Exhibits - Visit Us at Houston Public Library

John Biggers, The Sleepers (Three Figures), 1951, ink on paper, The John L. Nau III Collection of Texas Art.

September 6, 2025 – January 10, 2026
The Julia Ideson Building | Exhibit Hall

This exhibition features over 100 paintings, sculptures, and objects created in Houston by more than 30 Houston artists from 1945 to 1961, a period of rapid growth that transformed the regional Magnolia City into the internationally known metropolis of Space City. Between the end of World War II in 1945 to the 1961 decision to locate the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, the city underwent radical social and economic changes. The influx of new people, fortunes, and influences impacted all aspects of the city, including the arts.

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Where We Find Ourselves

September 6 - December 4, 2025 | Freedmen’s Town Visitor CenterWhere We Find Ourselves is a multi-disciplinary investigation into memory, place, and Black perception across generations, centering the historic neighborhood of Freedmen’s Town in Houston. Through photography, film, architectural modeling, and installation, artist Satchel Lee brings a forensic intimacy to the project, placing the South, and specifically Freedmen’s Town, under a microscope. Lee reveals the physical remnants of a once self-sustaining Black community founded by formerly enslaved people and the enduring brilliance embedded in its spatial and spiritual architecture. ...

The Fabulous Fifties: Houston Art at the Dawn of the Space Age, 1945-1961

John Biggers, The Sleepers (Three Figures), 1951, ink on paper, The John L. Nau III Collection of Texas Art.September 6, 2025 – January 10, 2026The Julia Ideson Building | Exhibit HallThis exhibition features over 100 paintings, sculptures, and objects created in Houston by more than 30 Houston artists from 1945 to 1961, a period of rapid growth that transformed the regional Magnolia City into the internationally known metropolis of Space City. Between the end of World War II in 1945 to the 1961 decision to locate the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, the city underwent radical social and economic changes. The influx of new people, fortunes, and influences impacted all aspects of the city, including the arts....

Bones of Texas - NOW OPEN!

Dustin Rice, Moore County, TX | Morgan Page, Adobes, TX | Morgan Page, Shafter II, TXAugust 12 - October 30, 2025Central Library | 1st Floor Gallery Where once there were the sounds of children playing, now there are just the whispers of the wind. The only visitors now are the wind and rain, along with the sun and moon. The abandonment itself is the citizenry. Where once there was community, now there are the Bones of Texas. Texas is ever evolving. The people of Texas came in waves that spread from the east and south. They then settled communities. A generation of settlers created towns based on the resources nearby: lumber, cattle, cotton. As the value of resources changed, those towns changed with them. As other resources were discovered the ways of life for townspeople were changed. This went on in every region of Texas. Texas has a long history that is diverse in both conflict and culture. Texas has seen Native Americans and frontiersmen, settlers and Texas Rangers. A great many set out to become farmers and the land dictated they become ranchers instead. Ranchers became oil men upon its discovery on their land. Railroads and the politics of where they went changed another generation. Rangers defended them as towns popped up seemingly from nothing to suit the needs of one group and lasted a generation, then just as quickly disappeared when the railroad, or eventually the highways, passed them by. As a consequence, towns that were once booming went by the wayside and others prospered in their place. Such has been the case in modern day Texas as well. Small town Texas has been slowly dying for several generations. As our big cities get bigger, our small towns get left behind. A population rapidly concentrating in the city has left many small towns to slowly decay on their own. In this decay there is great beauty. In this abandonment, this waste, there is a sense of the past, a shadow of those who came before us. In this exhibit, photographers Morgan Page and Dustin Rice seek to capture the natural textures and patterns in Texas’ landscape, as well as the stark contrast in the dilapidation that these things left behind give to it. In the thousands of miles they have traveled documenting these locations, they have strived to tell independent stories from the same places. One artist attempting to show the vastness of Texas, the scale that one place may convey against its own landscape; the other artist weaving stories of personal emotion and forgotten presence and absence in and around the architecture remaining. About the Artists Morgan Page received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and Digital Media from the University of Houston in Houston, TX. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Dustin Rice received his Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Mass Communications from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Both Page and Rice share a keen interest in Texas history and an adventurous spirit in exploring Texas landscapes. If you have any questions about this project, please visit https://www.bonesoftexas.com. ...

