Renzo Piano-designed building to get a little work done on such as major birthday, especially since projects include refinishing the museum’s Loblolly pine floors, replacing non-loadbearing gallery display walls, the enhancement of interior and exterior lighting, and updating fire detection sensors.

While we await news on the new public opening date for the Menil Drawing Institute, we’ll console ourselves by enjoying the beautiful campus greenspaces whenever we need some nature therapy in the heart of Houston. The other Menil Collection building will also be open as usual, Wednesday through Sunday, including: the Cy Twombly Gallery, Byzantine Fresco Chapel featuring Francis Alys: The Fabiola Project, and Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall.

To tide us over, we’ll also be taking in some of the amazing public programming this spring. Here’s what to look (and listen) for in the coming months:

Dickie Landry Concert 
Byzantine Fresco Chapel, March 16 at 7 pm
 
Landry, a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble and a noted visual artists has been presenting solo tenor saxophone concerts and exhibitions national and internationally for decades. See and here him in an entirely new way, in the intimate space of the BFC.

Arrivals and Departures: Cage, Cunningham, and Johns
Richmond Hall, March 25 at 1 pm

 Don’t miss a rare only-at-the-Menil kind of event, as dance and visual arts combine. Former Merce Cunningham dancers Patricia Lent and Andrea Weber stage this event for the Houston Ballet, the performance includes excerpts from dances for which Jasper Johns provided costumes and decor, including Canfield (1969), Landrover (1972), Un jour ou deux (1973), and Exchange (1978), while musicians perform compositions by John Cage, including his "Inlets", "Branches," "Third Construction," "Cheap Imitation," and "Telephones and Birds."

We’ve never had such an opportunity to see some of our favorite Houston Ballet dancers so near, including Dancers are Connor Walsh, Oliver Halkowich, Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, Jessica Collado, Allison Miller, and Bridget Kuhns. Musicians include Ling Ling Huang, Brandon Bell, Craig Hauschildt, Luke Hubley, Brady Spitz, Yvonne Chen, Julia Fox, and Bethany Baxter. Required reservations for the event will only be accepted on and after March 1. Email Laura Nauert at lnauert@menil.org or call 713-525-9435.

William Middleton Double Vision: The Unerring Eye of Art World Avatars Dominique and John de Menil
Rothko Chapel, March 27 at 7 pm 

The Rothko Chapel and Menil Collection co-present this special book launch, celebrating author William Middleton biography of Dominique and John de Menil, one of the art world’s greatest power couples. The book chronicles not just their life together but their enormous influence on 20th century artists.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) 

The Menil Collection
Front lawn and façade, April 6 at 8:30–10:30 pm (Rain date: Friday, April 20, 2018)

Register your own “beamer” — a.k.a projector — beforehand at the Aurora Picture Show and join in or just come out a watch the chaotic fun as filmmakers and videographers aim their beamers on the exterior façade of the museum to create a beautiful cacophony of light and art together.

Gideon Alorwoyie and the University of North Texas African Percussion Ensemble African Music and Dance
The Menil Collection, front lawn, April 15 at 4 pm

Ghana’s foremost virtuosos of traditional music and dance, Professor Midawo Gideon Foli Alorwoyie brings together an array of dancers and musicians, including University of North Texas African Percussion Ensemble, to present traditional works from Togo, Ghana, and Benin.

concerts museums dance

welcome to houston

Musical theater veteran joins prominent Houston company

Courtesy of Stages

Stages has named Valerie Rachelle as its new associate artist director.

A Houston theater company is adding an accomplished artist to its ranks. Stages announced that Valerie Rachelle will be the company’s new associate artistic director beginning in January 2026.

For more than a decade, Rachelle has been artistic director of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, Oregon, where she oversaw artistic vision and operations. That theater specializes in musical theater performances offered in a cabaret setting.

Rachelle comes to Houston with a career spanning nearly 30 years as a director and choreographer. She has extensive experience in developing new musicals and plays for regional theaters and opera companies across the United States, including the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Sierra Repertory Theatre. She was appointed to her position at Stages following a nationwide search.

“I’m beyond thankful for this opportunity to join this incredible company, and I’m excited to be a part of a creative entity that has a strong mission and vision as Stages,” Rachelle said in a statement.

In her role with Stages, she will support artistic director Derek Charles Livingston with season planning and casting; liaise with artists, press, and staff; and coordinate day-to-day operations for the artistic department. She will also assist with crafting educational materials, direct and choreograph productions, and serve as the primary liaison with theatrical unions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Valerie to Stages in this role,” said Livingston. “I have seen her work as a director and director choreographer — she's excellent. Those skills combined with her experience as a theatre artistic director and manager only further fortify Stages' commitment to artistic excellence and community engagement.”

Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Rachelle began her career as a dancer and apprentice ballerina with the Eugene Ballet Company before earning her BFA in acting from California Institute of the Arts. She received her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine. She has held teaching and directing positions at numerous institutions, including the University of Southern California, Southern Oregon University, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and others. She has also served as a mentor through Statera Arts, an organization dedicated to gender equity in the arts.

Rachelle teaches musical theater, auditioning, and singing at Southern Oregon University when she isn’t on the road as a freelance director and choreographer. She’s also a classically trained singer and toured the world with her parents and their illusionist show as a child.

“Joining the team that has a long-standing reputation of excellence in theater is an honor,” Rachelle added.

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