This week's FRESH Art on Tap: April 2

2019

April

02 - 09

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FEATURED EVENT

Mid Main
First Thursday Benefiting MECA

April 04 - 6:00 PM

@ MId Main Houston

Suggested Donation: $5

This FREE music, art, and food block party takes place in the 3500-3700 blocks of Main Street in the heart of Midtown Houston! $5 suggested donations for entry in the Art Garden are strongly encouraged and ALL proceeds benefit MECA. Complimentary drinks will be provided by longtime supporters Saint Arnold Brewing Company and Deep Eddy Vodka... more details

TUES

APR 02

WED

APR 03

THU

APR 04

FRI

APR 05

SAT

APR 06

SUN

APR 07

MON

APR 01

TUES

APR 09

TUESDAY, APRIL 02

One Act Double Feature - World Premieres
@ Studio 101 - Spring Street Studios
April 02 - April 10 // 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm // Varies

ARTS DISTRICT EVENT

Two shows for one night's entertainment! Barren by Karen Heimbaugh and Three of a Kind by Michael Weems will make you reevaluate gender roles in group settings and challenge your expectations of what one can be... more details

Writers of color
@ Writespace
April 02 -May 07 // 6:00 pm - 12:18 pm // Free

ARTS DISTRICT EVENT

This workshop is open to writers of all backgrounds typically underrepresented in American literature, including but not limited to writers who identify themselves as African American or Caribbean, Asian American, Middle Eastern, Chicano, Hispanic, and Latino.We recognize that while no single feature can capture the experience and identity of a human being, writers of color-of all levels, genres, and backgrounds-have the opportunity to thrive in workshop experiences where their many, varied voices are welcomed and seen to enrich the workshop's diverse worldview. This means that we will read the work of poets and fiction writers of color, including our own... more details

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 03

Opening Reception - Latinx Art: Transcending Borders @ Octavia Art Gallery April 03 // 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM // Free Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to announce the third collaboration exhibition with Ruiz-Healy Art, Latinx Art: Transcending Borders. The exhibition explores and celebrates Latinx visual arts in the United States, predominantly Texas. The exhibition opens the night before the National Conference of Latino Art Now and is curated by Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Ph.D.\... more details
Nuestra Palabra's 21st Anniversary Showcase @ MFAH April 03 // 6:30 PM // Suggested Donation: $21 Experience LAN 2019 with an evening of the leading Latino writers, thinkers, and artists of our time celebrating the work of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say. The evening will feature leading Latino writers, thinkers and leaders, as well as 3 Nuestra Palabra 2nd Generation Writers who began writing with Nuestra Palabra and are now nationally published authors... more details
Robin Coste Lewis Reading and Book Signing @ Menil Collection April 03 // 7:00 PM // Free Join author Robin Coste Lewis for a reading from her 2015 book of poetry Voyage of the Sable Venus, in which she explores the complexities of race and the black female figure through representations in art and history.... more details
REYES'S STAFF PICK El Chow: Mango verde @ 1907 Sabine St April 03 // 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM // Free El Chow: Mango Verde is the proposed second iteration of El Chow, an exhibition series curated by Moe Penders. All exhibited artwork will be selected from work made by queer latinx people from Manteca HTX open call. The intention of this second iteration of El Chow is to build upon important conversations that arose from the work exhibited in the first, focusing on themes of migration, communal healing, representation, visibility, gender studies, and belonging... more details
Poetry Slam ft. Shay Alexi @ Avant Garden April 03 // 7:30 PM // $5-6 A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poets' content and performance. The high score and the low score are dropped and the rest are added to give the poet their score for that round.... more details

