Things To Do In And Around Midtown Houston This Weekend

Are you looking for some cool things to do in Houston's Midtown to get into this weekend? Here's a few things you may want to check out.


3rd Annual Midtown Art in the Park


Elisabeth Baldwin Park
April 18, 2009 , 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Midtown Houston's Baldwin Park provides the setting from 12:00pm to 5:00pm, for this urban fine art festival. Local and regional artists will present works in a variety of mediums that need new homes to ad sparkle to. The original creations are shown in booths strung out along a quarter mile path.

If you've missed the previous art in the parks you'll love this small gathering of artniks that enables local artist to exhibit their works worthy of adding to your personal collection.

Many of the art studios and galleries in the area participating by allowing you to peek into their usually private creative spaces.

Baldwin Park located at 1701 Elgin @ Chenevert in Midtown Houston.

Wings & Wheels - HobbyFest!



The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport
April 18, 2009 , 10:00am to 5:00pm

Wings & Wheels, is not a a new spin on wings and waffles but part of the Hobbyfest weekend celebrations at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum.

This month's open house features aircraft, ground vehicles, live music, vintage cars and for a nominal fee one of the coolest things that you can do this weekend is take a 25 minute passenger ride in a B 17 or a B-25.

If you've never been to the museum, now is a good time to view the aeronautical treasure at this unique museum in Houston. You won't find this gem in the Museum District, it's far too big, they had to set up shop on the outskirts of town, near Hobby airport.,

The small fee for admission to this value packed Houston event, includes lunch! Grab more info@1940airterminal.org 1940airterminal.org

Houston To Austin Ride

It's time again for the 2009 BP MS 150 Bike Ride . Registration for the MS (multiple sclerosis) 150 closed within an unprecedented one day timeframe, as thirteen thousand cyclists registered for the Houston event.

The bikers will take an exhilarating trek from Houston to Austin beginning with a kick off at the Omni Houston Hotel at Westside and wrap things up Sunday, April 19, at the Texas State History Museum and Texas Capitol in Austin.

Kudos to the Bayou City Outdoors' MS-150 team members. This annual ride helps to support multiple sclerosis (MS) research move closer to a world free of MS.

Dance Workshop This Weekend In Houston

Barnevelder in Downtown Houston
Preston @ Hutchins.

Sunday the Urban Souls Dance Company Presents Project Push: A Dance Workshop. "Because every dancer needs a little push."

Taking part in this weekends dance workshop is your opportunity to allow the sensational dancers of Urban Souls to inspire you, energize you, and enhance your dance performance and dance experience.

Books

Art/Theater

Attractions

Parks/Gardens

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Art and Films in Houston This Weekend

Art in the Park

Join the artistic excitement in Midtown Saturday April 12, 2008. We are calling this "Art in and Around the Park." The 9th Annual Midtown VISIONS Cultural Arts Tour takes place this weekend. Midtown artists' studios, galleries, complexes, and collectives will be open for you to view compelling installations, video, and mixed media. Purchase original works from the artists. Additionally the 2nd Annual Midtown Art in the Park will be taking place at Baldwin Park 1702 Elgin at Chenevert.
[Where:1702 Elgin, Houston 77002]

Film Screening: "This Is My Home, It Is Not For Sale"

This fascinating documentary chronicles Houston´s Riverside neighborhood over 60 years, as integration led to real-estate blockbusting, white flight, and gentrification. Home movies, archival photos, and interviews with residents are enhanced by a soundtrack from late Houston jazz musician Arnett Cobb. The subject matter is still relevant, as current residents of Houston´s Fourth and Fifth Ward communities challenge the intrusions of developers. Preceded by Schwartz´s five-minute film about the Almeda Theater.

Filmmaker Jon Schwartz in attendance. DVDs of the film available for purchase after the screening.
For showtime and more details visit the MFA.org website.


Midtown Farmer’s Market

Don't forget to stop by T'afia's and shop at the Farmer's Market. The open air market offers fresh local produce, organic coffee, hand made chocolates, cut flowers and more!! Every Saturday!

