Project Row Houses

Last updated
Project Row Houses
Founded1993
Founders Rick Lowe, James Bettison, Bert Long Jr., Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples, George Smith
TypeArts and culture organization
FocusEngaging neighbors, artists, and enterprises in collective creative action to help materialize sustainable opportunities in marginalized communities. [1]
Location
Area served
Third Ward
Website projectrowhouses.org
Project Row Houses Project Row house studios.JPG
Project Row Houses

Project Row Houses is a development in the Third Ward area of Houston, Texas. Project Row Houses includes a group of shotgun houses restored in the 1990s. [2] Eight houses serve as studios for visiting artists. [3] Those houses are art studios for art related to African-American themes. A row behind the art studio houses single mothers. [2]

Contents

History

Rick Lowe, a native of Alabama and 2014 MacArthur "genius" grant winner, founded Project Row Houses in 1993 with James Bettison, Bert Long Jr., Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples, and George Smith. [4] [5] In 1990, according to Lowe, a group of high school students approached Lowe and asked him to create solutions to problems instead of creating works that tell the community about issues it is already aware of. [3] Lowe and a coalition of artists purchased a group of 22 shotgun houses across two blocks that were built in 1930 and, by the 1990s, were in poor condition. [3] Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle said that the houses, originally used as rentals, were "previously ruled by drugs and prostitutes." [6] [7]

Inspired by the work of John T. Biggers, [8] the group used seed money funds from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts to restore the houses. [3] Corporate sponsor Chevron renovated the outside of several shotgun houses. The director of the Menil Foundation allowed Monday to be a day off of work for the employees so that they could help renovate the shotgun houses. Volunteers numbering in the hundreds fortified porches, removed trash and used needles from lots, and hung wallboard. Several individuals and families from the area and one local church "adopted" individual houses. Garnet Coleman adopted one house. [3] The houses first opened in 1994. [6]

Deborah Grotfeldt created the concept of the Young Mothers Residential Program, which began operations in 1996; Grotfeldt had worked with Lowe since the Project Row Houses project started. The program gives single mothers one year of housing to allow them to finish their education and organize themselves. Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times said "It has been as successful as the artist residency program." [3]

As of 2009 the Project Row Houses campus had 40 properties. As of that year, some houses have art exhibitions and some houses provide housing space for resident artists. Newer low income housing blocks, using designs provided by the Rice Building Workshop, are now a part of the campus. The program for young mothers uses seven shotgun houses. A playground is adjacent to those houses. In addition, several shotgun houses built in the Victorian era, moved there earlier from historically black communities under development, are a part of the campus. The Eldorado Ballroom and the Bert Long sculpture "Field of Vision" are a part of the campus. Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle said during that year "Driving around, this writer found it's hard to tell where the Row Houses campus begins and ends." [6]

Resident alumni of Artist Rounds [9]

Funding

In 2006, the Houston City Council gave Project Row Houses a grant of $975,000. [17] [18]

Honors

Education

Children living in the houses attend schools in the Houston Independent School District. [20] Zoned schools include Blackshear Elementary School, [21] Cullen Middle School, [22] and Yates High School. [23] Students were previously zoned to Ryan Middle School before 2013; [24] students were reassigned to Cullen after it closed. [25] Beginning in 2018 the magnet middle school Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan also serves as a boundary option for students zoned to Blackshear, Lockhart, and MacGregor elementary schools. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Houston</span> Neighborhood in Harris County, Texas, United States

Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The 1.84-square-mile (4.8 km2) district, enclosed by the aforementioned highways, contains the original townsite of Houston at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, a point known as Allen's Landing. Downtown has been the city's preeminent commercial district since its founding in 1836.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Museum District</span> Area centred on museums in Houston, Texas

The Houston Museum District is an association of 21 museums, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting art, science, history, and culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neartown Houston</span> District in Houston, Texas, a.k.a., Montrose