THURSDAY, APRIL 04

Cultured Cocktails benefiting Teatrx @ Boheme Cafe and Wine Bar April 04 //5:00 PM - 8:00 PM // Free FRESH ARTS EVENT Please join us for drinks and conversation at Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar on Thursday, March 25th, when a portion of the proceeds from all drink sales during the 5:00PM -8:00PM happy hour will go to support Teatrx. So enjoy a drink or two, meet the Teatrx team, and take-in Boheme's bohemian atmosphere! The proceeds from the evening will support the Teatrx so don't be shy, raise a glass (or three) while raising funds for Teatrx... more details
Lars Lerup Farewell Lecture and Reception @ Rice University \| MD Anderson Hall April 04 // 5:30 PM // Free Lars Lerup is a design, writer, and Professor of Architecture at Rice University. He was Dean at Rice Architecture and William Ward Watkin Professor from 1993 to 2009. Previously, he taught for many years at the University of California at Berkeley. His work focuses on the intersection of nature and culture in the contemporary American metropolis, and on Houston in particular. He is currently finishing up work on a new book, entitled Toxic Ecology: At the Limit of the Entrepreneurial City, which examines the consequences the city's relentless growth and expansion has had on various natural systems, and further, how those consequences will effect the future of the city ... more details
Drexciya @ DiverseWorks April 04 // 6:00 PM // Free This short science fiction film (28 min.) tells the story of a German man called Thomas, who works as a trafficker for European refugees that are seeking a better life in Africa. One day his ship sinks and he finds himself as the only survivor washed up on the African shore. He tries to reach the next megacity: Drexciya, an advanced high-tech world ... more details
Latino Art Now! Conference 2019 @ University of Houston April 04 - 06 // 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM // Varies The Latino Art Now! Conference: Sight Lines & Time Frames will take place at the University of Houston Student Center South. LAN! will explore and celebrate the activities and practices of local and national Latino and Latin American visual artists and organizations throughout Houston. Now in its 6th edition, the Latino Art Now! Conference is recognized as the leading forum for visual artists, art historians, curators, collectors, and educators ... more details
JESSICA'S STAFF PICK Next Iteration Ensemble's 4th Annual Intercultural Play Reading Series @ MATCH April 04-06 // 8:00 PM // Pay What You Can Next Iteration Ensemble (NIE) announces its roster of three plays for the 4th Annual Intercultural Play Reading Series (IPRS). This April, NIE brings to Houston works that investigate the possibilities of the roads not taken, the abuse of power within immigration and among America's "invisibles," and shaping our values by coming to terms with failure. All of these up-and-coming scripts pay special attention to identity-the ethics of how we treat each other, and how those choices drive our decision-making ... more details

FRIDAY , APRIL 05

Free Public Art Tour at UH @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts April 05 // 12:00 PM // Free Public Art of the University of Houston System hosts free Public Art Tours on the first Wednesday of each month. These tours will alternate between University of Houston, University of Houston-Downtown, and the University of Houston Sugar Land. Each iteration of the tour will vary featuring select artworks led by public art staff and guest tour guides. The walk will begin with a brief welcome and introduction of the day's tour. Participants are encouraged to wear walking shoes and bring water ... more details
Duruflé: Complete Choral Works - CD Release @ Poitin Bar and Kitchen April 05 // 7:00 PM Join the Houston Chamber Choir on Apr. 5 for a celebration of the release of the new recording Duruflé: Complete Choral Works, produced by Grammy® Award winning producer Blanton Alspaugh for Signum Records. Staff, board members, singers and supporters will be part of the exciting release party at the stylish Poitín Bar and Kitchen, and members of the public are invited. The event will toast all those who made the album possible, especially Houston Chamber Choir's generous underwriters ... more details
First Friday Reading Series Presents: Robin Reagler @ Inprint, Inc. April 05 // 8:30 PM // Free First Friday, Houston's oldest poetry reading series, hosted by Robert Clark on the first Friday of the month at Inprint House, 1520 West Main, in Houston's Museum District. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Always an open reading after the featured poet ... more details
Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity @ Asia Society Texas Center April 05 - 06 // 7:30 PM - 9:30 AM // $20-30 Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity illuminates the daily experiences of five young Muslim Americans who came of age in a post-9/11 society, and who are building their lives in a time of continued fear of and violence towards Muslims. The cast members are from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, including those who have converted to Islam, those who were raised Muslim but have since left the faith, those who identify as "culturally" Muslim, and those who are observant on a daily basis ... more details
Aliens, Immigrants, & Other Evildoers @ MECA April 05 - 06 // 8:00 PM // Varies Satirizing the absurd status of immigrants as "extraterrestrials" through a sci-fi prism informed by comic film shorts inspired by Star Wars and The Matrix films, Torres-Tama deftly shape-shifts into a variety of "aliens" who challenge a nation that has migrated to the "Dark Side", and offers a clarion call for the United States of Amnesia to remember the words emblazoned on its iconic Statue of Liberty, Give us your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore ... more details
Dinner at Eight @ Moores Opera Center April 05 - 08 // 12:00 AM // Varies An invitation to a sophisticated Manhattan dinner party proves to be a recipe for disaster. Based on the comedy-drama that spawned an all-star classic film, this new opera, premiered in 2017, lovingly pays homage to the Broadway of the 1930s and boasts a large cast of memorable characters. .. more details
Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls @ University of Houston April 05 - 14 // 12:00 AM // Varies Once upon a time, a young American woman returned to her native Russia to brush up on the language. Underneath a glamorous Post-Soviet Moscow she discovers an enchanted motherland teeming with evil stepmothers, wicked witches and ravenous bears ... more details

