velveteen VR

Uncanny Buffalo Bayou Cistern dazzles with Velveteen Rabbit VR holograms

Haha Real will immerse viewers in storybook lore.

Rendering courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is one of the most unique spaces in the world, and the light and sound art installations that it hosts match its singular grandiosity. For the next ten months, the Cistern will be the home of Haha Real, a meshing of sound and holograms inspired by The Velveteen Rabbit.

The piece is the brainchild of Rachel Rossin, a New York City-based multimedia master that has been featured all over the world. Created specifically for the Cistern, Haha Real will use holograms to create a world of illusion where the human eye can’t be trusted. The Cistern is the perfect venue for the installation thanks to its standing water and more than a hundred concrete columns. In the right light, the space looks like it stretches into infinity and is hundreds of feet deeper than it actually is.

Rossin was inspired by the timeless tale of The Velveteen Rabbit, written by Margery Williams and first published in 1921. In it, a beloved stuffed rabbit toy dreams of being real, achieving the goal through the love of its child owner. Often regarded as one of the greatest children’s story of all time, its potent mixture of wonder and loss has enchanted children for more than a century.

This isn’t Rossin’s first production of light and sound. In 2022 she produced The Maw for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. In it, Rossin used graphs of human nervous systems and military-grade infrared technology to present a woman moving through various digital landscapes. Meshing the human experience with the digital one is a recurring theme in Rossin’s work, and it works well with a children’s tale about an inanimate object coming to life.

The visual imagery will be accompanied by a sound bath from Houston’s Frewuhn. A multidisciplinary in her own right, she has performed at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Moore’s Opera House. Like Rossin, she takes inspiration from literature and the movements of the human brain, crafting soundscapes that dance the line between therapy and music.

The Buffalo Bayou Cistern is regularly regarded as one of Houston’s hidden gems. Built in 1926 to house drinking water for the city, it was patterned off the famous Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. Slated to be demolished for parking, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership realized that there was something incredibly beautiful about its cavernous space and slender columns. Upon being fully restored, it now serves as a museum and art gallery that draws in visitors from around the world.

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Haha Real runs Friday, February 2 through November 10 at the Buffalo Bayou Cistern in the Buffalo Bayou Park Water Works (105-B Sabine St.). For tickets and information, visit the Buffalo Bayou Partnership online.

Get inspired

Noted Houston street artist paints vibrant new mural at downtown venue

Photo courtesy of Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

GONZO247 poses in front of his new mural, "Houston is Inspired" inside Hobby Center

Visitors to the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts can now see an incredible new mural by one of Houston's most iconic street artists.Mario Enrique Figueroa, Jr., known as Gonzo247, debuted his piece, "Houston is Inspired" on Friday, December 12.

“This piece is all about capturing the energy that makes Houston, Houston," said the artist in a statement. "It’s that raw, vibrant hustle — the music, the culture, the stories we’ve been telling for generations. I wanted to create something that pulls people in, gets them hyped for what they’re about to experience. Every color, every shape, every detail is telling a story, a vibe. This ain’t just a mural or a piece of art — it’s a journey. It's about the grind, the growth, and the inspiration we pass on to each other, on and off the stage.”

The piece is called "Houston is Inspired," after the program at Hobby meant to showcase local performers by offering them week-long residencies on a prestigious stage. This season includes CJ Emmons's one-man comedy musical show I'm Freaking Talented; a rhythmic interactive storytelling experience called Our Road Home by Jakari Sherman; and Lavanya Rajagopalan's combination of music, dance and verse, Kāvya: Poetry in Motion. Information about all three shows, including ticket prices and availability, can be found at TheHobbyCenter.org.

The last show (debuting May 1) was a particular inspiration to Gonzo247. Viewers may notice a pair of hands in a traditional Indian dance pose, a direct reference to Rajagopalan's show.

The Houston is Inspired program was launched launched in the 2023-2024 season. In addition to the residency in Zilkha Hall, artists are given a $20,000 stipend for production and marketing costs. It is now a permanent fixture of the Hobby season. Applicants for future seasons can submit here.

Known for his original "Houston is Inspired" mural in downtown's Market Square, Gonzo247 has been an active force in Houston art for 30 years, including producing the video series Aerosol Warfare about the street art scene in the 1990s and 2000s as well as founding the Graffiti and Street Art Museum. He also served as the artist liaison for Meow Wolf's Houston installation. If anyone's visual vision is perfect to welcome audience members to shows highlighting homegrown talent, it's him.

“Art’s all about telling stories, but it ain’t just what you see — it’s what you feel," he said. "This piece speaks to the heart of everything we’re about: culture, rhythm, struggle, and triumph. When you walk into the space, you gotta feel the anticipation, the energy building up. That’s what I wanted to capture — the vibe of the whole city, the passion in the work, and that next-level hunger to rise up and create something fresh. It’s like the beat drops, and everything just connects.”

visual-art downtown mural gonzo247