We love Houston!

Don't we?!

Ever been downtown and seen the Virtuoso...

Or have you been on 45 and seen the giant Sam Houston?

Those are both works of David Adickes, the artist, the sculptor, and a real contributor to Houston.
He also is responsible for what has been dubbed "Mount Rush-Hour" which is a play off of Mount Rushmore.  This installation includes busts of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sam Houston, and Stephen Austin. It is located at a notorious Houston bottleneck...I-10 eastbound just past I-45.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I am going to let you in on what may be a secret to some of you... He has a warehouse off of 2500 Summer St. behind the newer Target on Sawyer.  There are not set hours, but you can always see the massive pieces of artwork just chillin' in the lot.  It is basically open to the public yet not intended to be a destination...although it really is!
 
Remember this guy...

Look at the detail!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It is a really neat experience to see these "busts" in the real...they are substantial and look so much like the person they are representing.  Even the contemporary version of the Beatles!
 

One of the newest works by David Adickes is the "We <3 Houston" sign that is planned to be on display off of I-10 east of Shepherd...a high-profile installation! Apparently Adickes is waiting for construction along the freeway to finish before installing it.  I went by and snuck a peek at it before it got "unveiled".

And if you are ever in South Dakota, check this out Presidents Park.



Hoop...there it is!

NCAA Men's Final Four is this weekend in Houston.
There will be many events and things to do around town in celebration.
I am looking forward to stopping in on The Big Dance
A free three-day event at Discovery Green that will have music, food, and activities.

Here is the schedule:

AT&T Block Party
Friday
4 p.m. - 10 p.m. Big Dance Open To Public
4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Los Skarnales
6:15 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. Naismith Preview Show
7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. The Hold Steady
9 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. Sublime with Rome - Headliner

Coke Zero Countdown
Saturday
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Big Dance Open To Public
11:30 a.m. - Noon Vallejo
12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m. Robert Randolph & the Family Band
1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Panic! At the Disco
3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Kings of Leon - Headliner
5:07 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Viewing Party - Semifinal #1

Capital One JamFest
Sunday
3 p.m. - 1 p.m. Big Dance Open To Public
4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Roger Creager
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Uncle Kracker
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Pat Green
8:45 p.m. - 10 p.m. Kenny Chesney - Headliner

hoop...there it is!

Elaine Turner - City Centre Grand Opening

This evening local designer Elaine Turner is having the GRAND OPENING of her City Centre store.
This is her second store in Houston.

Event Info:
Wednesday, March 30
5 - 8 p.m.
800 Town & Country Blvd.
Houston, TX 77024



Light Bites Provided by Eddie V’s
Valet Parking
California Chic Attire
RSVP: 713.255.9095



For more info on the new Elaine Turner CITYCENTRE location, visit ETD Blog

Architect: Lance Raney
General Contractor: Collaborative Projects
Millwork: Collaborative Projects



Rosemont Bridge

Have you seen what's going on at Allen Parkway recently?!

Check out Rosemont Bridge, located off of Allen Parkway @ Montrose which connects to Memorial. 

The Grand Opening Ceremony and Festival for the Rosemont Bridge

will be held THIS Saturday, March 26 at 11 a.m.

on the north side of the Memorial Drive trail system near Montrose.

If I were in town I certainly would make a day of it...

walking or riding the trails and exploring the Bayou City Art Festival. 

I went by yesterday and saw that it was still "under construction" so I only walked around and under it. 

 

Check out these TOLERANCE statues...

 

 

 

 

 

Those were all photos I took, but check out this one I found on Flicker by Mennon5D of them at night...

keepin' it re-al

I have been spending quite a lot of time around the Westheimer/Montrose area lately for work.  We (Collaborative Projects) currently have a really big and exciting project brewing up in the old Chances location.  Sometime this year it will be completely transformed into two concepts...bar and restaurant...Hay Merchant and Underbelly (respectively).  The individuals involved are Chris Sheperd of Catalan and "the boys" from Anvil, Bobby Heugel and Kevin Floyd.  There is no doubt this collaboration will be a reeeeal good thing!

That said; while in the neighborhood the other day, I noticed that El Real Tex-Mex was OPEN. I am looking forward to trying it out and seeing what they did with the place.  It is located in the old Tower Theater on the lower section of Westheimer, in what was last home to Hollywood Video.  Although it is another Tex-Mex joint in Houston, this one promises something unique...so I expect!  The menu will consist of vintage Tex-Mex...authentic and original. 

Robb Walsh, Bill Floyd, and Bryan Caswell are the people behind this place.  Robb Walsh had his home kitchen designed and built by Collaborative Projects a few years back.  It was our most adventurous concept to date...but appropriately so.  Robb is an adventurous guy! Check out his book Sex, Death, and Oysters. 

Bryan is a true celebrity for Houston.  He is behind the ever popular REEF and Little Bigs.  He also was featured on The Food Network's IRON CHEF. With a combo like this I have nothing but good feelings...

In the next couple of years, this area will develop into a real hip section of Houston.  Already quirky, the Montrose area needed a little polish around the edges and some pep in it's step.  With the recent integration of places like Royal Oak, Little Bigs, and Anvil...the current developments of El Real, Underbelly and Hay Merchant...and then the future projects of Uchi and the TBD replacement in the Ruggles spot, there's no doubt it will really become quite the spot!

down on the bayou

Next weekend is the houston bayou city art festival.

This event takes place twice every year. in the fall it is downtown and in the spring it is at memorial park.

I've been to the last four and loved em...being outside, seeing all the tremendously creative artists and their selective outlets for sharing their talents with people, and of course taking the inspiration with me is priceless.

Some of my favorites

bill sargent 

charles bush

Lou Michaels

Signe Grushovenko

one of the most fun concepts, by audrey heller

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I can not wait to incorporate these cacti steel pieces by Desert Steel Co. into a client's house one day. check out their site and see how they light from within.




the rest of the photos below are a hodgepodge of photos i took at one of the festivals.

check out this site for more info on artists

these "nuts and bolts" had SO much character.

very fun furniture and items made from smashed bottle caps. i want a table!

these are made from aluminum cans

this really made an impression in person!

with LEDs, mirror, and glass, this table was pretty neat.





weeeeeeee

i ran across this article on one of the sites i frequent
(new york is so bad-a)
in this case, two identical 1bedroom units, one above the other, were combined into a duplex 2bedroom home...but how to get from upstairs to down? A SLIDE!
super fun. take a look at the pics below and then visit this site and read about it.

which brings me to my question...do they call it upslide and downslide as opposed to upstairs and downstairs???

anvil facelift

today collaborative projects gave a local bar a facelift.
ANVIL BAR & REFUGE (1424 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77006) received some new seating!

serveral vinyl tufted banquettes and booths made their way in...just in time for their 2nd anniversary party this sunday.  swing by sometime and let me know what you think!
their celebration goes from 4pm till close on sunday, with top 10 cocktail list, rare beer, and eatsie boys food.