Houston: Space City

While Houston is notable for being one of humanity’s launching points into outer space, many of the city’s greatest treasures can be found on the ground. That’s certainly the case for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), one of the United States’ largest museums with 300,000 square feet of exhibition space. This is divided across seven areas.Five different areas make up MFAH’s main campus. The original building is the Caroline Wiess Law Building, originally constructed in the neo-classical style in 1924. The building contains two additions which represent the only American museum designs of the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Law Building is where you’ll find the 20^th- and 21^st-century collections, partnered with exotic installations including Oceanic art, gold artifacts from Indonesia, and the Glassell Collection, the world’s largest collection of African gold.The second building, the Audrey Jones Beck Building, was opened in 2000. The exterior includes a specially-commissioned bronze relief piece by Joseph Havel called Curtain. The first floor features American art, while the second floor offers antiquities and European art. In the outdoor Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, designed by artist/architect Isamu Noguchi, twenty-five major works from the 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st centuries take center stage. The garden, opened in 1986, connects the Caroline Weiss Law Building with the Glassell School of Art, opened in 1979. This is an actual school, where students of all ages and experiences can take courses to unleash their inner artist.The main campus is completed by the Central Administration and Glassell Junior School of Art Building, opened in 1994 to extend the MFAH’s teaching experiences to younger students. This is the only museum building in America entirely dedicated to children’s art classes.There are two other areas on campus. One is the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, a mansion housing a collection of American artifacts dating from the early 17^th to late 19^th centuries. This collection was donated by Texas native Ima Hogg in 1957and yes, that’s her real name. The other main attraction is the Rienzi House Museum. The house was built for Harris Masterson III and is named after Masterson’s grandfather, Rienzi Johnston. Johnston served as head of the Houston Post for a significant period and also served one month in the U.S. Senate. The building was designed in 1952 by John F. Staub, who also designed the Bayou Bend mansion. Originally a center for civic activity in Houston, the home was turned into a museum after the owner’s death in 1991. It now holds a collection of European decorative arts.All of this just goes to show that Houston isn’t just a launching pointit’s a journey unto itself, with the Museum of Fine Arts just one of its many worthy stops.