• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    CultureMap Video

    Graffiti finally gets its just due in Houston: Towering Midtown mural honors street art's good work

    Joel Luks
    May 31, 2014 | 2:29 pm
    Graffiti finally gets its just due in Houston: Towering Midtown mural honors street art's good work
    play icon

    Known in the street art community as Mr. D, muralist Sebastien Boileau is in the process of completing a massive installation that has the city abuzz. His newest work, dubbed the "Biggest Mural in Houston," towers over the Midtown landscape with the downtown skyline looming above its thoughtful, poetic message.

    Boileau's tremendous undertaking, titled Preservons la Creation, covers one wall of a five-story building that's visible from an empty lot on the corner of Tuam and Fannin streets. To finish the mural, he will need an estimated 500 cans of spray paint and more than 100 gallons of exterior paint to coat the 9,750 square feet of concrete bricks, which form a surface that's 160 feet wide by 60 feet tall.

    For skeptics, this superlative claim has been verified by the Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston director of cultural affairs. Cynthia Alvarado, managing director of the Midtown Management District, inspected murals around the city before the 2012 unveiling of a former Boileau commission, the Love You mural, at the time one of the largest in the city, located at the intersection of Anita and Main streets.

    Nearly doubling the size of the Love You mural, Boileau's Preservons la Creation is not only impressive in scope, but also in meaning.

    The Legacy of Street Art

    While the role of art institutions and galleries is to conserve and protect the cultural legacy of the past and present for future generations, who or what is advocating for the care of street art?

    Some may argue that the temporary nature of urban genres such as graffiti doesn't offer any practical solutions, particularly in environments where the elements themselves are a brute force that can determine the lifespan of outdoor installations.

    "When you see an impressive work of art, it's almost like a religious experience. Why not think of urban art in the same light?"

    Then there are risks associated with unsupervised premises. Street art is by no means immune to vandalism. Just last week, Boileau's Biscuit Home mural was defaced by taggers. Houston artist Reginald Adam's President Obama mural, titled Hope, was damaged in 2012 and again in August.

    But the dialogue that muses over issues of longevity, aesthetic lineage and artistic value is important in that it examines how the fate of an art form that has gained considerable acceptance over the past decade can be safeguarded — or at least remembered — despite the spirit of its humble beginnings.

    "As a graffiti artist looking back, almost everything I've done is gone," Boileau says. "What do we do to preserve this art form, which started in the 1960s and 1970s? What will be left 500 years from now? As an urban artist, most of what we do is covered up or removed."

    Boileau's Preservons la Creation blends the artist's interests in street art and Italian Renaissance culture. Although he's used a recognizable image —Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, an iconic fresco of the Sistine Chapel — Boileau's goal is not to simply replicate a significant work of the past. As one of the most reproduced images, The Creation of Adam has the advantage of being readily identified by the masses. Boileau's choice is on purpose. He wants to inspire an audience who may not be familiar with street art to discover the passion of its creators.

    "I want to encourage people to have the same type of reaction as when they go to a museum or see a cultural relic like the Sistine Chapel," he adds. "When you see an impressive work of art, it's almost like a religious experience. Why not think of urban art in the same light?"

    Noah Quiles, founder of UP Art Studio, describes Boileau's approach as Canpressionism, a combination of spray paint application in the style of Impressionism.

    "By bringing fine art to a contemporary urban setting, we are hoping to educate the public about the possibilities of street art," Quiles says. "In addition to beautifying the burgeoning Midtown area, the community-centered project is meant as a springboard to connect businesses and artists."

    "By bringing fine art to a contemporary urban setting, we are hoping to educate the public about the possibilities of street art."

    From Underground to Foreground

    UP Art Studio, an organization that champions urban art through gallery shows, art commissions and special events, joined Boileau to facilitate the management of the project. With the support of Texan French Alliance for the Arts, the mural also serves as a fundraiser to underwrite a series of children's hospital murals in selected cities in the U.S. and France.

    The collaboration capitalizes on street art's rise in popularity, in essence, as the genre moves from an underground practice into a foreground that's celebrated.

    Boileau says that he has always been attracted to graffiti's energy and the field's freedom of expression. When he relocated from Paris to Houston in 1998, he founded Eyeful Art Murals and Designs, the mission of which is to create unique site-specific artwork for the public and private sectors.

    "Just like jazz, graffiti is an American art form," he adds. "When I had the opportunity to come to the U.S., it didn't take long for me to fall for Houston."

