Events In Houston

Kwanzaa Activities

Some of the exciting events in Houston this week are the celebrations surrounding The 45th Season of Kwanzaa. The African American celebration ends just as the International Year of People of African Descent is getting underway in January 2011. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this event to promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the rich and diverse African heritage’s and cultures.

Here’s some of the events in Houston where you can participate in the 2010 Kwanzaa activities in the local community.

• Shape Community Center
• Third Ward Multi-purpose Center
• Project Row House
• Blue Triangle Multi-Cultural Center
• Shrine Of The Black Madonna

Kwanzaa has origins in the African first-fruit harvest celebrations and modern roots in a celebration first held in California, in 1965 by US, a cultural organization founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga.

Since the inception of the holiday, Kwanzaa ceremonies have been formal occasions for African Americans to honor their ancestors and the ancient African tradition of spreading the good, the joy and the justice they want to see in the world.

The holiday’s main focus is on seven guiding principles, the “Nguzo Saba”. Each day a separate principle is discussed. They are considered the foundations of building healthy personal relationships and a strong African American community.

The Swahili concepts that make up the 7 tenants of the “Nguzo Saba” are listed below.

• Umoja (Unity): Unity of the family, community, nation, and race.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): The inalienable right to name, define, create and speak for ourselves.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To work, build and maintain our community together recognizing that our brothers' and sisters' problems are our problems, and we can solve them together.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build, maintain and own businesses that benefit the community.
• Nia (Purpose): The recognition of the larger vision of collective vocation. The building and developing the greatness within the African American community.
• * Kuumba (Creativity): To inspire others and become innovate so that the community is more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• * Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in ourselves, the success of our people, and to respect our parents, our teachers, our leaders.

During Kwanzaa celebrations popular decorations and symbols designed to convey the seven principles are usually placed on a decorative mat.

A unity cup
A long candle holder
Hand made gifts
The tree of gratefulness
A straw mat
Ears of corn (yams or other produce can be used)
Hand made Zawadi (gifts)

These are some of the most popular symbols and Kwanzaa decoration used during events in Houston to illustrate the seven principles as well as posters of the seven principles, and a black, red, and green flag.

Kwanzaa activities serve as a reminder that that each of us have the capacity to use our life as a positive motivating force to impact the world we live in.

		Houston Networking To energize your career and attract more business view the top business and professional networking events in Houston.			Houston Attractions Get discounts tickets for your family or group on the exhibits and events at many of the fun places to visit in Houston.
		Midtown Houston Apts Find deals on move in specials, rebates and pricing on renting apts and lofts in Midtown and other great places in Houston.			Festivals In Houston Here is a list of the many family friendly, exciting nieghborhood and city-wide festivals that you should know about.
		Museums in Houston Located near Midtown Houston in the Museum District, there is plenty of things to see and do at any of the great museums in town.			Houston African American There are lots of events in Houston where you can experience its rich African American cultural heritage here's a look at a few of them.

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Houston Weekend Events

To get the most out of your Houston weekend, parlay some of that downtime into some serious action-packed fun. Some of the best places in Houston to have fun this weekend are at the Heights First Saturday a free dance workshop and Downtown's Green Market.

Heights First Saturday

This weekend in Houston local artists and painters from Austin, Arizona and of course all over the area will be on hand for Heights First Saturday.

You'll find some incredible one of a kind jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery and ceramics and more. glass art and even cards.
It's a good time to do your Valentine shopping. There will be clothing and handbags wood arts, glass art cards and even a few sculptures.

Musical entertainment this weekend will feature Carrie Ann Buchanan and Nashville bound David Fahl & Folk .

Central City Co-op Downtown Green Market

Do your health a favor and shop the downtown Green Market at Discovery Green this weekend. It's one of the favorite places intown to shop for organic fruit and veggies in Houston that will make your mouth smile and body happy.

The downtown Green Market is held each Sundays, Noon – 4PM. The Green Market has expanded to include holiday products from resident artists and craftsmen, using local and sustainable materials. Now you can find unique crafts alongwith veggies!

