What have we learned in Houston?

5. Vinegar pie and bacon in your cocktail are excellent culinary delights.

4. It is well worth driving miles out of town for banana pudding ice cream!




3. Karen will eat anything on vacation - including fried pickles and goat stew (sadly, not illustrated).

2. Battling heat and humidity for the sake of culture and roadside oddities sometimes has great rewards.

1. Texas is so much more than guns, oil and Bushes!

A Texas Size Waterfall

Kevin read about a giant wall of water in his Roadside America app. Upon further investigation, we discovered that this amazing, neo-classic water sculpture was designed by Philip Johnson. It was a welcome respite from the heat and humidity of the day and an excellent backdrop for photos!

Jaume Plensa, Tolerance Statues

Quite by accident we noticed this installation of 7 outdoor sculptures by renowned Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa.

For an interview with Jaume Plensa, click here: http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1191/Interview-with-Jaume-Plensa-creator-of-Tolerance-statues-in-Houston

All the Presidents' Heads

Artist David Adickes is known for his heroic-scale sculptures of historic figures.  His series of president heads (from Washington to Obama), each between 16 and 20 feet tall, are peppered around his studio in an industrial Houston neighborhood.  The photo opportunities were endless...

Worshiping in the House of Art: Rothko Chapel

The Rothko Chapel, dedicated in 1971, was one of the last and most important endeavors that Dominique and John de Menil worked on together. It is an intimate sanctuary open to and respectful of the integrity of each religion.  Inside the Philip Johnson designed structure, quiet meditation and contemplation is inspired by the canvases of Mark Rothko, one of the most important American artists of the twentieth Century.  On the plaza stands Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This modern work of religious art is comparable in importance to the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France by Henri Matisse and le Corbusier's Chapel in Ronchamp, France.  The Rothko Chapel welcomes 60,000 visitors each year.  On this Sunday, we worship in the house that art built.

"Everything I've learned, I've learned from love."
-- Dominique deMenil

To learn more about the Rothko Chapel, click here:
http://www.rothkochapel.org

Art Mecca - The Menil Collection

The story of the Menil Collection begins in France with the 1931 marriage of John de Menil (1904–1973), a young banker from a military family, and Dominique Schlumberger (1908–1997), daughter of Conrad Schlumberger, one of the founders of the oil-services company, Schlumberger, Ltd. The de Menils left France during World War II, making their way to Houston where they quickly became key figures in Houston’s developing cultural life as advocates of modern art and architecture and supporters of civil and human rights. They opened the Menil Collection in June 1987. The building was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. It is known as one of the most perfect encyclopedic museums in the world with first rate examples of antiquities through to contemporary art with separate installations of Cy Twombly, Dan Flavin and the Rothko Chapel (see separate post). It did not disappoint.

Kevin and Muchane with Michael Heizer

The beautiful Arican and Oceanic galleries

Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman

Karen and Muchane with Mark diSuvero

Jim Love's Jack and Linda

Say Goodbye Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor, 1994

Dan Flavin (not Kevin's favorite artist)

Channeling Sonja, our 3rd Art Girl

Michael Heizer

For more information on the Menil Collection click here:
http://www.menil.org

Off the Beaten Path - Part 2

Other attractions we visited thanks to the Roadside America app:

An armadillo with longhorns; smoke pours from its nostrils.

Art Car Museum

Roadside sculpture park

36-foot-tall statues of the Beatles by David Adickes

Saxophone sculpture made from VW parts