Museum District Day

How to enjoy the ‘cool-ish’ temps that have decended upon our fair city this week? Enjoy a free day in the Houston Museum District at the annual Museum District Day this Saturday. From 10am-5pm, 18 museums will offer free general admission and many museums will host special events and exhibits. If walking isn’t your gig, you can hop a pedicab between museums  — a new addition to the festivities this year.

Get the 411 on getting to the District, navigating the zones, finding food trucks, and staying safe on the the Museum Distict blog. Montrose District is a proud sponsor of this free, family-friendly, community event in the neighborhood … and it’s one of our favorite events all year! So come out, get your culture on and stop by one of our local restaurants in the area for brunch, lunch or a post-outing cocktail.

I fondly remember trekking in from the ‘burbs as a teen for this year many moons ago – ok, like 16 moons ago – walking the grand halls of the MFAH, climbing those almost insurmountable stairs, begging my parents for just one more stop and gazing up at the massive trees lining our walk. While the event has grown immensely in 16 years, I still get excited for this time of year – exploring the halls of all these cultural landmarks in cool-ish temperatures that say, “Hey, fall will be here in another month.”

Houston, you’ve outdone yourself once again. Download their handy flyer to get dish on all the zones and more:  Page 1. Page 2.

Participating museums include: Asia Society Texas Center, Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Children’s Museum of Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Czech Center Museum Houston, The Health Museum, Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Center for Photography, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Rothko Chapel, Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Jung Center of Houston, The John C. Freeman Weather Museum, Museum of African American Culture, Lawndale Art Center, The Menil Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Rice University Art Gallery.

Museum District Day Activities:
ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS CENTER Café available inside the museum
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Family Day: Central Asia and the Silk Road – Enjoy crafts, storytelling, tours and a special percussion workshop. All Day – Treasures of Asian Asian Art: A Rockefeller Legacy and Contemporary Asian Art: Texas Connections exhibition-related activities.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS NATIONAL MUSEUM Food truck available
All Day – Come and experience a live reenactment of “The Buffalo Soldiers Story “by Trooper Biggs (hourly). Bring the entire family to experience great art, crafts, music and of course History galore.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF HOUSTON Café available inside the museum
All Day – Hands-on Exhibit: Instructables: Made in your Mind.

CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM HOUSTON Food truck available
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. – On CAMH’s front lawn: music, refreshments and art workshops led by CAMH’s Teen Council.
All Day – Jane Alexander: Surveys (from the Cape of GoodHope) exhibition.

CZECH CENTER MUSEUM HOUSTON
All Day – Czech American impressionist artist Kamil Kubik.

THE HEALTH MUSEUM Food truck available
All Day – Enjoy live science Discovery Carts, Planet You 3D film, permanent exhibits, kids activities and the new fall exhibit Sonic Sensation, a fun multi-sensory exhibition for children and adults that lets you see, feel, and hear sound.

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON Food truck available
All Day – Holocaust survivors and Darfurians share stories Blood Memory: A View from the Second Generation and Inheritance: Stories of Memory and Discovery.

HOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
All Day – Gathering of the Guilds craft demonstrations, Glass Graphica exhibit.

HOUSTON CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY Food truck available. Water available while supplies last.
All Day – Enjoy “In Appropriation” in the West and Central Galleries and “Learning Curve 6” in the East Gallery. Each exhibition will have accompanying audio tours from the exhibiting artists, curators, and jurors via OnCell.

HOUSTON MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE Food truck available
All Day – Check out one of the newest additions to the Museum District. The Everything Bert exhibition will display a selection of international acclaimed artist Bert L. Long Jr.’s large and eclectic body of work including a 30 ton multicolored ice sculpture commissioned for the exhibition.

HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE Café available inside the museum
10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Meet KHOU-TV Channel 11 anchors and reporters. RadioDisney on-site from 2 to 4 p.m. All Day – Tour the museum’s Permanent Exhibit Halls.

THE JUNG CENTER 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Instructor Q&A on expressive writing, typology and dreams.
All Day – Collage making.

LAWNDALE ART CENTER Food truck available
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Sketchbook Activity
All Day – “F” Team Daniel Anguilu, James Burns, Tierney L. Malone, Angel Quesada, Michael C. Rodriguez, Roland Saldaña and Dandee Warhol 2012-2013 Mural – North Exterior Wall. Paolo Piscitello, Angela, Lillian Warren and Candace Hicks exhibits.

THE MENIL COLLECTION Food truck available • Free iced coffee, Italian soda available while supplies last
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Musicircus by John Cage.
All Day – Ongoing Cultural workshops Gifts of the Spirit, Gifts of Healing and free posters while supplies last.

THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON Food truck available. Lemonade and water available while supplies last.
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. – Mask-making at the Glassell Junior School
All Day – I-Spy Gallery Activity, Family art-making activities: Create a Japanese rice paper screen.

RICE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY Ice cream, Pepsi and water available while supplies last
All Day – Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art.

ROTHKO CHAPEL 11:00am-12:00pm, 1:30-2:30pm, 4:30-5:30pm – Landscape Scrolls, Assistant Professor of Percussion at SHSU John Lane, Ph.D. Special 25% discount on individual and family memberships.

ST. PAUL’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
All Day – Sit and rest inside modified Gothic sanctuary. Periodic organ concerts. Labyrinth outside.

WEATHER MUSEUM Root beer available while supplies last
All Day – When Weather Goes Wild! and Extreme Weather Guide