Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

institution in the Museum District,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, founded in 1948, dedicated to presenting

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

to the public. As a non-collecting

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

, it strives to provide a forum for visual arts of the present and recent past and document new directions in art, while engaging the public and encouraging a greater understanding of contemporary art through education programs. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston opened in 1972, in a building designed by

Gunnar Birkerts Gunnar Birkerts (, January 17, 1925 – August 15, 2017) was a Latvian American architect who, for the most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. Some of his notable designs include the Corning Museum of Gla ...

History

Beginning

In 1948, a group of seven Houston citizens founded the Contemporary Arts Museum with the goal of presenting new art to the community and to document arts role in modern life through

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

lectures A lecture (from ) is an speech, oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, backgroun ...

and other activities. The museum initially presented exhibitions at various locations throughout the city, sometimes using The Museum of Fine Arts. These first presentations included "This is Contemporary Art" and "

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by Constructivism (art), con ...

: Memorial Exhibition." By 1950, the success of these efforts allowed the museum to build of a small, professionally equipped facility where ambitious exhibitions of the work of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

, and

John T. Biggers John Thomas Biggers (April 13, 1924 – January 25, 2001) was an African-American muralist who came to prominence after the Harlem Renaissance and toward the end of World War II. Biggers created works critical of racial and economic injustice. He ...

and his students from the then-fledgling Texas Negro College (now

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

). Houstonians were receptive to new ideas.

Going pro

Another major change occurred in 1957, when the previously all-

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

Museum hired Jermayne MacAgy as its first professional

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Ms. MacAgy wasted no time and soon organized several definitive exhibitions, including "The Sphere of

Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He was one of the pioneers o ...

," "The Disquieting Muse: Surrealism," "Totems Not Taboo: Primitive Art" and

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

's second museum exhibition. During the 1960s the museum continued its dedication to thematic exhibitions,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

, and studies individual artists. Landmark exhibitions included "The Emerging Figure" and the influential combine paintings of

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

. By the end of the

decade A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement ...

, the Contemporary Arts Museum had outgrown the original 1950 facility, so the

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

raised funds to purchase a prominent site on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, where the new building, designed by

, was built. In 1972, the present building opened with a controversial exhibition called ''Ten'', featuring several artists working in non-

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. The museum continued to showcase new national and regional art, throughout the 1970s, including such presentations as John Chamberlain, ''Dalé Gas'' (one of the first surveys of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

artists in the U.S.), and a major thematic exhibition, ''American Narrative/Story Art''. In addition, exhibitions of new

talent provided early venues for works of James Surls, John Alexander, and Luis Jimenez, among others.

Continued growth

In the 1980s, the museum grew significantly, extending its sphere of influence with exhibitions that presented and toured surveys of installations for performance art; contemporary still-life painting; a group exhibition of work by Texas artists; and single-artist shows of artists like

Ida Applebroog Ida Applebroog (November 11, 1929 – October 21, 2023) was an American multi-media artist who was best-known for her paintings and sculptures that explore the themes of gender, sexual identity, violence, and politics. Applebroog was the recipien ...

Robert Morris Robert or Bob Morris may refer to: :''Ordered chronologically within each section.'' Politics and the law * Robert Hunter Morris (1700–1764), lieutenant governor of Colonial Pennsylvania * Robert Morris (financier) (1734–1806), one of the Foun ...

Pat Steir Pat Steir (born 1938) is an American painter and printmaker. Her early work was loosely associated with conceptual art and minimalism, however, she is best known for her abstract dripped, splashed and poured "Waterfall" paintings, which she sta ...

Bill Viola William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American video artist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human ...

and

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

, as well as Texans Earl Staley, Melissa Miller and Vernon Fisher. In addition, Director Linda L. Cathcart established ''Perspectives'' in the museum's lower gallery—a fast-paced series of exhibitions focusing on cycles of work by emerging and well-known artists that had not previously shown in Houston. As of 2011, over 175 exhibitions have taken place within the innovative series. In the 1990s, the museum adjusted its focus to concentrate only on art made created within the past 40 years. It also worked to extend its reach internationally. Major single-artist exhibitions at the end of the 20th century included '' Art Guys: Think Twice'', ''

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

: Sculpture'', '' Ann Hamilton: kaph'', '' Richard Long: Circles Cycles Mud Stone'', '' Nic Nicosia: Real Pictures'', ''Introjection:

Tony Oursler Tony Oursler (born 1957) is an American multimedia and installation artist married to Jacqueline Humphries. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, in 1979. His art covers a range of med ...

: 1976-1999'', ''

Lari Pittman Lari George Pittman (born 1952 in Glendale, California) is a Colombian-American contemporary artist and painter. Pittman is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Painting and Drawing at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Early life ...

'', ''

: A Retrospective'', ''

James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings ...

: Spirit and Light'', '' William Wegman: Paintings and Drawings, Photographs and Videotapes'' and ''Robert Wilson's Vision''.

Modern museum

The museum temporarily closed on January 1, 1997, for the building's first major renovation in 25 years. The museum reopened to the public on May 10, 1997, with the presentation of "Finders/Keepers." This exhibition documented the institution's relationship with its community and friends, borrowing important works of art back from private collectors that had remained in the region after first being presented at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Other important presentations since have included "Elvis + Marilyn: Two Times Immortal," "Abstract Painting Once Removed" and "Other Narratives." As the new millennium began, the museum celebrated the change with a look back at some of the exhibitions of the previous decade in "Outbound: Passages from the Nineties." Other exhibitions of the fledgling century have included "Afterimage: Drawing Through Process", "Subject Plural" and "The Inward Eye." Single-artist shows have focused on a variety of media and have included "When One is Two: The Art of Alighiero e Boetti,"

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. He is especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s, constructed by filming ...

Uta Barth Uta Barth (born 1958) is a contemporary German-American photographer whose work addresses themes such as perception, optical illusion and non-place. Her early work emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s, "inverting the notion of background and foreg ...

, and Juan Muñoz.

Directors

* 1979-1989: Linda L. Cathcart * 2009–2018: Bill Arning * 2020–present: Hesse McGrawWallace Ludel (December 5, 2019)
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston names new director
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments i ...

''.

References

External links

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston website

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Texas Museums in Houston Modern art museums in the United States Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums and galleries established in 1948 History of Houston Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums 1948 establishments in Texas