News

City of Houston, Houston Parks Board and Buffalo Bayou Partnership collaborate on new Buffalo Bayou trail segment

Houston Parks Board and Buffalo Bayou Partnership, in cooperation with the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, the City of Houston, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, have begun construction on a new park and 0.4-mile hike and bike trail along Buffalo Bayou from Fannin Street to McKee Street. When complete, this segment will tie directly into the proposed Austin Street Bikeway and provide important connections to Buffalo Bayou Park and to trails east of downtown.

The trail will begin at Allen’s Landing Park and continue east under the Fannin Street Bridge, transverse up the slope along Commerce Street before passing under the San Jacinto Bridge to the Wilson Building on Commerce Street. The trail will continue through the second basement level of the Wilson Building and under the Harris County Sheriff’s Inmate Processing Center.

From there the trail opens to a new park on former parking lots along the bayou on either side of Austin Street. As part of the park, the current Austin Street cul-de-sac will be converted into a public plaza.

East of the new plaza, the trail continues under the newly rebuilt Elysian Viaduct to McKee Street. There the trail will extend along the waterfront property owned by CenterPoint as a separate Buffalo Bayou Partnership project. These combined efforts will connect downtown and the south side of Buffalo Bayou to the MKT Trail and White Oak Bayou Greenway.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Buffalo Bayou Partnership to create this new park and trail segment along Buffalo Bayou. There are so many opportunities for exploration along the bayou and this new open space system will provide an important access point for Houstonians to engage with our beautiful bayous,” said Beth White, President and CEO of Houston Parks Board. “The trail will help connect Buffalo Bayou to White Oak Bayou, one of nine bayous transformed by Bayou Greenways 2020.”

“This will be one of, if not the most unique trail in Houston,” said Anne Olson, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President. “Instead of removing urban infrastructure, our organization has a history of incorporating it into our projects.” She added that the trail is a vital link in the historic waterway’s trail system and will play an important role in connecting Buffalo Bayou Park to parks, green spaces and cultural destinations east of downtown.

“We are thankful to all the partners who have made this project possible,” said Steve Wright, Director Houston Parks and Recreation Department. “It is an example of how, working together, we find ways to add opportunities for all Houstonians to remain active.”

Notable features along the segment include:

• Pole lighting with blue orbs that reflect the lunar cycle continuing the lighting system along Buffalo Bayou Park
• Special art lighting under the San Jacinto Bridge to complement the pole lights
• Safety lighting under the San Jacinto Bridge, in the Wilson Building, and under the Inmate Processing Center
• A stairway connection from Commerce Street leading down to the trail
• Two trail connections at La Branch Street and McKee Street
• Wayfinding signage
• Benches, bike racks, and trash and recycling receptacles

The total cost of the project is $8 million. Buffalo Bayou Partnership project donors are Barbara and Gerald Hines, Wendy and Jeff Hines, and Sis and Hasty Johnson. Partner funding comes from the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, a public entity that facilitates positive economic development within downtown’s TIRZ #3 boundaries, and Bayou Greenways 2020, a public-private partnership between Houston Parks Board and the City of Houston through the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, with catalyst funding from the Kinder Foundation.

“While we are excited that construction is underway, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership Board of Directors and staff are saddened by the recent passing of Gerald Hines, one of the major donors to this project.

Mr. Hines was a visionary who shaped Houston’s skyline, and this critical trail connection through downtown will be a fitting tribute to his remarkable legacy,” said Anne Olson, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President.

Following approximately one year of construction, Buffalo Bayou Partnership will maintain the park and trail under contract with the Houston Parks Board as part of the Bayou Greenways 2020 maintenance agreement with the City of Houston.

For photos of Buffalo Bayou, please click here.

HOUSTON – May 14, 2020 – Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) announces that Karen Farber, long-time Director of the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, will be joining the organization as Vice President of External Affairs. In this newly-created BBP position, Farber will be responsible for developing and overseeing a strategic and comprehensive development, communications, programming and public art program.

