HOUSTON – September 10, 2020 – Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP), the non-profit organization transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s historic waterway, will mark five years since Buffalo Bayou Park’s opening with the series, Artful Anniversary. Artists will animate the park with five unique experiences and virtual performances throughout the month of October.
Over the past half-decade, Buffalo Bayou Park has been recognized with twenty national and international awards for its thoughtful design, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial viability. The park has positioned Houston as a leader of the nation’s critically-needed efforts to enact progressive environmental methods of flood control and storm water management. Since its opening in the fall of 2015, the park has withstood the destructive forces of several major flooding events including the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Its resiliency is a testament to the careful attention paid to design components in the planning of the park.
Buffalo Bayou Park has breathed new life into a long-neglected area, and, most importantly, changed how Houstonians from all walks of life view their city. Many have joined the Buffalo Bayou Partnership team in its mission to care for this iconic urban green space – about 1,500 to 2,500 volunteers turn out each year to help with various projects throughout the park.
Now a focal point for our city, Buffalo Bayou Park is used by millions of visitors for recreation, gathering, and quiet contemplation. The park has also been a site of inspiration for countless artists who respond to the park’s natural beauty, flowing waterway, and wide open spaces. This prompted BBP to invite five visual and performing artists to create works at landmark sites throughout the park, to be documented and viewed on BBP’s website.
All five Artful Anniversary programs will appear in video and photographs on BBP’s website, posted at the times listed below.
October 10, 7 PM at buffalobayou.org
Artful Anniversary: Houston Grand Opera
Songs on the Water
The 5-Year Anniversary series opens with a one-of-a-kind virtual boat ride down Buffalo Bayou that will have you shouting, “BRAVO, BRAVA!”. Singers from Houston Grand Opera will perform on the BBP pontoon boat-turned-stage, and audiences are invited to join the cruise from the comfort of their own homes.
October 17, 7 PM at buffalobayou.org
Artful Anniversary: Urban Souls Dance Company
Take Me to the Water
The park performances continue underground with Urban Souls Dance Company, a creative social arts organization. With the art of dance, movement and physical expression, Urban Souls will make use of the vast, cavernous space of the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern for a virtual subterranean performance like the 94-year old Cistern has never seen.
October 24, 7 PM at buffalobayou.org
Artful Anniversary: Da Camera
An innovative virtual music program curated by Da Camera wraps up the 5-Year Anniversary series. Performances by musicians of different genres will be compiled into a film, recorded at three iconic spaces in Buffalo Bayou Park.
They include a jazz quintet at Lost Lake, a string quartet at Anthony Shumate’s Listen sculpture, and a solo harpist at the Hobby Family Pavilion at The Water Works.
October 3 – 31 at Rosemont Bridge
Artful Anniversary: Urban Yarnage
Knitscape
Throughout October, stop by the colorful and intricate Knitscape by Urban Yarnage at Rosemont Bridge. This nature-themed knitted art commemorates Buffalo Bayou’s ecological diversity and makes for an Insta-worthy picture to say “Happy 5-year anniversary” to Buffalo Bayou Park! Images will also be available for viewing on BBP’s website.
October 22, 2020 – April 23, 2021 in the Fondren Foundation Meadow
Artful Anniversary: Carmen Herrera
Estructuras Monumentales
Walk among the larger-than-life shapes of Estructuras Monumentales, an exhibition of outdoor sculptures by the 105-year-old, New York-based artist Carmen Herrera (b. 1915, Havana, Cuba).
On view in Fondren Foundation Meadow through April 2021. Estructuras Monumentales is co-presented with New York’s Public Art Fund.