Discovery Green encourages you to bring your own lawn chairs, blankets and a friendly dog and sit a spell at the new greenspace.

Free Dance Workshops

Everyone who takes part in the free Saturday workshops can expect their body to benefit from a little spinning, stretching and reaching. The Dynamic X-Change Healing Arts program at Project Row House creates new pathways to joy through dance. Program participants are shown creative methods of experiencing the power of movement.

The program uses body movement, like a well oiled tool to direct exercises which begin with gross and fine motor skills and progress toward creating dance.

The Dynamic Exchange Workshops held at Project Row House 2521 Holman St are free! The healing arts program will include sessions for youth ages 16 to adult from 11AM to 12PM for the next 12 weeks. The Row House campus is available to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00 - 5:00 PM.

These Houston weekend events will give you added power to get through the upcoming week. They are a lot better than the usual trip to a mall or a simple walk in the park.

You'll love finding great buys on fresh vegetables, unique art, joyful sounds and a chance for your body to express its self through graceful movements.

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Art/Theater

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Houston Art

Here's where you can view the latest information on Houston Art exhibits, galleries and museums.

Houston art will engage your senses whether you prefer abstract, modern or fantasy art. A trip to any of the dozens of art galleries is one of the cool things to do in Houston that will stimulate your mind, body and spirit.
We herald the big exhibits in the museum district, but there are literally hundreds of other art spaces where world-class art installations can be discovered in Houston.

These small cozy Houston galleries are the ideal places to take art classes in Houston, purchase art and view unique one of a kind exhibits. Project Row House and Gite Gallery are just some of the better known places in Midtown Houston to buy, exhibit and become entranced with Houston art.

Incredible Micro-sculptures

A recent art exhibition in Houston featured micro-sculptures by Willard Wigans. A skilled and gifted artist that hails from Birmingham, England. Willard creates art small enough to sit in the eye of a needle.

Wigans' works requires precision sculpting,painting and creativity just to find tools and mediums. He said in a recent appearance at Emancipation Park in Houston that he's sculpted a grain of sand and used a single hair from his eyebrow to paint a micro-sculpture.

Unique Exhibits In Houston

Houston exhibits represent far more than just artistic talent. You can see an exhibit of rarely viewed African American photographs from pictures taken during segregation in Houston or the imaginative exhibits containing art cars.

I recently enjoyed an exhibit about the 2006 strike in Houston by janitorial workers. It helped to established a new pay scale for workers that for most of the 20th century were amongst the lowest paid in America.

The exhibit contains photo archives and actual newspaper accounts of the struggle under taken by thousands of mothers, daughters and aunts that banded together to weather the long hard fought battle for livable wages. The brightly colored flags, pots, and other tools used by the protesters are part of the exhibit that chronicles the 2006 event.

Isn't it ironic that janitors and not the Federal government are the only ones who can claim success at cleaning up corporate America. They tackle a job that few people want, but never will they see mega-million dollar salaries that corporate execs take home unless they hit the Texas Lottery.

Project Row House The Intersection Of Life And Art

If you have never visited Project Row House, October is an ideal month to add some face time with the artist, exhibits and what's happening at this forward thinking Houston organization on your schedule. They are more than just an art space.They apply art to life and add life to art.

Supporters of Houston art are invited to Third Ward by PRH. Every October they celebrate the anniversary of their after school and young mothers programs with a gala and other events that bring artist, residents and the community together. They introduce world-class art to the masses using non-traditional avenues, oral history, interactive pot-luck dinners, and abstract art.

The organization is one of the city's change agent. PRH sponsors a variety of programs that combine arts and cultural education mixed in with a little community development and historic preservation. Project Row House has taken old buildings and given them new life, young mothers and prepared them a better life and enhanced an old community with a fresh, new look.

