be part of the art

Local artist invites Houstonians to participate in new Discovery Green project

A portrait of artist Karen Navarro for Discovery Green

Artist Karen Navarro is creating a large-scale, public art installation for Discovery Green.

Photo courtesy of Karen Navarro

Discovery Green will debut a new interactive artwork this September, and Houstonians can be part of its creation. Locally-based artist Karen Navarro is inviting residents to sit for portraits for Chroma Collective, her large-scale installation planned for the park’s Sarofim Picnic Lawn.

The Argentine native centers her practice on identity, representation, race, and belonging. Her own journey as an immigrant woman informs the Discovery Green project, which celebrates Houston’s diversity while examining the intersection of history and personal narratives. Although Navarro began as a photographer, her work now includes immersive, three-dimensional sculpture.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue evolving my practice and working on a project of this scale as an introduction to the realm of public art,” Navarro said.

Navarro is a former fellow of Discovery Green Conservancy’s Art Lab, a mentorship program that pairs underrepresented local artists with a lead artist and mentors to learn the nuts and bolts of public art installations.

“Seeing Karen Navarro, one of our inaugural Art Lab fellows, selected for the park’s fall pop-up installation is a testament to the program’s mission in action,” Kathryn Lott, president of Discovery Green Conservancy, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to see her bring her vision to life and to continue fostering opportunities for Houston’s creative community.”

A local art advisory firm, The Weingarten Art Group, co-curates and co-administers Art Lab, which is funded by an anonymous national foundation.

"Karen Navarro’s fall pop-up proposal brilliantly captures the essence of Discovery Green – its vibrant community, lush green spaces, interactive landscape, and spirit of exploration,” said Weingarten Art Group principal Lea Weingarten.

Houstonians interested in participating in Navarro’s piece must complete this form, which includes a photo submission, to be considered for a portrait session.

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A Roman Holiday (Season)

All roads lead to Houston museum's blockbuster exhibit of Imperial Rome

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Houston's holiday season will have a distinctly Roman feeling this year, as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is bringing the glory of the Gladiator era to Texas. On November 2, 2025 through January 25, 2026 the MFAH presents the monumental new exhibition “Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times.”

Featuring 160 objects of antiquity, including marble sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, delicate glass vessels, and exquisite bronze artifacts, the exhibition will transport visitors back in time to the Roman Empire during a flowering of art and architecture. The MFAH partnered with the Saint Louis Art Museum to organize the exhibition, which will showcase many pieces that have never been on view in the U.S.

While Emperor Trajan might not be the most famous — or in some cases, most infamous — of the Roman emperors, he ruled between 98 and 117 C.E. during the empire’s height and was the second of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. He was also the first emperor born outside of present-day Italy, in what is now Andalusia, Spain. During his reign, he granted citizenship and rights to some peoples from conquered lands. The exhibition will explore how this time period expanded what it meant to be a Roman and how art reflected Rome’s power and promoted the empire’s values and ideals.

$\u200bThe Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times"$

Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

From statues of prominent men and women of the era, including Trajan, to vivid frescoes and furnishing from the villas of Pompeii, the objects in the exhibition will tell fascinating cultural and political stories of life in imperial Rome. To add context to the artworks and objects of antiquity, the MFAH will recreate a section of Trajan’s Column, which was a towering pillar with a spiraling narrative frieze, one of the few monumental sculptures to have survived the fall of Rome.

“Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times” brings such a wealth of objects to Houston thanks to unprecedented loans from the renowned antiquities collections of Italian museums including Museo Nazionale Romano, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the Parco Archeologico di Ostia, and the Musei Vaticani. It would would likely take months of travel across Italy to see this much art.

“This is truly a rare opportunity for U.S. audiences to experience spectacular objects from this glorious era of the Roman Empire,” said Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, in a statement. “We are enormously grateful to our colleagues in Rome, Naples, and Vatican City for lending these treasures to us and broadening the appreciation of Italy’s cultural heritage.”

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