    ___

    Sebastien Boileau's Preservons la Creation will be unveiled during an opening party on June 7 from 3 to 11 p.m. General admission tickets are $10; VIP entry costs $100.

    As one of the most reproduced images, The Creation of Adam has the advantage of being readily identified by the masses.

    Preservons la Creation
      
    Photo by Joel Luks
    As one of the most reproduced images, The Creation of Adam has the advantage of being readily identified by the masses.
    unspecified
    news/arts

    most read posts

    Award-winning Houston chef reemerges with new Memorial restaurant

    Family friendly Garden Oaks restaurant coming soon to Magnolia

    Houston haunt earns only Texas spot on Bon Appètit best new bars list

    a very fine house

    Pioneering Houston Latino folkart gallery will close next year

    Tarra Gaines
    Jun 5, 2025 | 9:30 am
    ​Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.
    Photo by Agapito Sanchez
    Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.

    It’s the end of a cultural era as Chrissie Ramirez, owner of the Heights gallery and cultural space Casa Ramirez Folkart Gallery, announced that after 40 years she will close the 3,000-plus-square-foot space on W. 19th St. at the end of the current lease period in March 2026.

    \u200bMacario and Chrissie Ramirez.
      

    Photo by Agapito Sanchez

    Macario and Chrissie Ramirez.

    Filled with traditional art, especially paintings and sculptures, the space also showcased textiles, home accessories, religious objects, clothing, literature, and antiques. But it was the husband-and-wife owners, Macario and Chrissie Ramirez, who turned this Casa into a real home for the local Latino community, as well as a cultural landmark in Houston’s art landscape. Macario Ramirez founded Casa Ramirez in 1985 to honor his father, a folk artist and part-time jeweler who had his own business in San Antonio selling Mexican crafts. Over 40 years, Macario and Chrissie's longtime support for Latino artists along with the gallery's culturally rich programming and educational outreach helped to popularize Mexican and Latin American folk art and traditions.

    Chrissie Ramirez continued her husband’s mission after his death in 2020, keeping the gallery and his life’s work going. After five years running the business, she wants to travel and lead a less scheduled live. Houstonians won’t have to say goodbye just yet, as Ramirez says they will stay stay open and continue their annual holiday celebrations and programming.

    “Casa Ramirez will continue to operate as a retail establishment and offer the colorful mix of folk art, crafts, work by local artists and focus on the vibrant culture and traditions of Mexico, Latin American and the Southwest that we are so well known for and held in our hearts for so long,” Ramirez said in a statement.

    Throughout her remarks, Ramirez recalled her husband’s pioneering cultural and civil rights work in the community and his continuing legacy in Houston.

    Prominent Texas author, analyst, radio host, and Nuestra Palabra founder Tony Diaz spoke about the cultural reach Case Ramirez had over the years. Diaz especially credits Macario Ramirez and the gallery for helping to make Dia de los Muertos such an important Texas holiday and for helping to spread understanding of its celebrations in the U.S.

    “Today Day of the Dead is socially acceptable —it’s a movie by Disney. That was not always the case,” Diaz said. “There was a moment in our history when people would see the sugar skulls that are now beloved and they would think that it had something to do with ‘other things.’ You could come to Casa Ramirez, and the street would be full with our gente who knew that it was something beautiful to preserve. And before the rest of the nation caught on, Casa Ramirez was the home for that dear celebration of ours. ”

    Though she might be retiring, Ramirez says she will keep the name Casa Ramirez for future projects and activities in other locations. She also plans to continue her cultural work, with a focus on organizing “the collection of writings, documents, and artifacts” that are part of the Casa Ramirez and her family’s history with a goal to “archive them for their educational and historical value.”

    Ramirez emphasized that Casa Ramirez will remain open until March. She will spend this time “clearing, closing, and cleaning out” the gallery, but has plans for holiday and closeout sales before shuttering the space for good. It will still host traditional annual gatherings and programs for the rest of the year, including Hispanic Heritage Month in September, the Day of the Death holiday celebrations in October/November, and Christmas and New Years programming with special guests and music events in the works. Thankfully, that means Houstonians still have plenty of time to visit and share their own memories of this extraordinary Casa.

    casa ramirez folkart galleryclosingsthe-heightsvisual-art
    news/arts

    most read posts

    Award-winning Houston chef reemerges with new Memorial restaurant

    Family friendly Garden Oaks restaurant coming soon to Magnolia

    Houston haunt earns only Texas spot on Bon Appètit best new bars list

    Loading...