Montrose is an area located in west-central Houston, Texas, United States and is one of the city's major cultural areas. Montrose is a 7.5 square miles (19 km2) area roughly bounded by Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 to the south, Allen Parkway to the north, South Shepherd Drive to the west, and Taft to Fairview to Bagby to Highway 59 to Main to the east. Montrose neighborhoods include Cherryhurst, Courtlandt Place, Hyde Park, Montrose, Vermont Commons, North and East Montrose, Mandell Place and Winlow Place. Montrose is also less well known by the moniker Neartown, encompassing Superneighborhood #24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Houston</span> State university in Houston, Texas, US

The University of Houston is a public research university in Houston, Texas. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1934, HJC was restructured as a four-year degree-granting institution and renamed as the University of Houston. In 1977, it became the founding member of the University of Houston System. Today, Houston is the fourth-largest university in Texas, awarding 11,156 degrees in 2023. As of 2024, it has a worldwide alumni base of 331,672.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown, Houston</span> Neighborhood of Houston in Harris County, Texas, USA

Midtown is a central neighborhood of Houston, located west-southwest of Downtown. Separated from Downtown by an elevated section of Interstate 45, Midtown is characterized by a continuation of Downtown's square grid street plan, anchored by Main Street and the METRORail Red Line. Midtown is bordered by Neartown (Montrose) to the west, the Museum District to the south, and Interstate 69 to the east. Midtown's 325 blocks cover 1.24 square miles (3.2 km2) and contained an estimated population of nearly 8,600 in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yates High School</span> Public high school in Houston, Texas, United States

Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Oaks, Houston</span> Subdivision in southeast Houston

University Oaks is a subdivision in southeast Houston with approximately 240 homes located adjacent to the University of Houston. It is bounded by Wheeler Avenue to the north, South MacGregor Way to the south, Calhoun Road to the east, and Cullen Boulevard to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Ward, Houston</span> Neighborhood in Houston, Texas

Third Ward is an area of Houston, Texas, United States, that evolved from one of the six historic wards of the same name. It is located in the southeast Houston management district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory-Lincoln Education Center</span> K-8 school in the United States

Edgar Gregory-Abraham Lincoln Education Center (GLEC) is a K-8 school located at 1101 Taft in the Fourth Ward area of Houston, Texas, United States. Gregory-Lincoln is a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and has a fine arts magnet program that takes students in both the elementary and middle school levels. Originally built in 1966 as Lincoln Junior and Senior High School, it later operated as Lincoln Junior High School until Gregory Elementary School merged into it in 1980, forming Gregory-Lincoln. The school moved into its current building in 2008; the rebuilding was delayed due to concerns that U.S. Civil War-era graveyards would be disturbed by the rebuilding process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Middle School (Houston)</span> School in Houston, Texas, United States

James D. Ryan Middle School was a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan, a magnet middle school, now occupies the campus.

Riverside Terrace is a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States. It is along Texas State Highway 288 and north of the Texas Medical Center and located near Texas Southern University and University of Houston. There about 20 sections of Riverside Terrace that span across North and South MacGregor. The community, formerly an affluent Jewish neighborhood, became an affluent community for African Americans in the 1950s and '60s. It is still predominantly African American neighborhood with different income levels. It has been undergoing a gradual change in demographics and aesthetics due to gentrification efforts since the early 2000s.

Washington Terrace is a subdivision in the Third Ward area of Houston, Texas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Houston student housing</span>

Fifteen percent of University of Houston students live on campus. UH has several on campus dormitories: Moody Towers, The Quads, Cougar Village I, Cougar Village II, Cougar Place, and University Lofts. UH also has partnerships with three private complexes, Bayou Oaks, Cullen Oaks, and Cambridge Oaks.