“We are extremely excited that Karen is joining our team,” said Anne Olson, BBP President. “Her 21-year career in non-profit management will be invaluable as we advance BBP’s mission and take the organization to new levels of success and impact.”

During her tenure at the Mitchell Center, Farber created CounterCurrent, an annual festival of live performances, installations, talks and participatory events by artists from throughout the world. She also hosted residencies and programs with internationally-known artists including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Theaster Gates and The Yes Men. Farber is a well-respected arts leader in Houston and has worked closely with curators and directors at Houston museums and organizations such as Project Row Houses, The Menil Collection, Aurora Picture Show, and DiverseWorks.

“I’ve partnered with BBP for many years on joint programming and public art projects,” notes Farber. “I’ve always enjoyed working with the highly competent team at BBP and admire the organization’s programming and vision. It’s an honor and privilege to now be part of this well-respected organization.”

Before coming to Houston to serve as Major Gifts Officer at the Houston Grand Opera, Farber worked in non-profit management including serving as Director of Development at the legendary Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival based in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and working in development and programming for multiple organizations in New York City. She has served as a consultant, panelist and board member for many local and national cultural organizations, and from 2002-2003 she was an arts management fellow at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

A New York City native, partly raised in Los Angeles, Farber is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.A. in Performance Studies and a B.F.A. in Experimental Theater.

She joins BBP on May 18.

HOUSTON – January 29, 2020 – Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) announced four new members to its board of directors during its annual meeting on January 28 at the Residences at The Allen, a mixed-use development under construction near Buffalo Bayou Park.

New board members include Andrea Alexander, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Co.; Bolivar “Bo” M. Fraga, Community Engagement Developer, BakerRipley; Alisha Nathoo, Head of Strategy & Transformation and Chief of Staff-North America Home, Direct Energy; Andrew Ziccardi, Principal, Fayez Sarofim & Co.

The following board members will continue their officer roles this year: Jeff Taylor, Chair; Ralph Abendshein, Vice Chair; Shawn Cloonan, Treasurer; and Kellie Jenks, Secretary.

“We are delighted to welcome this stellar group to our board,” said Anne Olson, president of Buffalo Bayou Partnership. “Our new members bring a wealth of experience and strong interest for protecting, preserving and improving Buffalo Bayou.” 

The 32-member board of directors also includes:  Bonner Ball, Rev. Harvey Clemons, Jr., Roberto Contreras, Richard Dawson, Carolyn W. Dorros, Gaynell Floyd Drexler, Michael D. Fertitta, Cristina Garcia Gamboa, Stacey Gillman, Guy Hagstette, Samir Khushalani, Lisa Marshall, Erin Mincberg, Judy Nyquist, Winifred Riser, Shannon B. Sasser, Carson Trapnell Seeligson, Christof Spieler, Karl S. Stern, Saul Valentin, Anne Whitlock, Geraldina Wise, Renee Wizig-Barrios and Gloria Medina Zenteno. Chair Emeritus members include Chuck Carlberg, Brady F. Carruth, Collin J. Cox, Tom Fish, Mike Garver, Sis Johnson, Susan Keeton and Bob Phillips.

Media Contact:
Trudi Smith, Buffalo Bayou Partnership
tsmith@buffalobayou.org
713.752.0314 ext. 103

HOUSTON – October 10, 2019 – After developing Buffalo Bayou Park and other award-winning green space projects in Houston’s downtown, the non-profit Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is moving east.  Encompassing a four-mile stretch of the waterway from US 59 to the Port of Houston Turning Basin, Buffalo Bayou East will continue the organization’s legacy of transformative parks, trails and unique destinations.  The plan includes:

• 40 miles of new and improved waterfront trails and bikeways
• 200 acres of new and improved parks and open space
• 7 new boat landings
• 7 new pedestrian bridges

Development of the soon-to-be-released Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan comes after nearly two years of significant input received at meetings and other outreach events attended by more than 700 people.  Social media and bilingual mailings reached more than 50,000 neighborhood households.

