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Houston to get a new green space with Beer Can House cred: Meet the OrangeShow's Smither Park

Artist Dan Phillips will design Smither Park.
A rendering of Smither Park
Rendering by Pat Lopez
The Beer Can House is an example of the type of work that Phillips loves.

Hermann Park and Discovery Green may be spurring an urban renaissance, allowing Houstonians to rediscover the great (albeit, often humid) outdoors, but alternative minds who may deem our city's lungs a bit lamestream will rejoice in the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art's latest initiative, Smither Park.

Stephanie Smither is piloting the program as a tribute to her late husband, John H. Smither, a former partner and management committee member of Vinson & Elkins law firm, board member of The Orange Show Foundation and president of the Houston Ballet. John was instrumental in the Orange Show acquiring the Beer Can House.

Stephanie has called upon one of Houston's most beloved artists — Huntsville-based Dan Phillips — to design the park, which will be the city's first folk-art inspired green space.

"Dan has been building the most amazing houses and pieces of art for about 12 years now," Smither tells CultureMap, citing his unique media, from wine corks to bottle caps to bones. "He has been a friend of ours since the '80s when we moved into and restored a house his grandparents built."

Phillips has been recognized worldwide for his innovative green design, from university lectures to Italian architecture journals to TED talks.

The Smithers are devoted collectors of work by self-taught artists like Phillips. Stephanie adores the inherent spontaneity of work created by untrained hands, saying, "There is a sophistication in a very honest way to it. The soul that these artists put into their work just dazzles me."

In May, Stephanie beseeched Phillips to conceive the park that will rise on a half acre abutting the East End's Orange Show monument.

Some of us are hankering for dynamic park features, and Smither Park will provide an answer to that appetite. One end of the park will be anchored by an amphitheater, with an interior coated in mirror shards contrasting with a colorful mosaic exterior. A meditation garden with a water feature will offer a respite from the avant-garde onslaught, while a 400-foot "Memory Wall" will provide a canvas for friends and families to honor the deceased.

It's not all mindfulness: We can also relish a serpentine tunnel, 12-foot "coin roll" tower and long-sweep swings. Philips has included the requisite hopscotch court and many more mosaics will round out the art-inspired environs. All aspects will be composed of blown concrete coated in recycled materials, such as pottery and seashells.

Smither contends that what will make the park a success is that it's a single artist's vision, rather than a set of parts chosen by a committee. Architect Ed Eubanks and Steve Goodchild of Goodchild Builders will also be donating their technical services. Smither and the Orange Show are still in the thick of the grant-writing process, and aim to break ground in January.

"It's going to be a major addition to the parks in Houston," says Smither, "as well as a destination worldwide."

To donate to the future Smither Park, e-mail sks1953@sbcglobal.net or visit orangeshow.org

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remembering injustice

New downtown park will shine a light on a dark part of Houston's past

Photo by Jef Rouner

Harris County Commisioner Rodney Ellis and Rep. Al Green posing in front of new historical markers for Remembrance Park.

On Saturday, June 20, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis revealed the full plans for Remembrance Park, a three-block greenspace that will connect Buffalo Bayou to the Herbert W. Gee Municipal Courthouse at 1400 Lubbock St. The park will also include historical markers dedicated to four Black Houstonians who were lynched between 1890 and 1928 — Robert Powell, John White, Burl Smith, and John Walton.

The markers will be installed temporarily at Commissioner El Franco Lee Public Service Plaza until the completion of Remembrance Park, estimated for 2029. The projected is estimated to cost $42 million, though final funding numbers have not been released. Remembrance Park is funded through a combination of Harris County tax revenue and a grant from the Ford Foundation.

Walter Hood of HOOD Design Studios and Michael Murphy of AMMA presented renderings of the future park. It will be a combination of gardens, pavilions, and overlooks that can be used for multiple purposes. In the center of the park will be an innovative fountain. When filled with an inch of water, it will reflect the sky. When emptied, it will show a massive photograph of a baptism in Buffalo Bayou by a Black congregation from the early 20th Century.

The connection to the bayou is woven throughout the park. There are gardens based on Hush Harbors, which were used by Black residents as congregation spaces, as well as canopies made with reclaimed wood and moss from the bayou. The landscape itself will change depending on the rainfall, with features built with retaining ponds to create water installations.

Construction of the park will begin in 2027.

Dr. Ruth Simmons, a President's Distinguished Fellow at Rice University, former president of Prairie View A&M University, and the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution (Brown University) spoke about the importance of remembering history accurately despite attempts to sanitize the past.

"A community that endorses ignoring the history of fabricating that history invites corruption in other areas," she said. "In order to have a common project which we desperately need in this nation, a common project across difference, we must commit to walking in truth. Truth brings light to what darkness would destroy."

The mission statement of Remembrance Park is to "tell the story of the legacy of enslavement and systemic oppression faced by Black Americans in the United States." To accomplish that, the park will have art and education installations, a witness grove, and the lynching markers.

Following the presentation, Ellis and others led the crowd to Lee Plaza for the unveiling of the markers. The unveiling included Representative Al Green and was opened with a prayer from Bishop James Dixon of of Community Faith Church. The bishop thanked Ellis for advocating for the park.

"Today, Rodney Ellis, I see your face in the faces of the great liberators who stood up to injustice, stood up to evil, using creativity and brilliance, bringing people together," Bishop Dixon said.

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