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bruner Foundation, the RBA was created to increase understanding of the role of architecture in the urban environment and promote discussion of what constitutes urban excellence. The award seeks to identify and honor places, rather than people, that address economic and social concerns along with urban design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan</span> Magnet middle school in Houston, Texas

Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan (BCMAR) is a magnet middle school in Houston Independent School District (HISD), located in the Third Ward, Houston, Texas. It is located in the former Ryan Middle School. It is in association with the Baylor College of Medicine. It is south of Downtown Houston, A press release stated that the school was to be modeled after the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Lowe</span> Houston-based artist and community organizer (born 1961)

Rick Lowe is a Houston-based artist and community organizer, whose Project Row Houses is considered an important example of social-practice art. In 2014, he was among the 21 people awarded a MacArthur "genius" fellowship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuney Homes</span> Public housing complex in Houston, Texas, United States

Cuney Homes is a public housing complex in the Third Ward area of Houston, Texas. It is operated by the Houston Housing Authority (HHA), and was the first complex opened by the authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community Artists' Collective</span>

The Community Artists' Collective is a non-profit exhibition space based in Houston, Texas, USA, focused on exhibiting work by African American artists and creating more opportunities for children and adults to explore the arts.

References

  1. ↑ "About PRH".
  2. 1 2 Davis, Rod (3 August 2003). "Houston's really good idea Bus tour celebrates communities that forged a city". San Antonio Express-News . Retrieved 14 March 2016.(subscription required)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kimmelman, Michael (17 December 2006). "In Houston, Art Is Where the Home Is". The New York Times . Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Spector, Nicole Audrey (25 September 2014). "Rick Lowe: Heart of the City". Guernica . Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Sewing, Joy (2016-05-27). "Project Row Houses melds art and community in the Third Ward". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  6. 1 2 3 Gray, Lisa (27 September 2009). "Project Row Houses endeavor branches into laundromats". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Greenberg, Mike (6 August 1995). "Project ROW Houses - Neighborhood blight becomes neighborhood hope in Houston's Third Ward". San Antonio Express-News . Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Gaines, Sallie (31 March 1996). "Shotgun Houses Gave Artist A Prime Target". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Art cities: How Houston became a hotbed of contemporary art | Christie's". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2018-12-16.
  10. ↑ Collective creative actions : Project Row Houses at 25. Dennis, Ryan N., Jackson-Dumont, Sandra. Houston, TX. 2018. ISBN   978-0-692-12642-4. OCLC   1060194912.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Round 42". Project Row Houses. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  12. ↑ "Project Row Houses draws from past, looks to the future - HoustonChronicle.com". www.houstonchronicle.com. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  13. ↑ "Press Releases". Project Row Houses. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  14. ↑ "Round 37". Project Row Houses. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  15. ↑ Project Row Houses. Round 9. Past Projects. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  16. ↑ 2013
  17. ↑ "A bigger canvas: Project Row Houses receives almost $1 million to continue its visionary mission". Houston Chronicle . 20 December 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Patricia C. (19 November 2006). "Administrator admits stealing from Project Row Houses". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Farbstein, Jay; Wener, Richard; Axelrod, Emily (1998). Visions of Urban Excellence: 1997 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (PDF). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Bruner Foundation. ISBN   978-1-890-28602-6. OCLC   608115343 . Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Contact." Project Row Houses. Retrieved on April 22, 2018. "Project Row Houses 2521 Holman St. Houston, TX 77004"
  21. ↑ "Blackshear Elementary School Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on April 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Cullen Middle School Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on April 21, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Yates High School Attendance Zone" Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on April 21, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Ryan Middle Attendance Zone Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine ." Houston Independent School District
  25. ↑ Mellon, Ericka. "HISD will close Ryan, tables plan to merge two high schools." Houston Chronicle . March 7, 2013. Retrieved on March 14, 2013. "Ryan, the district's smallest middle school with 263 students, will close at the end of this academic year. The students will attend Cullen, which is 4 miles away."
  26. ↑ "AGENDA Board of Education Meeting May 10, 2018." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on October 12, 2018. F1 p. 86/135.

Further reading

29°43′55″N95°21′55″W / 29.7320°N 95.3652°W / 29.7320; -95.3652

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.