the art of nature

Blooming new outdoor art exhibit celebrates Houston's natural and creative worlds

The blossoming exhibit will be held at Houston Botanic Garden.

Photo courtesy of Houston Botanic Garden

To mark the one-year anniversary of its opening, the Houston Botanic Garden has planted a new exhibit in collaboration with Lawndale Art Center.

“Art in the Garden: Celebrating BioDiversity!” brings together things Houstonians love to celebrate, including supporting Houston-based artists, finding beauty across our wide cityscape, and heading outdoors.

Visitors can expect to see themes of biodiversity, community, and relationship on display in the site-specific installation, which will be on view from October 1 through next summer.

Pieces for the exhibit were selected by the Houston Botanic Garden Art Task Force through an open call for entries, as well as invitations to individual artists. The selected artists and their works are:

Lina Dib, “The Weather Station”
Liss LaFleur, “Mother”
Virginia Lee Montgomery, “Butterfly Birth Bed” and “Honey Moon”
Gerardo Rosales, “Tree of Life”
Jen Rose, “Texas Bee Oasis II”
Joyce Matula Welch, “Fiery-necked Nightjars”

Admission to the exhibit is included with entrance to the garden. Attendees can also expect an ongoing series of artist talks, hands-on workshops, guided twilight walks, and a children’s discovery trail for visitors of all ages and abilities, which can be found on both the Houston Botanic Garden's and Lawndale's websites for the duration of the installation.

This exhibit is designed to encourage visitors to consider a deeper understanding between our community and the natural world, especially the diversity of life and beauty within it, according to a press release.

It also dovetails with the missions of the two hosting organizations. Houston Botanic Garden, according to a statement, “emphasizes enriching life through discovery, education, and the conservation of the natural environment.” Meanwhile, Lawndale seeks to “support Houston artists and the role their art plays in inspiring and informing the world.”

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The Houston Botanic Garden is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission to “Art in the Garden: Celebrating BioDiversity!” is $12.50 for adults and $8 for children, Monday through Thursday, and $15 for adults and $10 for children Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit the official site.

openings nature

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