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Art/Theater

Attractions

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WAT's (Word Around Town) at Project Row House

The crew from The “Word Around Town (WAT) tour” are hitting the streets again this week to enlighten and entertain Houston audiences. Every connoisseur of funky things, like poetry slams, spoken word and performance art should catch this ambitious group's week long poetry marathon.

Tuesday, July 22, you can see them near Midtown Houston, at Project Row House, where these gifted spoken word artist will captivate you with their consummate sampling of talent, diversity and poetic styles.

You’ll want to know more about WAT, the dynamic group of performers after you have heard them in action. To get more details for Tuesday's show contact Project Row House, 2521 Holman (between St. Charles and Live Oak Streets) 713.526.7662, for their performance time.

Here’s a few short notes on some of this year’s line-up:

Aria, Poet. School Teacher, brings her voice and style from the Crescent City to the Bayou City.

BGK, a slow world traveler from Washington, D.C

Binx, Activist. Artist. Mother. Originally from Houston, TX, packs houses, determined to put a face on the injustices of Latin America.

Joe B, a founding member of Rebel Crew, is a master beat maker, remix artist, A & R, producer (“I don’t sell tracks, I sell experiences”).

Kool B has already received a Houston Sammy Award for his eclectic style of performance poetry.

MissMillieFiori, Former host of Taft Street Coffee’s poetry open mic, her smooth delivery matches the intelligence and wit of her words.

Stephen Gros, is the co-founder of Panhandler Publishing, poet, painter, lover, fool.

Marlon Lizama, this 27 year old writes to social issues, love, and injustice; all while juggling his day the jobs.

Lupe Mendez, this man/poet/teacher delves into ideals of poetic imagery using real world issues dealing with children, cultural identity and poverty.

Marcell Murphy, raised in Houston Texas, he mixes the condensed energy of his performances with surreal written images.

Maria Palacios, is an empowered Latina, inspirational speaker, feminist poet, author, spoken word performer, polio survivor, activist, disability educator, workshop facilitator, professional presenter.

Zelene Pineda, one of the original think-tankers to the Word Around Town tour. She is an ambitious nineteen year old poet, who currently attends the Univ. of Texas at El Paso.

Jasminne Rosario, was blessed to learn both English and Spanish at a very early age and uses these skills to her advantage to perform, read and write poetry and plays in both languages.

Jerome Washington, emerging from Houston’s Fifth Ward, this artist and visionary is on the front line helping to define the emerging urban culture in the Bayou City.

If you haven’t put your face on the WAT MySpace, take a few minutes to at least put up a few encouraging words and let them know that Houston supports Word Around Town.

[Where:Project Row House, 2521 Holman]

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This Week Enjoy Art and The Astros in Houston

Round 28 : Otherwise Constricted & FotoFest: "Look What a Woman's Got"



The mission of Project Row Houses is to create community through the celebration of art and African American history and culture in Houston. This week they’re sponsoring an artist meet and greet event.

Thursday come out and engage in a dialogue with Rabe'a Ballin, Phillip M. Jones II. The two artists collaborated to bring Houstonians an installation entitled “Behind the Seen”.
May 22, is your chance to ask them about their work and tour the installation. The talk gets going at 6pm at Project Row House, 2521 Holman Street.


To find out more about this exciting event go to Projectrowhouse.org

[Where: 2521 Holman Street, Houston TX]


Another Great Idea For Family and Group Trips.








Midtown Houston residents prepare yourself for the deafening roar of excitement from the crowds at Minute Maid Park all week-long. The Houston Astros will be playing at home against the Chicago Cubs Monday thru Wednesday. Thursday the Philadelphia Phillies come to H-town.

The guys at the Minute Maid Park are cooking up plenty of delicious treats for the game. They’ve just introduced a great idea for your next families or group outing, All You Can Eat tickets for every Thursday Astros game!

For $35 you can get unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, soda and water plus the thrill of a Major League Baseball game.

Need details on this week’s games or the Astros schedule check out Houston.astros.mlb.com

[Where: 501 Crawford Street, Houston, TX 77002]

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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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