“This plan is about investing in a community that hasn’t benefited from the same level of park funding that more affluent communities in Houston have seen,” says Anne Olson, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President.  “Being true to the context of the neighborhoods lining the bayou is very important to us.  Buffalo Bayou Partnership wants to create parks and destinations that really are ‘of’ the Greater East End and Fifth Ward – two areas that have historically been separated from the bayou and each other.”

Olson points out the bayou’s east sector has a very different character and scale from the western stretch of the waterway.  With steep banks and a wider channel, the bayou does not experience the flooding that occurs upstream.  And unlike the bayou’s western stretch where the parkland is primarily in public hands, there are large swaths of abandoned industrial sites privately owned.

Over the past 15 years, Buffalo Bayou Partnership has purchased more than 70 acres of property in the east sector, donating some parcels to the City and County for park space.  Other sites, still owned by the organization, include interesting industrial relics such as massive concrete silos, a barge dock lined with gantries, and even an abandoned City of Houston sewage treatment facility.  The Master Plan calls for repurposing these sites to celebrate the area’s industrial legacy and Houston’s history as a Port City.

Gas Works Park in Seattle, Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx, and numerous sites in Germany’s Ruhr Valley are examples of former industrial sites that have been renovated into attractions.  BBP is a member of the High Line Network, a coalition of park groups from throughout North America, all of which are focused on industrial reuse.  The High Line in New York, The Underline in Miami and The 606 in Chicago were repurposed from abandoned railroads, highways and other infrastructure. 

“Buffalo Bayou East’s amazing industrial sites serve as a unique backdrop for creating new public spaces unlike anywhere else in Houston or in the country,” says Chris Matthews, lead designer of the Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan.  “I applaud Buffalo Bayou Partnership for its commitment to seeing these industrial relics remain and incorporated into the bayou’s landscape.”

Embracing the east sector’s cultural heritage is another tenet of the plan.  Whether it’s the colorful murals and Tex-Mex cuisine of the East End or zydeco music in the Fifth Ward, the parks and green spaces BBP envisions will incorporate the area’s rich cultural traditions.

Because of its proximity to downtown, Buffalo Bayou East is quickly becoming home to new residents and creative entrepreneurs have converted industrial buildings to makerspaces.  While Buffalo Bayou Partnership leaders realize the area is in transition, they feel it is essential that existing families from the area remain and participate in revitalizing this hidden corner of Houston.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership assembled a high caliber group of consultants to develop the 20-year Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan, including Michael Van Valkenburg Associates (MVVA), an internationally recognized landscape architecture firm and HR&A Advisors, an industry-leading real estate, economic development and public policy firm.  Both firms have had recent design and planning work in Houston.  Other master plan consultants included Houston’s Huitt-Zollars (Engineering), LimnoTech (Hydrology), and Utile (Urban Design and Architecture).

Cary Hirschstein, a Partner at HR&A Advisors, says Buffalo Bayou East is one of the most exciting open space projects he’s seen across the country in recent years.  “This is a once-in-a-generation endeavor to reconnect communities to their bayou.  The scale of the Buffalo Bayou East waterfront, the rich industrial and cultural legacy, and the bayou’s spectacular natural beauty – all just minutes from downtown Houston – make for a unique opportunity.  Houston has been a national leader in creating transformative open spaces, but Buffalo Bayou East offers a special opportunity to put equity, authenticity, and a community focus at the core of park planning.”

Buffalo Bayou East can become a precedent for how parks can be a catalyst for inclusive growth and development.  To address economic and social inequities in the neighborhoods along the bayou, the Master Plan calls for creating connections between communities long separated from each other and integrating workforce housing and small neighborhood businesses into the park and trail network.

Olson says, “Buffalo Bayou East is a park plan but so much more.  It’s about creating a common meeting ground that long-time residents can call home and visitors can enjoy.”