T'afia 3701 Travis Street @ Alabama, on the big block

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Walking Dinosaurs and Local Art on Display in Houston

(image courtesy BBC.co.uk)

The $20-million-dollar production “Walking with the Dinosaurs- The Live Experience” comes to Toyota Center now thru April 6th 2008.

“At the dawn of the age of the dinosaurs, the world was very different, according to,” Dr Jo Wright, scientific advisor of the BBC program “Walking with Dinosaurs”. The continents of the “Triassic Earth” were configured differently than today‘s land arrangements.

All the land masses on the planet, including Midtown Houston believe it or not, were joined together into one huge continent called Pangaea. It stretched from pole to pole and its central region was a vast inhospitable desert.

At the top of the food chain were the walking dinosaurs. Based on a BBC television series, “Walking with the Dinosaurs” the life-sized reproduction will feature 15 artistically created life-like dinosaurs, interacting in a realistic prehistoric setting created on the Toyota Center arena floor. Come learn their stories and marvel at the creatures who dominated the earth for 200-million-years.

If you want to see more about these fascinating creatures visit BBC.co.uk Prehistoric Life on the web. There you will find other articles, games and information on the dinosaurs from the BBC TV program.

Call 1-866-4-HOUTIX for more info.
[Where: Toyota Center 1510 Polk Houston TX ]


Project Row House: Eclectic Installations
(image from PRH.org)

Located just a few blocks east of Midtown Houston, are ten of the twenty-two row houses in the 2500 block of Holman that are dedicated to art, photography, and literary projects, by Project Row Houses. PRH’s work is founded on the principle that art and the community that creates it, can revitalize even the most depressed of inner-city neighborhoods, for the mutual good of existing and future residents.

It's inspired from the work of African-American artist, Dr. John Biggers, who,

celebrated the social significance of the shotgun house community in his paintings.

The current exhibit runs through June 24, “Round 26” "People, Places, and Things of the Northern Third Ward": includes photographers, digital media, installation and multi-media artists.

* Barsamian - Painter by Discipline, Installation Artist
* Thurman "T" Brown - Digital Media Artist, Photographer, Writer
* Ray Carrington - Photographer
* Rita Duffy - Painter, Belfast, Ireland
* J. Hill - Sculptor, Installation Artist, Oral Historian
* Lynne McCabe - Interdisciplinary Artist, Great Brittain

Their works engages viewers, by capturing residents of the community as they reflect and/or tell the stories of this important Midtown Houston area.
PRH’s artist community is worthy of your support. After a decade of successfully generating programs that combine arts and cultural education, historic preservation, and community development.

Project Row Houses is free and open to the public, Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00 - 5:00PM. Group tours can be scheduled by calling 713.526.7662.
[Where:2505 Holman Street, Houston TX]

Commuting Solutions in Houston



If you carpool to work in the Texas Medical Center (TMC), Midtown Houston or even other participating cities, you can win a new car. But, you can’t win if you don’t enter the Challenge event.

This unique contest will reward you for carpooling. The rules for participating require that you simply register your carpool, and every ride sharing trip you record on the “NuRide” web site will give you one entry into the sweepstakes.
Whenever a million mile milestone has been reached, a winner will be randomly selected from all the entries recorded since the prior milestone. The winners of milestones 1-9 will receive a special reward provided by a sponsor plus a $500 Visa gift card. The winner at the 10 million mile milestone will win a hybrid car valued at up to $30,000!

If you live in Midtown Houston or work in the area and you would like to find a ride with a vanpool, carpool or NuRide, you can check the NuRide website to get the hook up with a group in your area.

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Exciting Things To See In Houston Museums

(image Houston Museum of Natural Science)


These are exciting times. The Houston Museum District has several world class exhibits that are on display for residents and visitors to this metropolitan city. Just a Metro rail ride away from Midtown Houston, are two world class exhibits that everyone should see. Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia and Craft in America: Expanding Traditions.

Houston Museum Of Natural Science

The museum has put together a unique presentation characterizing the many species of early hominid that called Ethiopia home, culminating with the display of the world’s most famous fossil, Lucy. The importance of the exhibits stems from the fact that Lucy has only been shown in Ethiopia twice and our understanding of human origins has been based on fossil records.

These fossilized bones of our ancestors remain as the only tangible proof of those who preceded us on this planet. As we plot the discoveries on maps and tag them on a time line, we’ll better understand how we evolved.

