Downtown Houston received an art-inspired makeover this spring. The Art Blocks project features four temporary art installations that splash color on Main Street’s central three-block stretch. The colorful public artwork scales building exteriors and light posts, overtaking sidewalks and roadways. Part of a larger capital improvement road project, Art Blocks will be on view from late February 2016 to March 2017 with future installations possible.
Houston’s streets and buildings display the work of internationally acclaimed artists like Jessica Stockholder, artist collective YesYesNo, Houston’s Patrick Renner and the Flying Carpet collective, and a rotation of installations by four Texas-based artists. Pedestrians walking through Main Street’s intersections can see painting and vinyl creations that envelop them in color as they pass through.
- Jessica Stockholder uses the Houston cityscape as her canvas in her colorful street art installation “Color Jam Houston”.
- Patrick Renner and the Flying Carpet collective treat Houston to a follow-up of their popular Funnel Tunnel (formerly in Montrose) with “Trumpet Flower”, a 60 foot high canopy sculpture woven with colored recycled wood. The sculpture also includes street level café tables and chairs for public use.
- YesYesNo’s “más que la cara” creates a unique digital experience that takes the faces of passing pedestrians and reflects their image with a colorful mask onto two windows.
- Main Street’s Marquee features a quarterly rotation of artwork from Texas-based artists: Armando Castelan, Jamal Cyrus and Ukranian-born Nataliya Scheib, of Houston; and M. Giovanni Valderas, of Dallas.
The Art Blocks project is part of a larger capital improvement projects already underway in the 19-block stretch of Main Street. The renovations include new landscaping, improved roadway drainage, new street lighting, and improved signage among other improvements.