Buffalo Bayou Partnership is hosting a free waterfront party to launch the Master Plan on Saturday, October 26, Noon-4 p.m. at 5803 Navigation Boulevard.  The event will include music, food and children’s crafts activities.  Free bicycle helmets will be given to the first 100 attendees.

To communicate the priorities and progress of the Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan, Buffalo Bayou Partnership will present:

• Buffalo Bayou Park and Beyond:  A Panel Discussion on Monday, October 28, 6:30-8 p.m.  Panelists will include:  Guy Hagstette, Kinder Foundation Vice President of Parks & Civic Projects; Cary Hirschstein, HR&A Advisors Partner; Scott McCready, SWA Principal; and Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Director Anne-Marie Lubenau, who will be presenting Buffalo Bayou Partnership with The Rudy Bruner Award for Excellence 2019 Silver Medal for Buffalo Bayou Park.  Serving as panel moderator will be Bill Fulton, Kinder Institute for Urban Research Director.  The event is free and open to the public.
• Free walking, boat and bike tours throughout November.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Established in 1986, Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is the non-profit transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource.  The organization’s geographic focus is the 10-square mile stretch of the bayou that flows from
Shepherd Drive, through the heart of downtown into the East End, and onto the Port of Houston Turning Basin.  Thanks to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals and government agencies, BBP has implemented more than $200 million
in improvements for the redevelopment and stewardship of the waterfront – spearheading award-winning projects such as
Buffalo Bayou Park, protecting land for future parks and green space, constructing hike and bike trails, and operating comprehensive clean-up and maintenance programs.  Buffalo Bayou Partnership also activates the waterway through pedestrian, boating and biking amenities; volunteer activities; permanent and temporary art installations; and wide-ranging tours and programs that engage tens of thousands of visitors each year.

Follow Buffalo Bayou Partnership

www.buffalobayou.org

www.facebook.com/buffalobayou

www.twitter.com/buffalobayou

www.instagram.com/buffalobayou

Plan Focuses on Area from US 59 to Port of Houston Turning Basin

Beginning in August, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) in coordination with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) will be completing major repairs along Buffalo Bayou, between Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street, to contain erosion and bank failures caused by Hurricane Harvey. While this work along Buffalo Bayou is not classified as a flood damage reduction project, the repairs are necessary to stabilize the channel and prevent further erosion and damage to the channel.

The total cost for these repairs is expected to be approximately $9.7 million and will be funded by grants from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The project will be divided into seven separate phases along Buffalo Bayou to minimize disruption, while maintaining access to recreational amenities in the area. The project is expected to take approximately one year to complete.

View Frequently Asked Questions here.

Project updates can be found at www.buffalobayou.org and www.hcfcd.org/X068.

ABOUT THE HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT
The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) provides flood damage reduction projects that work, with appropriate regard for community and natural values. With more than 1,500 bayous and creeks totaling approximately 2,500 miles in length, the Flood Control District accomplishes its mission by devising flood damage reduction plans, implementing the plans and maintaining the infrastructure.

Sign of the times along Buffalo Bayou

HOUSTON – June 14, 2019 – With global warming being at the forefront of international discussion, Buffalo Bayou Partnership is pleased to present a conceptual artwork, We Are the Asteroid III, by the Brooklyn artist and environmental activist Justin Brice Guariglia.  Using a solar-powered LED message board typically used on roadways, Guariglia shares surprising poetry, metaphor, and humor to break down barriers and enable important conversations about today’s planetary warnings.

As Guariglia notes: “The ecological crisis we face today is the moral imperative of our time. At this critical juncture, art must be used as a positive force for social and political change, and to help open our minds to new possibilities.”

By utilizing the LED message board, Guariglia seeks to contrast the audience’s expectations of the medium. Highway signs can evoke a feeling of tension and change, typically used at construction sites to caution passers-by and draws attention to our ecological issues.

