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Favorite Houston Public Art And Fountains?


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I'm just curious about which public fountains/statues/sculptures/murals/etc in the Houston area are HAIFers favorites. Here are some of mine...

Gus Wortham Memorial Fountain, Buffalo Bayou/Allen Parkway:

photo4.jpg

The fountains within Tranquility Park:

tranquility-park-houston-kerens.jpg

The Treebeards' mural at Market Square:

mktsqr.jpg

This mosaic (which I haven't seen in-person) at Ryan Middle School, done by the folks at MOCAH:

our-history.jpg

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All of them. I LOVE public art and fountains. I'll try to come up with pics of some of my favorites. One that comes to mind right away is the "waterwall" on the Main Street side of the MFAH's Beck Building.

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-Gus Wortham fountain above, hands down

-Cotswold Fountains

-Kugel Ball at Hermann Park (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/kugelball.html)

-Gargoyles at Market Square (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/gargoyles.html)

-Lauren's Garden fountain at Market Square (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/laurensgarden.html)

-rail water screen (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/waterscreen.html)

Oh, and that bubble in the bayou is kind of neat when it's working (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/bigbubble.html) and the Tolerance sculptures are interesting (http://www.houstontx.gov/municipalart/tolerance.html)

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Great choices!

I can't believe I forgot one of my absolute favorite pieces of public art anywhere - the Seven Wonders next to Wortham:

5422291728_e2a7bd1335.jpg

They represent the city, and the artist was assisted by 1,050 local schoolchildren in the design. In my mind, this is Houston's monument. I just wish more people paid attention to them. I know native Houstonians who don't even know of their existence.

Edit: I'm editing this to say that I generally really love Sesquicentennial Park. Perhaps the most underrated park in the city, in my opinion. I recently (a few months back) went to visit the Baker Monument. It was such a relaxing place to be, despite being in such close proximity to major thoroughfares and the skyscrapers of downtown.

Rather than posting a photo of the actual sculpture, I'll post this beautiful painting done by a (to me) unknown artist:

ph01.jpg

Edit2: Edited again to provide what I consider is a better picture of Seven Wonders (this time showing all seven).

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Oh, and that bubble in the bayou is kind of neat when it's working

My understanding is that it's purposefully built to not work, at times - in order to give passers-by a feeling of curiosity about the function of the button. I've never actually seen/pushed it myself, so I don't know.

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The Treebeards' mural at Market Square:

[...]

Didnt they paint over this? I'm hoping Im wrong

Maybe. I haven't been by there in a while. If so, it'd be a shame - but even that picture shows that it's got some tears, so I wouldn't be surprised.

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Landscape With Blue Trees

11042_174845929070_174240729070_2945389_6246507_n.jpg

The UH campuses (especially the main campus) have some extraordinary art, for sure.

When I was about 12 years old, my brother (who is 11 years older than me) was a grad student in materials science here. I remember visiting and going with him to his lab. It was boring to me, so I'd wait outside - finding ways to climb onto these 'trees' and just generally goofing off... as, perhaps, all children should do.

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Here's some more great pieces from UH, in my opinion...

Collegium, by William King. I remember my days as a student here, when I'd walk by and find that some mischievous pranksters had somehow climbed up and 'installed' backpacks on these guys:

collegium5_L.jpg

Gerhard Marks' most 'seen' piece at UH is probably Albertus Magnus in front of the Law Library, but I like his Orpheus more; it stands in the Fine Arts courtyard:

orpheus2_L.jpg

Tower of the Cheyenne, by Peter Forakis - which stands in Butler Plaza in front of the MD Anderson Library. (This is an old pic which doesn't show the remodeling of the library's facade.)

uhhp197.jpg

And, finally, the Orbits by Masaru Takiguchi. #1 (left) is in S&R I and #2 is in the law library.

orbit1_L.jpguhhp530.jpg

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I always kind of liked the fountains at the old Shamrock Hilton site.

wortham-park-fountain.jpg

When my now-wife and I were dating, a friends' mother asked us to 'model' for her new photography business, in order to get some sample shots. She chose this plaza for its beauty and the variety of shots she could get from inside. I think most people don't even notice this plaza, but it's a nice haven.

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I always kind of liked the fountains at the old Shamrock Hilton site.

wortham-park-fountain.jpg

I've always thought this was a waste of a public space.

It's on the wrong side of Main and Holcomb to get any visitors from the TMC. No benches, no shade.

I pass here multiple times a week and I've never seen anyone even attempting to enjoy it.

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I've always thought this was a waste of a public space.

It's on the wrong side of Main and Holcomb to get any visitors from the TMC. No benches, no shade.

I pass here multiple times a week and I've never seen anyone even attempting to enjoy it.

I believe this space is owned by the Texas A&M facility next-door. As such, it's probably just intended as a grove for the employees that work there.

I agree that it would be nicer if it were closer to the 'center' of the TMC activity but... oh well.

I have seen some people there occasionally, but I think it would be used more often by the public if it were better-connected to the rest of the facilities around it.

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UH was the first campus in the state to start a fund for public art pieces back in 1966. There are so many jewels out there. The newest piece is by Houston's own Art Guys and is part of the recently opened freshman dorm complex off of Calhoun. It's not my favorite but it's nice to see that the campus keeps adding to its impressive collection.

Other things that I enjoy but haven't been mentioned yet;

The Beer Can House + Orange Show

The reflection pool with rapids at the newly revamped Hermann Park

Mecom Fountain

Project Row Houses (architecture and preservation as art)

Sunset, North, and South Blvds. (landscape architecture as art... nothing is as pretty as the live oak canopy)

I aslo really enjoyed the "Blue Bayou" sidewalk when it first opened but it's a mess now.

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I've always thought this was a waste of a public space.

It's on the wrong side of Main and Holcomb to get any visitors from the TMC. No benches, no shade.

I pass here multiple times a week and I've never seen anyone even attempting to enjoy it.

But what about this section? Benches and shade. The fountains spurt up in rhythmic patterns there. It's enjoyable to watch.

tmc-wortham-fountains-park.jpg

The reason the park was built there was it was a bit of an act of atonement on the part of the Medical Center for gratuitously tearing down the Shamrock.

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But what about this section? Benches and shade. The fountains spurt up in rhythmic patterns there. It's enjoyable to watch.

tmc-wortham-fountains-park.jpg

The reason the park was built there was it was a bit of an act of atonement on the part of the Medical Center for gratuitously tearing down the Shamrock.

This is the section in which we took the photos to which I referred previously. It's gorgeous within these walls. Serene, despite being in proximity to two major thoroughfares and the world's largest medical center.

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But what about this section? Benches and shade. The fountains spurt up in rhythmic patterns there. It's enjoyable to watch.

The reason the park was built there was it was a bit of an act of atonement on the part of the Medical Center for gratuitously tearing down the Shamrock.

I stand corrected on the benches and shade... but location still sucks.

If it's located such that only one building is going to benefit from it, I guess it shouldn't even considered a 'public space'.

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