BLACK STEREO by Tierney Malone

Image courtesy Tierney Malone May 10 - September 27, 2025The African American History Research Center at the Gregory Campus | Gallery Black music is the soundtrack to the struggle for self-determination and liberation of Black people in the New World. It is the musical history of our evolution in this country. Black music has been key to shaping American culture. Africans stolen from their homeland were forced to give up their languages, rituals, names, and the drum. Yet, they retained the essence of these things and created spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and hip hop - musical forms whose powerful influence is undeniable on the cultural fabric of this county and beyond. Black music is a connection to our past and a source of inspiration, a space-creating force that encourages and seeds dreams for the future.In 1968, when singer Archie Bell said, “Hi, everybody. I'm Archie Bell of the Drells of Houston, Texas” on the hit record Tighten Up, he helped put Houston's music scene on the world map. The music for this song was created and performed by the TSU Toronadoes, a group formed by students from Texas Southern University in the heart of Third Ward, aka “The Tre.”In the exhibition Black Stereo, I am telling the stories and connection that African American artists and institutions of Greater Houston have with the city and the country. The works presented take the forms of concert posters, showbills, and album covers, infographics meant to highlight, educate, and entertain like music. The message is in the music. - Tierney Malone About Tierney MaloneMalone is a visual artist and modern-day storyteller who blends African American history and pop culture to create mixed media works that challenge contemporary culture and politics. He is the host of “Houston Jazz Spotlight,” a weekly program on Radio KPFT. JOIN US Opening Reception for BLACK STEREO with Tierney Malone | May 10, 2:00 - 4:00 PMArtist Talk | Tierney Malone: BLACK STEREO | June 21, 3:00 - 4:00 PM Events for EveryoneDATETIMEEVENTLOCATION Monday, June 92:00 - 3:00 PMMusical Performance by Sax MinistryFreed-Montrose Neighborhood LibraryRegister HereMonday, June 1612:00 - 1:00 PMMusical Performance by Sax MinistryMcCrane-Kashmere Gardens Neighborhood LibraryRegister HereSaturday, June 2111:00 AM - 9:00 PMMake Music Day FestivalCentral LibraryRegister HereWednesday, July 161:00 - 2:00 PMMusical Performance by Sax MinistryMancuso Neighborhood LibraryRegister Here Events for KidsDATETIMEEVENTLOCATION Tuesday, June 310:30 - 11:30 AMInstrument Explorers with Tom's Fun BandVinson Neighborhood LibraryRegister HereSaturday, June 2111:45 - 12:15 PMMusical StorytimeCentral LibraryRegister HereTuesday, July 153:00 - 4:00 PMInstrument Explorers with Tom's Fun BandScenic Woods Regional LibraryRegister HereTuesday, July 222:00 - 3:00 PMMusic and Movement with AndyRooStanaker Neighborhood LibraryRegister Here EXPLORE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Black Music in Houston Collection (MSS 0159)The Black Music in Houston Collection contains newspaper articles, programs, correspondence, and photographs of African American musicians and musical activity in Houston during the 1980s. Between WWI and WWII, Houston became a regional center of jazz music, a style popularized during the 19th century. Houston experienced a flourishing music scene from the 1960s to the 1980s with a variety of prevalent genres including blues, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Blues music was popularized in Houston during the 1940s with Gold Star Studios, more recently known as Sugar Hill Studios, who produced several prominent musicians including Lighting in Hopkins and Bobby Blue Band.Texas Jazz Archive (RG E 0071)In 1986, Arnett Cobb and his daughter Lizette Cobb created the Jazz Heritage Society of Texas as a non-profit education, literary, and cultural arts organization. Arnett Cobb expressed an interest in creating a jazz archive. In 1987, the Jazz Heritage Society of Texas partnered with the Houston Metropolitan Research Center (now Houston History Research Center) to document the under-represented jazz scene of Texas by establishing the Texas Jazz Archive. The strong points of this collection are the oral history interviews and the number of photographs chronicling these musicians' professional careers.Jazz Education Inc. (RG 0041)The Jazz Education Inc. Collection contains records related to the operations of Jazz Education Inc. between 1990-2022. Jazz Education Inc. was established in 1970 by Bubbha Thomas, to provide training and educational opportunities to children about the history and culture of jazz music, which were unavailable at both private and public institutions. The organization also sponsors four main programs: Music in the Schools (Jazz and Poetry Series), Summer Jazz Workshop, SJW Scholarship Jazz Brunch, and the Houston International Jazz Festival.Carlos Johnson Papers (MSS 0051)This collection contains the personal and professional records of Charles “Carlos” Johnson during his career as a percussionist. Charles Harold “Carlos” Johnson was born on August 31, 1945, to Ernestine and T.Z. Johnson in Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas. He attended Kashmere Junior and Senior High School and performed under Conrad Johnson. He attended Texas Southern University and performed with the TSU Jazz Ensemble. During his 35-year career as a percussionist, he adopted the stage name “Carlos” and in addition to jazz, he performed with classical, country, rock, and pop musicians. Johnson taught music, performed as a solo artist through Congos By Carlos, and was part of music groups such as D.R.U.M. (Divine Rhythm United Motion). CHECK OUT THE CATALOG Kid/JuvenileAdoff, Arnold, Roots and Blues: A CelebrationDell, Pamela, The Blues: Birth of an American SoundEarl, C. F., Hip-Hop: A Short HistoryKoopmans, Andy, The History of the BluesLoney, Andrea J., The Double Bass BluesMour, Stanley I., Innovators of American JazzMyers, Walter Dean, JazzWheeler, Lisa, Jazz BabyWilliams, Jarrett, Hip-Hop: The Beat of AmericaWinter, Jonah, How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz AdultBradley, Andy, House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording StudiosCorcoran, Michael, Ghost Notes: Pioneering Spirits of Texas MusicCorcoran, Michael Joseph, All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas MusicFaniel, Maco L., Hip-Hop in Houston: The Origin & the LegacySteptoe, Tyina L., Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow CityWalker, Lance Scott, Houston Rap Tapes: An Oral History of Bayou City Hip-HopWood, Charles Roger, Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues WatchWhen Houston Had the BluesBeyonce ListenRhino Hi-Five: Archie Bell & The DrellsArnett CobbThelonius Monk: The London Collection Vol. 1The Dixie HummingbirdsThe Crusaders Library of ThingsPortable record player This exhibition is generously supported by Houston Public Library, Houston Public Library Foundation, and the City of Houston....