shutter to think

Houston's picture-perfect FotoFest returns with a showcase of can't-miss, cutting-edge works

Don't miss Jakayla Monay's Houston-centric works.

One of the city’s preeminent cultural and visual arts offerings is back after a reimagining during the pandemic.

FotoFest, Houston's all-encompassing, biennial showcase of timely, socially relevant photography, officially launches its 2022 Biennial Saturday, September 24, with an impressive array of events including a swanky gala and reception, exhibit unveilings, and more.

The organization, dedicated to showcasing the best in photography and visual culture, produces and sponsors a number of exhibitions across the city. The Biennial is on view from September 24 through November 6 at Sawyer Yards and a host of other participating venues and offers compelling exhibits and other programming.

The central exhibition, "If I Had A Hammer," explores how artists around the world capture the essence of cultural movements. These works showcase how people of all ideologies come together, resisting and replacing the legacies of colonialism and imperialism.

On Saturday, September 24, visitors can head to Silver Street Studios for the FotoFest Biennial 2022 grand opening. From 8 to 11 pm, guests can meet the artists and curators behind the central exhibition, "If I Had A Hammer," along with the concurrent exhibitions "African Cosmologies: Redux" (a must-see) and "Ten by Ten," a curated showcase of cutting-edge works. (One "Ten by Ten" standout is artist Zana Briski, who works patiently on moonless nights to capture wild animals in Animalograms, making exposures of them directly onto large sheets of photographic paper.) It’s also an opportunity to be among the first to see these important works from talented artists.

Bearogram Zana Briski Zana Briski cleverly captures wild animals in Animalograms.ZanaBriski.com

Those looking for a more in-depth understanding of these works should take part in some of FotoFest’s programming offerings on Sunday, September 25. These include a curatorial walkthrough of "If I Had A Hammer," where co-curators Steven Evans, Max Fields, and Amy Sadao will discuss each of the included artists and highlight several pieces. In addition, several featured artists will be there to talk about their approach to their art and answer questions.

That evening features a performance of DASH by Ho Rui An, which opens with footage of an accident captured by a dashboard camera.

Thursday, September 29’s Fine Print Auction at the Whitehall Houston Hotel gives guests the opportunity to bid on museum-quality prints from some of the world’s finest contemporary photographers. This fundraiser is essential to the ongoing programming that FotoFest provides, giving photography lovers an incentive to take home gorgeous works and support a great cause.

Art lovers and observers of global cultural contexts and piercing socio-political will find much to celebrate and ponder in all of FotoFest Biennial 2022’s offerings, which remind that some pictures truly are worth a thousand words.

sit and relax

Rothko Chapel dedicates a peaceful new garden for quiet contemplation

Photo by Brian Austin, courtesy of Rothko Chapel.

The Rothko Chapel will dedicate its new Peace Garden on Friday, November 14.

Generations of Houstonians have experienced moments of quiet contemplation inside the Rothko Chapel. Now, they can do so just outside its walls as well.

On Friday, November 14, the chapel will dedicate the the Kathleen and Chuck Mullenweg Peace and Reflection Garden. Described in press materials as “a contemplative outdoor space designed to foster stillness, renewal, and connection,” it’s the latest addition to the Rothko campus as part of its Opening Spaces expansion project.

Similar to the chapel’s minimal interior of black panels, the new Peace Garden offers a relatively austere environment of benches surrounded by low plants and shaded by young trees. It allows visitors to sit quietly and relax while experiencing sunlight, the sky, and the day’s weather. The chapel cites research by Harvard University that found time spent outdoors has a number of health benefits, including reducing stress, lowering blood pleasure, and improving mental well-being.

“Few places in the world embody the marriage of the sacred and the civic as profoundly as the Rothko Chapel,” Rothko Chapel president Abdullah Antepli said in a statement. “This new peace and reflection garden extends that invitation outward — a place where silence becomes a shared language, and where reflection can blossom into hope.”

Rothko Chapel Mullenweg Peace Garden Another view of the garden. Photo by Brian Austin, courtesy of Rothko Chapel.

The Peace Garden will be open daily during the same hours as the Rothko Chapel.

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects worked with the Rothko Chapel to design the garden. The firm has been involved in a number of projects in Houston, including ongoing work at Memorial Park and the recently-dedicated Ismaili Center.

First announced last year, the Opening Spaces campaign is a $51 million project to expand the Rothko Chapel campus with additional buildings. Led by Architecture Research Office (ARO),

it includes the new Administrative and Archives Building and the Welcome House. Still to come are a new Program Center, building a guest bungalow for speakers and fellows, and creating a tree-shaded plaza that will serve as a venue for events. So far, the chapel has raised $38 million towards that final goal.

The dedication ceremony will feature remarks by Christopher Rothko, chair of the Rothko Chapel Capital Campaign; Matt Mullenweg, Houston native and co-founder of WordPress; Lanie McKinnon, principal at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBWLA); Adam Yarinsky, principal of Architecture Research Office (ARO); Troy Porter, Rothko Chapel board chair; Council Member Abbie Kamin; and Abdullah Antepli, president of the Rothko Chapel.

parks museums rothko chapel openings