“As an organization that cares deeply about the many threats to our environment, We are the Asteroid III is the perfect installation for us to present.  This work adds to Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s growing emphasis on public art as a way to communicate the important issues of our time,” says Anne Olson, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President.

Text for We Are the Asteroid III comes from philosopher Timothy Morton, Professor and Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University. Morton is considered one of the most important ecological voices in writing today, exploring the intersection of object-oriented thought and ecological studies.

Aphorisms featured in the message board:

WE ARE THE ASTEROID

WARNING: HURRICANE HUMAN

TRIASSIC WEATHER AHEAD

GLOBAL WARMING AT WORK

GOODBYE ARCTIC ICE

THERE IS NO AWAY

NEANDERTHALS ‘R’ US

DANGER: ANTHROPOMORPHISM

FOR SYMBIOSIS: REDUCE SPEED NOW

On display through August 31, We are the Asteroid III is located in Buffalo Bayou Park at the Wortham Foundation Grove along Allen Parkway (between Waugh Drive and Montrose Boulevard).

Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Established in 1986, Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is the non-profit transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource.  The organization’s geographic focus is the 10-square mile stretch of the bayou that flows from Shepherd Drive, through the heart of downtown into the East End, and onto the Port of Houston Turning Basin.  Thanks to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals and government agencies, BBP has implemented more than $200 million in improvements for the redevelopment and stewardship of the waterfront – spearheading award-winning projects such as Buffalo Bayou Park, protecting land for future parks and green space, constructing hike and bike trails, and operating comprehensive clean-up and maintenance programs.  Buffalo Bayou Partnership also activates the waterway through pedestrian, boating and biking amenities; volunteer activities; permanent and temporary art installations; and wide-ranging tours and programs that engage tens of thousands of visitors each year.

Justin Brice Guariglia (b. 1974) is a contemporary visual artist known for his work on

ecological issues. His photographic, sculptural and installation works address the Anthropocene, the name given to our current ecological period, in which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Sotheby’s has called Guariglia “one of the most prominent cultural figures working to address climate change.”

Guariglia has frequently collaborated with scientists, philosophers, and artists to forge a deeper understanding of our climate crisis. REDUCE SPEED NOW!, Guariglia’s 2019 Somerset House UK commission, deployed 10 highway message boards placed in the institution’s neo-classical courtyard, brought together the critical voices of international activists, poets and philosophers to address the ecological crisis as a catalyst for social and political change.

His 2017 solo exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art debuted work originating from an ongoing series of missions flown with NASA over the glaciers of Greenland. The exhibition traveled to the Fisher Museum of Art in 2018. WE ARE THE ASTEROID, a collaborative project with philosopher Timothy Morton, premiered at Storm King Art Center the same year. Iterations of the project have been displayed in Chicago, along with various sites across New York City in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of New York City, and the New York City Parks Department. Before exhibiting We are the Asteroid III in Buffalo Bayou Park, the work was on view at Rice University Moody Center for the Arts.

Timothy Morton (b. 1968) is Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University and the author of many books and essays on philosophy, ecology, literature, music, and art, notably Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence, Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, and The Ecological Thought. Morton has also written extensively about the literature of Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley, Romanticism, and ecotheory.


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Contact:

Suzy Hartgrove

MyHart Communications

suzy@myhartcomm.com

832-244-2427

HOUSTON (June 24, 2019) Ed Emmett, Former Harris County Judge, provided grants to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the Bayou Preservation Association as his final act as the Fight Flooding PAC Chairman.  The Fight Flooding PAC raised over $1.2 million and campaigned for the most successful Harris County Bond Proposition on record, garnering over 85% of votes in favor of a $2.5 billion flood control program.

“Since we raised this money to prevent flooding and make Harris County more resilient, it is appropriate to give the remaining funds to these two non-profit organizations that do so much to preserve our bayous for future generations,” said Emmett.

Each of the charities received over $64,000 from the PAC.  Buffalo Bayou Partnership will use the funds to restore green spaces and other areas damaged in Hurricane Harvey. 

“Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is so appreciative of the Fight Flooding PAC fund,” said Anne Olson, president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. “We thank the PAC’s leadership and especially former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.  These funds will help BBP continue its restoration efforts in Buffalo Bayou Park. Riparian planting along the water’s edge will be a priority in the year ahead and the PAC’s funds will be invaluable.”

The Bayou Preservation Association will use the funds as part of its Stream Corridor Restoration Program to restore the floodplains riparian buffer zones, through the removal of invasive species in approximately 30 acres of land and conduct workshops to help ensure that stakeholders maintain these restored lands. Projects like these support Bayou Preservation Association’s mission to celebrate, protect and restore the natural richness of all our bayous, creeks and streams.  

“We are honored that Ed Emmett and the Fight Flooding PAC are supporting our efforts to support a return of function and resilience in riparian buffer zones of the floodplains within three Harris County watersheds heavily impacted by Hurricane Harvey – Cypress Creek, Clear Creek, and upper Buffalo Bayou – and to increase public understanding and support for the roles that healthy riparian areas play to the overall floodplains and ultimately the bayous.” said Robert Rayburn, Board Chairman of Bayou Preservation Association.

The Fight Flooding PAC drew support from many local organizations and businesses leaders, from the Greater Houston Partnership’s Ed Wulfe and the Houston Association of Realtors’ Ed Wolfe to the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Houston Black Chamber.  The bond proposition received endorsements from nearly every state senator and representative in the region, regardless of party.

“The community came together behind Ed Emmett’s leadership,” said Auggie Campbell, Fight Flooding PAC Treasurer and West Houston Association President & CEO.  “We worked hard with environmental leaders like Jim Blackburn and MaryAnne Piacentini because we all want to make our region more resilient.  Judge Emmett’s decision to call the flood bond election and to put the PAC funds that are left towards restoring land are legacies that will continue to benefit Harris County.”

About Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Established in 1986, Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is the non-profit transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource.  The organization’s geographic focus is the 10-square mile stretch of the bayou that flows from Shepherd Drive, through the heart of downtown into the East End, and onto the Port of Houston Turning Basin.  Thanks to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals and government agencies, BBP has implemented more than $200 million in improvements for the redevelopment and stewardship of the waterfront – spearheading award-winning projects such as Buffalo Bayou Park, protecting land for future parks and green space, constructing hike and bike trails, and operating comprehensive clean-up and maintenance programs.  Buffalo Bayou Partnership also activates the waterway through pedestrian, boating and biking amenities; volunteer activities; permanent and temporary art installations; and wide-ranging tours and programs that engage tens of thousands of visitors each year.

About Bayou Preservation Association

The mission of the Bayou Preservation Association is to celebrate, protect and restore the natural richness of all our bayous and streams, with a vision of a network of healthy bayous, streams and watersheds. It works to Increase understanding of area bayous and creeks and their watersheds by providing educational programs and opportunities, activities and events to engage all the region’s demographics. Bayou Preservation Association also strives to expand stewardship and stewardship opportunities to improve the health of our watersheds, creeks, and bayous. For information, go http://www.bayoupreservation.org/Home or call 713-529-6443.

PHOTO: Pictured left to right: Anne Olson, President of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership; Ed Emmett, Former Harris County Judge; Auggie Campbell, Fight Flooding PAC Treasurer and West Houston Association President & CEO; Robert Rayburn, Chair of Bayou Preservation Association; and Sarah Bernhardt, Executive Director of BPA

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Buffalo Bayou Partnership is excited to announce that Buffalo Bayou Park has been selected as a finalist for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) 2019 Gold and Silver medal prizes. The Gold Medalist will receive $50,000, and four Silver Medalists will each receive $10,000 to enhance their projects. BBP extends our congratulations to the park designers and consultants as well as our sincerest thanks to the Kinder Foundation for its catalyst gift and to all of the generous funders that made Buffalo Bayou Park possible. Special thanks also to the Downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #3 that provides BBP with annual funding for the park’s operations and maintenance.

