Pan Recommends for the week of June 27 to July 3

Robert Boyd

There is actually quite a lot of stuff happening in Houston's art world this weekend--a little surprising for the middle of summer. Below are just a few of the events we'll be braving the triple digits to check out this weekend.


THURSDAY


Presumably no paint will be involved in this hand-shaking performance

Shake Hands With The Art Guys in the Tunnel System Beneath The Esperson Building, 7 am – 3 pm.  Press the flesh with Massing and Galbreth downtown Thursday as they continue their year-long celebration of 30 years collaborating.
 
FRIDAY



Jay Giroux

Jay Giroux: Ideas Are Free at Devin Borden Gallery, 6-8 pm, with a talk by the artist on June 29 at noon. From the outstanding 2011 UH MFA class, now in Brooklyn, Giroux returns to Houston with new work.


Erik Shane Swanson, Polychromatic Pentaptych, 2013, enamel and acetone on panel, 19 x 75 inches

Under the Moon Tower at David Shelton Gallery featuring Peter Abrami, Janaye Brown, Georgia Carter, Adriana Corral, Aaron Meyers, James Scheuren and Erik Shane Swanson, 6-8 pm. All right all right all right, party at the moon tower with seven graduates and candidates from the 2013-2015 UT MBA classes. There's a new fiesta in the making as we speak. Everybody's gonna be there--you outta go.


Michael Menchaca, Sweven , 2013

Fahamu Pecou: All Dat Glitters Ain't Goals and Michael Menchaca: SWEVEN at BLUEorange, 6:00 - 9:00 pm. Atlanta artist Fahamu Pecou and San Antonio artist Michael Menchaca each have shows at BLUEorange, one of Houston's newer galleries. I saw the Pecou show in Austin, and it's great. And Menchaca's graphic work looks totally insane.


I think that's a Rabéa Ballin on the left and an Ann Johnson on the right, but I'm not quite sure!

Bās featuring Rabéa Ballin, Ann Johnson, Delita Martin, Lovie Olivia at the Art League Houston, 6 ­ to 9 PM with the artists speaking at 7:00 PM. These four artists have been having joint exhibits for four years. I've been a fan of Ballin's for years, and Johnson's technique of photo printing on surfaces like dried leaves allows her to create some haunting images.


Carter Ernst

Carter Ernst: Fur Bitten, Ken Mazzu: Echoes of Oblivion, and Pat Johnson: Artist Tries to Save the World at the Art Car Museum, 7 to 10 pm. If you missed her show at the Nave Museum, you still have a chance to see Carter Ernst's sculpture show, along with additional shows by Ken Mazzu and Pat Johnson (I wonder if this is the same Pat Johnson who was an art critic here in town for so long?)

The Last Guy to Show Up at the Itchy Acres Party

by Robert Boyd

I've written about the Independence Heights art neighborhood twice now, here and here. Finding this place was purest serendipity, which is the loveliest thing that can happen to an art lover. Only my arrogance would let me think I was the first (beyond the artists themselves) to stumble across this neighborhood. Of course, I was not the first--not even close.

In 2001, a 3-acre lot next to Kittelson and Ernst's property became available. A loose partnership - Kittelson and Ernst, sculptor Ed Wilson and his wife, Magda Boltz-Topp; artist Charlie Sartwelle, and contractor/fine woodworker Brian Owens - leaped at the opportunity to buy it.

"We were on Ashland in the Heights, but with two growing kids, the two-bedroom house was getting small," Owens said. When the land came up for sale, "I hooked up with Carter, Ed and Charlie, and we bought it together."

Owens designed and built his beautifully crafted family home after constructing a temporary metal house that now serves as a guest house. Wilson refurbished a bungalow after paying to move it from across the street to his land. He then built an open, 1,600-square-foot metal studio on two levels with room for his wife's photography and print-making.

The only fence on the now-larger Itchy Acres compound is the gated one along the city street.
Neighbors seem receptive. Mohamed Bataineh owns a strip center on Yale one block south of Martin that includes Harvest Food Store and Fixit Body Shop. "People are moving in and putting money in the neighborhood, and that is good," he said.

Sculptor Tim Glover and his wife, Mary, bought an acre that backs up to the compound. They are selling the bungalow they own in the Heights that has doubled in market value since they bought it in 1989, according to the Harris County Appraisal District.

By comparison, land in northwest Houston is cheap. Most house values around Itchy Acres range from $20,000 to $90,000 and land is about $1 a square foot.

Artists Virgil Grotfeldt and Terrell James recently bought land in the northwest neighborhood, too, with plans to build studios.[The Houston Chronicle, Houston artists have been scattering from the traditional enclaves / AN ARTISTIC MOVEMENT, 11/12/2006]

 If the Chronicle was on top of this in 2006, it must have been well-known within the artistic community well before then. That gives you an idea of how late I am to this party.