[Where: One Hermann Circle Drive Houston, TX 77030]

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft





Craft in America: Expanding Traditions is a national phenomenon.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is honored to be one of only seven venues in the U.S. selected to host this important exhibit.

It celebrates some extraordinarily skilled artists and recognizes their works as important pieces of history linking us to the very soul and essence of American culture.

The multi-faceted journey into the origins of crafts in American is comprised of a three-part PBS television series, a nationally touring museum exhibition, an illustrated book and a comprehensive Web site (www.craftinamerica.org).

[Where: 4848 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002]

Houston Community College Central Fine Arts Calendar

HCC Central, in partnership with FotoFest 2008, presents an exhibition, Mind Over Matter: Enigmatic Variation, at HCC Central's Gallery, through April 8, 2008. The exhibit, devoted to the work of visual artists using digital media to explore Surrealism, is curated by Gregory Caslin And Associates.

These artists challenge assumptions of what constitutes "perceived reality." With its emphasis on the links between reality and dreams.

Surrealism holds a special appeal for photographers, whose essentially realistic medium can be used to create richly suggestive images. Digital "slight of hand" allows contemporary artists to conjure mysterious worlds that hover between the real and the fantastic.

This Midtown Houston exhibit runs in Central's Gallery,Austin at Holman now through April 8. HCC-Central Fine Art’s gallery is open Monday - Thursday, 9am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday, from 9am to 3pm.

[Where: 3517 Austin, Houston, Texas]


Help! The Oven Won’t Heat Up

The other day I happened to be strolling through the kitchen, at church, when one of the ladies preparing the food ask for my help to get the oven working. After setting the temperature on the oven, I noticed that the bake element was black as midnight and obviously burned out.

Usually, when an oven won't bake, it's because the bake element is burned out. The bake element is the black, pencil- thick tube at the bottom of the oven. When the oven heats, the element glows red. This element has an expected life-span of several years. It may last for only one; it may last for many more. When the element burns out, you need to replace it.

Has this ever happened to you. Well I found a great website that can answer just about any question, Midtown Houston residents may have about stoves, washing machines and other household appliances.

Not only do they offer great repair advice but you can order parts for most appliances from them too. Get your pencil ready, I mean follow this link to find out how to repair household appliances@repairclinc.com

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Pulitzer Prize Winning Columnist in Midtown Houston

Mr. Leonard J. Pitts, Jr., Pulitzer Prize winning, syndicated columnist and author, on Saturday, March 29, 2008. Will be in Midtown Houston at St Paul’s United Methodist Church at 6 p.m.

Mr. Pitts writes for the Miami Herald and his column appears in the Star Section of Houston Chronicle every Monday. His progressive attitude toward many subjects such as social justice, equality, politics, and our American Society reflect reason and logic and clearly represent spiritual principles and values.

Pitts' column, "We'll Go Forward From This Moment," an angry and defiant open letter to the terrorists, circulated the globe via the Internet generating upwards of 30,000 emails. It has since been set to music, reprinted in poster form, read on television by Regis Philbin and quoted by Congressman Richard Gephardt.

Here’s lots more about this incredibly successful writer and the tickets for tonight’s speaking engagement at St. Paul UMC.

[Where: 5501 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004]

Let’s Play Ball



The world of sports takes center stage at several venues this weekend in Houston. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Sweet 16 has been narrowed to the "Elite Eight" and will get underway at Reliant Park.
If you're stuck in front of a computer at game time, try the NCAA on Demand for great highlights and live coverage of the game.

The Houston Shell Open is at the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course. Let’s see, I know there are few more events that I’d like to recommend for you to check out. Oh yeah, now I remember.

If you're lucky enough to be off work today, why not go to Memorial Park and check out the Bayou City Art Festival. Nestled amidst the towering Texas pines, the Festival’s more than 300 visual and performing artists some from around the corner and others around the world. The parks meandering trails will be transformed into an outdoor art gallery blooming with juried art and multi-cultural music and dance.

Free Stuff

I think you'll like this weeks freebie... I'm giving you the inside scoop on how some people seem to entertain company so effortlessly. Have you ever wondered how they’re able to do it and make it look so easy.

