Airport Art

City of Houston calls for local artists for expansive new Bush Intercontinental terminal

The new terminal at IAH will house art from locals.

The City of Houston is asking Houston artists to submit their work in consideration as part of its plans for the new Mickey Leland International Terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), which is currently under construction.

Works will be displayed in the terminal's six gates in the D-West Pier. The city is investing $540,00 in the project, with monies coming from the Houston Airport Enterprise Fund.

“Each of the six gates will provide a unique opportunity for a Houston-based artist to share a piece of Houston’s story," said Mayor Sylvester Turner in a press release announcing the initiative. “For some travelers, the commissioned artwork will be their first impression of Houston and will emphasize our City’s commitment to Public Art.”

The call for artwork is a joint effort by the Houston Airports System and the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA). In partnership with MOCA, the Houston Arts Alliance administers city-funded public opportunities like this one to acquire and conserve the City of Houston's public art pieces.

This effort is the first of several art acquisition phases for the new terminal. The works, large-scale, two-dimensional pieces, are to flank six new wide-body aircraft gates. The works will be permanent and the idea is that they will not only complement the terminal's architecture, but also reflect the unique characteristics of Houston and the surrounding region.

Submissions are due by February 8, 2022. The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is open to eligible artists and artist teams residing and working in Houston's nine-county metro area, including Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties. Full details and instructions for artists is available here.

“The artwork will be one of the first impressions of its diverse culture, its landscape and ideas that Houston has to offer the traveling public,” said Houston Airports Director Mario Diaz, in the same release. “Public art will play a critical role in enhancing the passenger experience in the new International Terminal, which will provide a seamless, world-class traveling experience from curb to gate.”

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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