SATURDAY, APRIL 06

AThe Power of Writing from the Senses @ Writespace April 06 //9:30 AM - 12:30 PM // Free Feeling stuck on an existing project? Feeling writer's block, or that you would love to write more, but you don't know where to begin? In this workshop, we will explore writing exercises inspired by one or more of the five senses: taste, scent, touch, sight, and sound. We'll experiment with writing prompts based on fragrance, as well as visual and auditory prompts, to generate ideas for both new and ongoing projects... more details
First Saturday Arts Market @ 530 W. 19th St. 77008 April 06 //11:00 AM - 6:00 PM // Free Since 2004, First Saturday Arts Market has been bringing Houston art lovers the best artists from all over the greater metropolitan area. First Saturday Arts Market represents the many diverse and popular mediums all in a festive, outdoor market. Musicians perform their original songs and a different independent food truck is featured each month. Libations provided by Houston Winery & Houston Cider Co. The ever-popular shops of 19th Street are just a short walk away!.. more details
MICAH'S STAFF PICK Nuit Blanche Art Exhibition @ Houston Public Library April 06 //12:00 PM - 8:00 PM // Festival Nuit Blanche is a highly acclaimed international contemporary art event inaugurated in Paris in 2002, and staged every year since. The festival transforms the city into an artistic playground. The public gets to take part in creating a work of art inspired by Yona Friedman and view a free exhibit of his artwork in the Central Library gallery. This unique celebration, free to the public, will engage both highly regarded international artists and local luminaries as well as school children... more details
@Francis Almendárez, "Home away from home" @ Jonathan Hopson April 06 //3:00 PM // Donation Please join us Saturday, April 06 at 3:00pm for a limited engagement performance and reading from Francis Almendárez for our current exhibition Nuestro Hogar, curated by Debra Barrera for LAN Houston 2019... more details
From the Earth @ Archway Gallery April 06 //5:00 PM // Free Carol Berger's artwork is often influenced by images, patterns and colors from nature. As an environmentalist and an avid reuse-recycler, Carol hopes that by creating work which reflects our natural world, others will be encouraged to join her efforts in protecting our earth... more details
Derek Boshier "Paintings, Drawings, and Film: Selected Works 2004 - 2019" Opening @ Redbud Gallery April 06 //6:00 PM - 9:00 PM // Free Boshier, born 1937 in Portsmouth, UK and now living in LA, is a well-known English pop artist who works in painting, drawing, collage, photography, film, and sculpture. During the 1990's, Boshier was an exemplary artist teaching at the University of Houston. While he has kept in touch with many of his Houston friends, he has not had a major show in Houston in recent years.... more details
Anna Mavromatis "Handmade Tales" Opening @ Redbud Gallery April 06 //6:00 PM - 9:00 PM // Free The content of this show derives from the influence of these heirlooms, gifted to me at different stages of my life, safely kept and carried through many relocations between two continents. I consider them treasures pulsing with nostalgic sentimentality, responding to my stylistic values and adding to my trove of materials. These gifts reached me through women I was surrounded with during childhood, women of extraordinary strength and courage. They lived at times of war, faced expatriation, entered new land-scapes to build new lives interrupted by new wars; they were imprisoned and when liberated faced the terrors and sins of a civil war... more details
ŌME Performance @ SITE Gallery Houston April 06 //6:00 PM // $10 In "ŌME," artists Daniela Riojas and Leandre Douglas examine a dual Mestizaje and Afro-Latinx experience in a performance that expresses historical encounters between Indigenous and African peoples, focusing on pre-Columbian evidence of their connection through water travel and the subsequent brown/black impacts during Iberian colonialism... more details
DARAL'S STAFF PICK Secret Walls x Houston @ Market Square April 06 // 6:00 PM // Free UP Art Studio and the Downtown Houston present Houston's third installment of Secret Walls x Houston! Watch as two teams of some of the world's best artists go head-to-head to each design a mural in 90-minutes. Art battle 8 pm - 9:30 pm. Don't miss this amazing feat of art, speed and talent! DJ BBC will be spinning your favorite jams while you enjoy bites from Niko Niko's and Baby's Burgers Houston food truck. Get there early for the 7toSmoke Allstyle Breakdace Battle presented by Bgirl City (7 pm). Plus, shop our art market brought to you by The DoBo... more details
Exhibition Opening - Monique Lacey: Puffery & Mel DeWees: Stacks @ Gray Contemporary April 06 // 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM // Free Monique Lacey is a New Zealand based Artist whose work addresses the notion that if a painting is a bounded volume, how can the skin or surface of that painting reveal or disguise its structure and what it contains. The work manifests itself in the production of hollow, rectilinear-cuboid-forms, which present themselves as support and surface. The relationship between the front-facing plane and the sides of the work can challenge the traditional conventions of painting when the proportional relationships of scale are reconfigured.... more details
9th Annual Houston Palestinian Festival @ Buffalo Bayou Park April 06 - 07 // Varies Come join us for our 9th annual Houston Palestinan Festival, April 6th and 7th for an exposure of the Palestinian culture and heritage. Every year comes with great excitement to embrace a special aspect of Palestine, this year we would like to showcase the cities lost in 1948... more details