This free newsletter will answer that question and dozens more about how you can give parties that have your guest saying, "how amazing you are". If you are planning an upcoming party or just want to improve your party planning skills, get the free “No Fear Entertaining” monthly newsletter. It’s chock full of great advice to make entertaining at home a “no sweat” event.

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In and Around Midtown Houston This Weekend

Friday, The Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo celebrated, the Black cowboys that helped to settle Texas and the west by hosting a Black Heritage Day. The event sponsored by Kroger, showcased the music of award winning performer John Legend.
Other RodeoHouston performers this weekend are Martina McBride and last year's favorite Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus.


Chinese Photos at Local Art Center

Lawndale Art Center and 2008 FOTOFEST China presents 12th International Biennial of Photography and Photo-Related Art. The theme for this year’s showcase is China/ Transfigurations. Four photo-based solo exhibitions capture on film powerful images of change in China. The Lawndale opening is Saturday March 7, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, with artist talks beginning at 6 pm.

Internships for Art Students in Houston

The Lawndale Art Center is also a place where art students seeking an internship can gain valuable experience in almost every aspect of gallery operations. At the Lawndale Art Center, interns often work alongside the various directors to assist in administration, programming and exhibitions.
If you’re proficient with Microsoft Windows, responsible, and willing to learn, you should visit their webspace for more information about the Lawndale Art Center internship program.

Houston Educators Invited to Explore Museums Free


If you’re riding the train Saturday, you may run into one of your favorite teacher from high school. This weekend Houston’s Museum District will host the 12th annual Museum Educators Open House on Saturday, March 8, 2008 from 9:00AM until 1:00PM.

Every Houston area educator is invited to attend the free event. It’s an opportunity for teachers, administrators and homeschool teachers, to get an in-depth look at five local museums. Many of the city’s museums and cultural organizations will be represented during the open house.





Playing in a Midtown Loft near you

Staying home this weekend? Saturday night you can see the Texas R&B guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan on public television. Stevie Ray Vaughan Live: Play Hard and Floor It, showcases his career, with some of his finest performances caught on tape. His friend and Double Trouble band mate drummer Chris Layton shares his personal insight, about some of the performances, in on-camera interviews.


Free Stuff

We know that there is no free ride in life. Every site touting free stuff on the web require at least the time to take a survey or give your e-mail address. I have to report that another one of the free samples I’ve requested has arrived.
A perfume sample from L A M B. It wasn’t the small bottle I expected, but a
Swatch of the real thing.

Here is this weeks freebie. Some advice on using Google apps. Have you ever forgotten your flash drive and couldn’t show your work to a client? Using Google documents to create and store slide presentations and other work is a way to access your information from any computer with an internet connection. Try this free idea and let me know what you think.

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Midtown Houston Artist, Sign-up for “Art in the Park”

Share this idea with aspiring guerrilla artist.

Art In The Park


The 2nd Midtown “ Art in the Park” is closing artist applications Friday, March 7th. This urban art event will feature local and regional artist booths along the walking path in Elizabeth Baldwin Park, 1702 Elgin, between Chenevert and Crawford.

The Art festival offers an ideal setting for artist and patrons to meet and greet while experiencing an eclectic range of art, in a casual atmosphere.

Artist who work with metal, mixed media, jewelry, digital art and a whole lot more are invited to participate.
Here are the details on booths for “Art in the Park.”

[Where:1702 Elgin,Houston]


Send your Kids to Ensemble Theater for Spring Break




The Ensemble Theater is registering young performers for its March 17th-March 21st “Spring Breakout Session”. The session will focus on experiencing the arts, through the stimulating and exciting world of the performing arts using visual interpretation.

Three (3) field trips to view different art venues are scheduled. The young performers will present their artistic interpretation of information gained from the field trips, at the end of the fun-filled week.

Register Now

[Where: 3535 Main St, Houston]



How to Create a Your Own T-Shirts with Spray Paint


Are you a hands-on person whose not bothered by a little paint on your hands? Take a look at this how-to project, on creating graphic shirts, from E-How.Com. It details everything you need to print your own T-shirts with spray paint. It’s an easy way to put your great idea on any fabric.

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