For more than 30 years, the biennial RBA has recognized transformative places that contribute to the economic, environmental, and social vitality of American cities. Seventy-eight projects in 27 states have been honored since its founding. The 2019 RBA finalists are:

Beyond Walls—Lynn, MA
Grassroots public art and lighting initiative revitalizing a former industrial city. (Submitted by Beyond Walls)

Buffalo Bayou Park—Houston, TX
Enhancement of a historic waterway into a resilient public greenspace. (Submitted by SWA Group)

Crosstown Concourse—Memphis, TN
Rehabilitation of an abandoned Sears, Roebuck & Co. distribution center into a mixed-use vertical village and arts, education, and healthcare destination. (Submitted by Crosstown Arts)

Parisite Skatepark—New Orleans, LA
Youth-driven DIY creation of a new public park on vacant land beneath a highway overpass. (Submitted by Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund)

Sulphur Springs Downtown—Sulphur Springs, TX
Renewal of a rural, small-town civic plaza and main street. (Submitted by Toole Design Group)

RBA entries comprise completed projects across the contiguous United States. Finalists and medalists are chosen by a nationwide committee of urban experts through an in-depth evaluation process involving input from the award application, site visits, interviews with project participants and community members, and committee discussions. The 2019 Selection Committee includes:

Libby Schaaf—Mayor, City of Oakland, CA
Adrian Benepe—Senior Vice President and Director of National Programs at the Trust for Public Land, New York, NY
Brenda Breaux—Executive Director for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA), New Orleans, LA
Carol Coletta—President and CEO of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, Memphis, TN
Marc Norman—Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan, Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ann Arbor, MI
Carol Ross Barney, FAIA—Principal Designer, Ross Barney Architects, Chicago, IL

Next month, RBA staff will begin site visits to each finalist project in preparation for the committee’s selection of the medal winners in June. Metropolis magazine will tell the stories of each of these sites through a series of online features. Findings and lessons learned will be relayed through detailed case studies and published in book form in 2020 as a resource for educators, practitioners, and students. Past case studies are available here.

“The range of issues addressed in this year’s submissions reflect the evolution of our understanding of placemaking in cities,” says RBA Founder Simeon Bruner. “The five finalists illustrate the shifting role of design in response to the imperatives of social inclusivity and environmental resilience.”

Buffalo Bayou is one of five North American sites to host inaugural exhibition

Opens to the Public
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

HOUSTON – January 30, 2019 – Houston’s Buffalo Bayou has been selected as the inaugural site for New Monuments for New Cities, a collaborative public art project organized by the High Line Network, a coalition of visionary North American industrial reuse projects that are transforming underutilized infrastructure into new urban landscapes and redefining what parks can be.

Debuting in Houston on February 20, the public art initiative’s theme is meant to stimulate discussion and community discourse on the evolving nature of monuments and ask questions such as “What does it mean to monumentalize a person, an idea or moment in time?”

In coordination with High Line Art, each High Line Network participant invited five of its city’s artists or artist groups to create proposals in the form of posters for new monuments.  The resulting proposals span from traditional monuments, to revised historical statues, to newly imagined methods of public commemoration.  There are drawings, photographs, renderings, Wikipedia pages, collages, and bold text-based statements.

Following Houston’s presentation, all 25 artworks will travel to Austin, Chicago and Toronto, culminating in New York on the High Line in September 2019.  In Houston, the artwork will be displayed in the form of light boxes integrated into benches beckoning visitors to reflect and enter the discourse on the meaning of monuments.  The structures will surround the cherished Spindle by Henry Moore in Buffalo Bayou Park along Allen Parkway at Gillette Street.

Major underwriting for Houston’s exhibition is provided by East River, a Midway development with additional support from the Susan Vaughan Foundation and TXRX.

