Hottest headlines of 2024

10 top Houston arts stories of 2024 spotlight local cultural treasures

Editor's note: It was a big year in the arts in Houston, as evidenced by the 10 most-read stories. The city's beloved Rothko Chapel embarked on groundbreaking renovations that were sidelined by Hurricane Beryl; the poplar Art Car Museum got a second chance; and, of course, Meow Wolf opened a new portal to local art lovers. The most-read story of all interviewed a local actress who came home to star in a musical that was "simply the best."

Read on for the 10 hottest arts headlines of 2024 in Houston:

1. Houston-born actress comes home to star in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Excited didn't quite capture the emotion Houston native GiGi Lewis felt about coming through her hometown in the national tour of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which opened January 2 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts and earned rave reviews. "I'm trying to keep it down because I'm over here losing it," she laughs. "I'm like a kid in a candy store!"

2. Rare showing of John Lennon's art comes together at Houston gallery. A rare showing of artwork by the late, legendary Beatles guitarist John Lennon would be going on display for a limited time at Off the Wall Gallery in The Galleria. Dubbed Give Peace a Chance - The Art of John Lennon, the showing would run from August 20 to September 7, 2024.

3. Museum of Fine Arts takes Houston to Paris cathedral with new virtual tour. 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 reopened in early December. For those who couldn't make it to the reopening, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has a very special virtual trip on this holiday season: “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience” runs through January 5, 2025.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens “Notre-Dame Immersive Experience.” (Still image of digital rendering of Notre- Dame Cathedral, Ars Electronica.) Museum of Fine Arts courtesy image.

4. Houston's iconic Rothko Chapel breaks ground on $42 million campus expansion. On April 17, Houston’s iconic Rothko Chapel broke ground on a substantial expansion that’s designed to enhance its spiritual and temporal missions. Dubbed Opening Space, the $42 million project is adding new buildings just north of the existing Chapel on the other side of Sul Ross St. Unfortunately ...

5. Houston's Rothko Chapel indefinitely closed by Hurricane Beryl damage. One of the city's most-loved landmarks announced its indefinite closure in August, following damage from Hurricane Beryl. The Rothko Chapel's ceiling and several walls sustained water damage following the storm, and three of Mark Rothko’s panels were also affected to varying degrees. The building was set to reopen on Tuesday, December 17.

6. Texas is a bust in new ranking of best states for arts and artists. The arts bring vibrance and color to communities everywhere, but a 2024 report paints a somewhat bleak picture for artists and arts funding in Texas. Texas ranks 28th in a new report on best states for the arts in 2024 by SmileHub, a nonprofit tech company founded by the same CEO as personal finance website WalletHub.

7. Heights-area museum devoted to Houston's iconic Art Cars will close in April. In March, it seemed Houston might be reaching the end of a keeping-it-weird era as the Art Car Museum was set to close on April 28th, according to a statement on the organization’s website. But that wasn't the end of the story. In October, new plans revved up to not only keep it open, but give it a brand new home - one where its delightful quirkiness will find a kindred spirit in strangeness.

The Art Car Museum got a second chance. Photo courtesy of The Art Car Museum

8. Houston Theater Week spotlights BOGO tickets to more than 230 shows. Houston has a wealth of arts organizations, offering performances of everything from avant garde theatre to classical music to multiple genres of dance. Thankfully, a popular program helps newbie arts lovers and longtime patrons alike. Houston Theater Week 2024 offers buy-one-get-one-free deals for more than 230 performing arts programs for the upcoming 2024-2025 arts season.

9. Meow Wolf reveals Houston artists adding local flavor to its Fifth Ward project. In February, Meow Wolf revealed the 40 acclaimed Houston and regional artists who would collaborate on the project. But the Meow Wolf Houston surprises kept dropping with their announcement in May of the Texas artists would will be part of their Art Team Task Force.

10. New indoor water park & resort introduces itself to Houston with wolfish Art Car. In April, there was a new kid on the block of Houston's Art Car Parade, and it was ready to roll the streets, cementing a connection between a new resort and its adopted city. Great Wolf Lodge, which opened in Webster in October, jumped into Houston with enthusiasm.

Motley Crew Media

Aldine High School graduate GiGi Lewis landed the roles of Aline and one of the Ikettes in Tina: The Turner Musical.

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Arts News

Houston arts organization spins up a new record label for creative works

Two CD copies of Tyshawn Sorey's Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)

Photo courtesy of DACAMERA Editions

DACAMERA's unique musical contribution to Houston now comes in LP form.

For more than three decades, Houston arts and music non-profit DaCamera has brought innovative and unique jazz and chamber music performances to the city. Now, they are launching their own record label called DaCamera Editions, starting with TyShawn Sorey's Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) releasing on January 30.

Since 1987, DaCamera has been a nationally-celebrated curator, commissioner, and presenter of modern works that often fly under the mainstream radar. With the establishment of an in-house record label, the music they are known for becomes more widely available to audiences.

"Following the thrilling experience of commissioning, performing, and recording Monochromatic Light (Afterlife), we saw an opportunity to launch our own label," DaCamera artistic director Sarah Rothenberg said in a statement. "DaCamera Editions will enable us to share our distinctive, curated mix of new music, classical repertoire, and jazz in a way that emphasizes connections to art, literature and the world in which we live, all under the DaCamera umbrella."

Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) is the perfect album to herald a new Houston record label. The meditative piece was a joint commission from DaCamera and the Rothko Chapel to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the renowned Houston landmark. Featuring soloists Davóne Tines (bass-baritone), Kim Kashkashian (viola), Sarah Rothenberg (piano/celesta), Steven Schick (percussion), and the Houston Chamber Choir, the 75-minute work was a critical hit when it premiered in 2022. It built on a previous work, Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, which debuted at the site in 1972. Sorey composed a bass-baritone part for Tines and expanded the keyboard role by adding piano. As part of the performance, Tines sings lines from the spiritual "I Feel Like a Motherless Child."

Both The New York Times and The New Yorker named the premiere of Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) as a top 10 classical performance of 2022. It was also a Finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

The album will be released on both CD and digital formats. Pre-orders are available at DaCameraEditions.com.

Future planned releases include Rothenberg's In Darkness and Light (May 2026), a piano album inspired by the anxiety of COVID and featuring Vijay Iyer’s eloquent personal memorial "For My Father;" and Tyshawn Sorey’s solo piano work For Julius Eastman, a tribute to the minimalist composer and activist whose work has undergone a 21st Century renaissance since his death in relative obscurity in 1990.

"DaCamera Editions will enable us to share our distinctive, curated mix of new music, classical repertoire, and jazz in a way that emphasizes connections to art, literature and the world in which we live,” Rothenberg said.

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