SUNDAY, APRIL 07

ANGELA'S STAFF PICK

Viva Frida! XIV Annual Frida Kahlo Festival

@ Discovery Green

April 07 // 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM // Free

East End Studio Gallery is proud to present the 14th Annual Frida Festival at Discovery Green and Avenida de Las Americas! The Frida Art Exhibition and Viva Frida! Festival is a free, family and pet friendly event featuring an art exhibition at Hardy & Nance Studios, including a Look-a-Like Contest... more details

MONDAY, APRIL 08

Texas Light: The Art & Architecture of the Rothko Chapel

@ UH | College Of Architecture & Design

April 08 // 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Presented in partnership with the University of Houston School of Architecture, this program will explore the role of light in creating intentional experiences, and the history of the Rothko Chapel's architectural design with special focus on the skylight, from conception to post-renovation. The program will include presentations by Christopher Rothko, George Sexton, and Stephen Cassell, and will be followed by a moderated conversation by Sandra Zalman, UH Art History Professor... more details

TUESDAY, APRIL 09

MARCI'S STAFF PICK

CounterCurrent19

@ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts

April 09 - 14 // 9:00 AM - 12:00 AM // Free

CounterCurrent is a free festival of performance, installation, and ideas. Presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, CounterCurrent includes audio and visual installations, live performances, talks, and participatory events by artists from around the world. From large-scale spectacle to intimate interaction, CounterCurrent projects reflect the range of wa ys we view each other and the city around us... more details