» Buffalo Bayou ArtPark

The Buffalo Bayou ArtPark features a constantly rotating collection of public art at the Sabine Street bridge between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. Between 20 and 25 works of art are displayed at the park at any one time. The park itself slopes down the banks of Buffalo Bayou and offers a variety of settings for sculpture as well as other forms of art.

BBAP traces its origins back to the Watermelon Flats Sculpture Show of 1987. Due to financial hardship, the city of Houston discontinued its support for an annual sculpture show on Buffalo Bayou. Local sculptors then held their own exhibit on the site of an old farmer’s market downtown. They didn't ask permission, they didn't seek approval--they just did it. The artists involved in that show would help spearhead Houston's rise in the art world. They included the Art Guys, Jackie Harris, Paul Kittelson, Carter Ernst, and Tim Glover.

This spontaneous exhibit inaugurated a trend. The 1987 show was followed by exhibits in subsequent years. Soon what had been a spontaneous movement grew up and settled down. BBAP became a non-profit organization and entered into an agreement with the City of Houston Parks Department where a part of the parks system adjoining Allen Parkway, on the banks of Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston, is devoted to the display of temporary public art work.

Since then, BBAP has spread its wings and has developed a variety of other projects intended to further the ability to take public art out into the 600 square mile area that is the Houston community. These include an Artist in Residency program which teams a nationally recognized artist with the sculpture students at the University of Houston, an annual display of Christmas Trees created by local artists and students, and a neighborhood artists program that allows local artists to develop projects suited to Houston's many neighborhoods.