“We are honored to be among a select group of cities that are exhibiting these thought-provoking artworks,” says Judy Nyquist, BBP Board Member and Public Art Committee Co-chair.  “The theme, NewMonuments for New Cities, is so timely as our nation and its citizens are rethinking what form monuments should take today.” 

Participating Houston artists are:  Regina Agu, Jamal Cyrus, Sin Huellas: Delilah Montoya and Jimmy Castillo, Phillip Pyle, II, and Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin.  Artists selected by the other High Line Network participants include:

• Austin:  Nicole Awai, Daniela Cavazos Madrigal, Teruko Nimura and Rachel Alex Crist, Denise Prince, Vincent Valdez
• Chicago:  Eric J. García, Tonika Johnson, Chris Pappan, Richard Santiago (TIAGO), Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff
• Toronto:  Susan Blight, Coco Guzman, Life of a Craphead (Amy Lam and Jon McCurley), An Te Liu, Quentin VerCetty
• New York:  Judith Bernstein, Guerrilla Girls, Hans Haacke, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Xaviera Simmons

In addition to the New Monuments for New Cities exhibition, Buffalo Bayou Partnership is sponsoring the following complementary programming and events:

Saturday, March 2, 1-2pm
Monuments Monologue: Artists Talk
Meadow surrounding the Henry Moore Spindle sculpture in Buffalo Bayou Park
Allen Parkway at Gillette Street

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 6:30pm
Message and Meaning: Reconsidering Monuments Today
Panel Discussion with New Monuments for New Cities Artists,
Melanie Kress, Associate Curator, High Line Art and
Moderator, Karen Farber, Executive Director, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts University of Houston
Eldorado Ballroom
2310 Elgin Street, Houston, TX 77004

Saturday, April 6, 10-11 a.m.
Monuments Monologue: Artists Talks
Meadow surrounding the Henry Moore Spindle sculpture in Buffalo Bayou Park
Allen Parkway at Gillette Street

Saturday, April 20, 10-11 a.m.
Monuments Monologue: Artists Talks
Meadow surrounding the Henry Moore Spindle sculpture in Buffalo Bayou Park
Allen Parkway at Gillette Street

Saturday, April 27, 8-10 p.m.
A Monumental Evening: Closing Party
Buffalo Bayou Partnership Silos along Buffalo Bayou’s East Sector
801 N. Nagle Street, off of Navigation, Houston, TX  77003

New Monuments for New Cities Schedule in Other Cities

• Waller Creek, Austin                                                       March-May 2019
• The 606, Chicago                                                           May-June 2019
• The Bentway, Toronto                                                     May-August 2019
• The High Line, New York                                                September-October 2019

About Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Established in 1986, Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is the Houston nonprofit organization transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, the city’s most significant natural resource. Thanks to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals, and governmental agencies, BBP has raised and leveraged more than $150 million for the redevelopment and stewardship of the waterfront. The organization develops award-winning projects such as the $58 million Buffalo Bayou Park, protects land for future parks, constructs hiking and biking trails, and operates comprehensive clean-up and maintenance programs. BBP also seeks ways to activate Buffalo Bayou through pedestrian, boating, and biking amenities, volunteer activities, permanent and temporary art installations, and wide-ranging tours and events.

About High Line Network
The High Line Network is a group of industrial reuse projects—and the people who help them come to life. As cities become denser and land for traditional parks becomes scarce, citizens are finding creative ways to bring greenspace to their neighborhoods. Projects in the High Line Network transform underutilized infrastructure into new urban landscapes. Redefining what a park can be, these hybrid spaces are also public squares, open-air museums, botanical gardens, social service organizations, walkways, transit corridors, and more.

The High Line Network is presented by Friends of the High Line, the nonprofit organization responsible for the High Line, raising nearly 100% of its annual budget. Owned by the City of New York, the High Line is programmed, maintained, and operated by Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

The High Line Network is made possible by the founding support of The JPB Foundation.###