Not only did the Chron report on them, they recently had a group exhibit at Gallery Nord in San Antonio.The thing is, some of these artists have been living there since 1995. There has been a very slow influx since then, with the most recent artistic addition to the neighborhood being Independence Art Studios, which started two years ago. In a way, it seems like a critical addition to the neighborhood. While it was just artists and their studios, it could be somewhat secret. But once an institution moves in (like a gallery or an public art space or studios for rent or an art school), you start getting visitors from the greater Houston area. Word gets out (for instance, via feckless bloggers) and the cycle of gentrification can begin.



Zillow.com map of Independence Heights/Garden Oaks

According to Zillow and HAR.com, there is little for sale near Itchy Acres (except for this promising warehouse on Martin). The prices just to the west of Shepherd are relatively high--that neighborhood is Garden Oaks, and it is a lot more suburban than Independence Heights. To the east of Yale--the heart of Independence Heights--the prices for houses are dirt cheap, but the houses are small and dilapidated on small lots.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to write about Itchy Acres for the moment. It may be that despite the artists who have moved in, no gentrification will take place in Independence Heights or Acres Homes. Who knows? Nonetheless, artist-lead gentrification is part of the artistic economy, and therefore extremely interesting to me.

Mysterious North Houston Art Colony Discovered

by Robert Boyd



Independence Art Studios had an open house last weekend, so I decided to go check them out. They are on Janisch Rd. between Shepherd and Yale north of the Loop. The neighborhood they are in is Independence Heights. Independence Heights was a small town founded by black families in 1916 that got annexed by Houston in 1929. What is considered the neighborhood of Independence Heights is a little bigger than the original municipality. It's a part of town I've never really visited before, and I was well amazed when I did. When I discover art happening in Houston--particularly art that's been completely off my radar--I get excited. I knew Independence Art Studios existed, but I was very impressed to finally see it.



These are the studios. (You can't see it well here, but to the right is a big house. The lots on the streets in this neighborhood are enormous.) The studios are owned and run by the Cullar-Ledfords--Thedra Cullar-Ledford and her husband Stephen Cullar-Ledford. I didn't meet them when I stopped by, but I have a strong feeling for Stephen--he went to the Jones School for an MBA (as did I) and works for a natural gas E&P, as do I, and does an big art thing on the side! (Independence Art Studios for him, Pan for me.)

The studios are made out of old containers, and are quite roomy inside--long and thin, with a tiny loft space for storage. One artist, Jon Clark, lives in his space.



Jon Clark and Chasity Sophus Porter, who also has a studio there, posed for me. Clark had amazing piece of sculpture on the front lawn--another wooden nautilus shape.


Jonathan Clark, untitled, cedar and deckmate screws, 2011

Ok, I was pretty impressed by what the Cullar-Ledfords had done. They have a thriving art colony going! Check out their website. But as I mentioned, it was a neighborhood I had never really seen. So out of curiosity, I thought I'd drive around and see what else was there. So I went one block south to Martin St. and my mind was blown.


414 Martin Rd.

This nondescript house had a brilliant blue sculpture by Lee Littlefield in front of it. (I'm sorry I don't have a photo, but the photos I took were out of focus.) And their front yard was chock full of abstract sculptures.



The yellow sculpture looked like another Lee Littlefield, and it seemed like there was a third in the back yard.









This is an amazing collection of sculpture, and there's even more than what I've photographed! Except for the pieces that are obviously by Lee Littlefield, I have no idea who created these works. Can any Pan readers identify them?

But wait--that's not all. There were just as many sculptures in the yards of three houses across the street. I didn't get as many photos because the sculptures were further back in the property, and I didn't want to skulk around in case they were shoot-first-ask-questions-later types. But here are a couple of photos.





These sculptures appeared to be at the addresses 331, 331 1/2, 405 and 414 Martin St. I was curious as to who owned them, but I didn't think to knock on the doors and ask. So I thought I'd do the next best thing--look them up on HCAD, Harris County's internet accessible property database.

And what do you know--Lee and Eliza Littlefield live at 414 Martin Street. Those sculptures look like Lee Littlefield sculptures for a good reason! Someone named Brian Owens owns the property at 331 Martin, which has two really nice looking houses on it as well as lots of sculpture. His name doesn't mean anything to me, but he may be renting houses to artists there. 405 Martin is owned by Magdalene Boltz-Topp, who is also an artist. But that's not all--according to HCAD, sculptors Paul Kittleson and Carter Ernst co-own the property right next door to the Littlefields.

So with Independence Art Studios on Janisch Rd., and a whole bunch of sculptors on Martin St., I think we can say that this is a little hidden art neighborhood. And if it follows the pattern of other art neighborhoods like Montrose and Rice Military, in 25 years or so, it will be full of expensive townhomes. So my advice is to buy now--or at least take a drive over past the Littlefield's home--it's worth checking out.

Pan's Parenting Tips

Carter Ernst, Double Pendulum, wire mesh, fabric, wood, 2010

If your child is giving you too much back-talk and sass, you might want to consider purchasing this Carter Ernst sculpture at Nau-Haus and hanging it opposite of the recalcitrant child's bed.