Groundbreaking works of art

Art installations of two famous astronauts will soon be part of Space Citylegacy

Mayor Annise Parker and Ruslan Bayramov show a model of the statue of YuriGagarin that will be placed in front of the Hosuton Parks and RecreationDepartment, which was the early NASA headquarters.
Photo by Karen Burd
Parker, center, and officials take part in the groundbreaking for the two artinstallations honoring Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn.
Photo by Karen Burd

Two of the world's most famous early astronauts — the former Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin and American John Glenn — are soon to be immortalized in Space City. Mayor Annise Parker, city officials and representatives from Russia took part in a ground-breaking ceremony Thursday for the commemorative pieces of artwork set to be installed in front of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation Department, a building that served as one of the original NASA headquarters.

Russia donated a bronze statue of Gagarin with his arms outstretched to the city of Houston. A steel panel art piece that depicts Glenn in his space capsule will stand behind the statue. Gagarin was the first human to venture into space while Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth.

Russia donated a bronze statue of Gagarin with his arms outstretched to the city of Houston. Behind the bronze statue will stand a steel panel art piece that depicts Glenn in his space capsule.

Gagarin and Glenn were part of the "space race" — the heated competition between the two superpowers for space supremacy in the 1960's. Gagarin shot into space on the Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. He never participated in any flights to space after his first historic one and he ultimately passed away in a plane crash in 1968.

Glenn's earth-orbiting voyage aboard the Friendship 7 propelled him to fame. He was elected U.S. senator from Ohio in 1974 and served for 24 years. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990 and, eight years later, became the oldest man to fly in space when he took part in a shuttle flight at age 77.

The two famous astronauts standing side-by-side represents current and future cooperation between the American and Russian space programs. This comes at a time in which the two countries have begun to share the International Space Station with each other and three other countries.

At the groundbreaking, Parker said that now "the United States and Russia are mutually dependent on each other for space travel."

The project, including the 9-foot sculpture and 8-foot-6-inch panel, will cost $85,000, all of which was acquired through donations and private funding. The city hopes to complete the project by October.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”