If a bustling holiday season gets too overwhelming, visuals arts could be the perfect break. Whether you need some peaceful me-time or a place to bring all those visiting friends and family, December is the perfect catch-up month for Houston art lovers to see all those fall events they might have missed.

From multiverse painted stories to outdoor ceramics to high tech immersive art, the city still has some end-of-the year surprises that are opening this month. We’re also highlighting some of the best holiday art markets for finding those a one-of-a-kind creations to treasure at home.

“Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now through January 5)
Paris' great Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens this month after years of restoration following the 2019 fire that nearly destroyed the cultural and spiritual French landmark. For those who can’t catch a flight for the unveiling, 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 candlelit interiors and stained-glass windows. The immersive video will also replicate the fire, its aftermath, and restoration — revealing the cathedral in all its glory.

“Here, Now, and In the Multiverse” at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (now through February 7)
The MFAH has opened several blockbuster exhibition this fall, but don’t miss this genre-defying little gem of a show with spiritual, scientific, and science fiction themes. Concepts of multiple universes have led to a wealth of alternate reality stories in pop culture and literature. Now contemporary visual artists also play with ideas of multiverses in their own art, depicting heavenly bodies that exist in extraordinary realms. These celestial beings take on the forms of various deities — metamorphosed by references to our complex contemporary lives — while their impossible beauty suggests the infinite possibilities available in the multiverse. In these artworks, the multiverse has transformed into a theoretical realm of epic sagas and cosmic crossroads.

“Cistern Illuminated” at Buffalo Bayou Park (December 6 – December 31)
For what’s becoming one of Houston's favorite holiday art traditions, Buffalo Bayou Park brings back a multidisciplinary work by artist/engineer Kelly O’Brien that first debuted two years ago. For the holidays, lighting instruments controlled by customized software cast colored light throughout the space. The special angle of these lights creates an uncanny reflection of the Cistern’s ceiling on the glassy water below. On select evenings, Cistern Illuminated will be the setting for live choral performances by downtown Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart’s choir, Schola Cantorum. This year’s program, titled “Voices of Light: A Mystical Holiday Soundscape,” offers a journey through centuries of music, from 4th-century chanting to the works of Hildegrad von Bingen and modern compositions.

"Ceramics in the Environment” at Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts (December 7-March 8)
The fifth iteration of this outdoor exhibition series features site-specific ceramic sculptures created by students from the Museum of Fine Arts’ Glassell School of Art. Led by former HCCC resident artist Jeff Forster, the artists in his Special Topics class are tasked with exploring the narrative potential of HCCC’s Craft Garden and creating artwork inspired by the land’s flora and fauna. Visitors will see interactive sculptures inspired by avian life, an imagined visual network of a live tree, contemporary “dialogues” within and between natural elements, and thought-provoking installations that challenge perceptions about the environment.

Art Club at POST (opens December 7)
This new venue inside the immense POST cultural space will house galleries featuring cutting-edge immersive light and sound installations, as well as lounge/bar and black box theater spaces. For its first season, Art Club will showcase 13 exhibits and installations from a wide range of national and international artists working in light, sound, and multimedia material, including Shoplifter / Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, media.tribe, Lachlan Turczan, Lumus Instruments, Daniel Anguilu with Taylor Knapps, Reynier Leyva Novo, Skyler Smith, Boris Acket, TUNDRA, Aka Chang, Setup, and Nerdy Artist Union.

Annual Fellowship Exhibitions at Houston Center for Photography (December 12-January 26)
HCP opens three new winter exhibitions, including the work of HCP fellow Mona Bozorgi and Carol Crow fellow Terri Warpinski, both juried by Liz Wells alongside gallery artist Nurra Yazici. Bozorgi’s “Threads of Freedom” shares stories of Iranian women using the photographs they have taken of themselves during the recent uprising and protests in the country. Viewed together, the works question traditional representations of women in Iran.

Warpinski’s “Restless Earth” is research-intense, mixed media, assemblage and installation project rooted in the histories and futures of Earth's fragile ecosystem. Also opening along with the fellow exhibitions is Yazici’s “Stains and Clouds,” a meditation on clouds as “the spots that are the symbol of unmeasurable time and ultimately of temporality.”

Holiday and Seasonal Art Markets

Center for Contemporary Craft Holiday Pop-Up Sale (now through December 24)
The Center’s Asher: Off the Wall shop offers an expanded selection of handcrafted jewelry, objects, wearables, prints, and sparkly gift items made by more than 30 local and national craft artists. Just a few highlights from the sale include papier-mache ornaments by Andrea Condara, earrings by Younha Jung, fun apparel by Baby Cats of CA, vegan handbags by Ceibo, ceramics from Gabo Martinez, and clever wooden whistles by Connie Roberts.

2024 Studio School Student Art Sale at MFAH’s Glassell School of Art (December 5-8)
Find an artful gift created by some of the up-and-coming Glassell student artists. Browse a huge selection of jewelry, ceramics, paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, and more. Many of the artists also staff the sale and so are there to answer questions and give buyers the art scope of the work and process. Remember, today's student artists will someday be featured professionally in galleries and studios around town.

Third Coast Clay & Friends Art Festival at Third Coast Clay (December 7 and 8)
Located in Independence Heights, this ceramics studio will celebrate small businesses and local artists by featuring handcrafted treasures from over 25 talented creators working in various mediums, including pottery (both functional and sculptural), jewelry, painting, photography, leather-working, printmaking, and glass. There will be live artist demos throughout the day, including alternative firing techniques, wheel throwing and hand building, and surface designs and techniques.

Holiday Vibe Markets at POST (December 7-8)
Head downtown for this artisan shopping experience that will feature hand-crafted gifts like fine art, ceramics, leather goods, blown glass, and more. There will be over 120 local artists, creatives, and makers each day, local music creators, complimentary cocktails, an art gallery featuring local artists, Topo Chico lounge, Santa photos, and 10 different restaurants.

Flea By Night Holiday Market at Discovery Green (Saturdays through December 21)
For 10 years Flea by Night at Discovery Green has been an important and popular venue for Houstonians to discover new small businesses. This open-air market at the downtown park features local artisans and small business owners selling vintage, handmade, recycled, and repurposed goods. Part of Discovery Green’s mission is to shine a light on the diversity of talents that exist in Houston, including the entrepreneurs and creatives making a living in the city.

  

Photo courtesy of Art Club

Art Club at POST opens in December (The Day We Left Field by Tundra).