Community Service Project
Saturday, May 21
2 – 5 pm
Houston Museum of African American Culture
4807 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004

Houstonians and the Houston museum community are invited and encouraged to join AAM and the 2011 Local Host Committee in support one of Houston’s newest museums during AAM’s first ever Community Service Project.

One of Houston's newest museums, the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), in the Houston Museum District, is kicking off a major public art project, and the Houston community, alongside conference attendees, will help get this important programming off the ground. Artists commissioned by HMAAC will design “paint-by-number” murals that AAM and community volunteers will “fill in.” with guidance from the artists and HMAAC volunteers. The murals will be inscribed to recognize the contributions of the AAM volunteers and community members, and later installed at community centers throughout Houston. By participating in this service project, volunteers will help HMAAC expand the scope and impact of its mural project reaching as many areas of the community as possible.

To participate, RSVP to albert@aamhouston.org or call 713-353-1570 by May 15.


Art Car Parade
Sunday, May 22, 2011
9 am – view the cars during line up
1 pm – Parade rolls out
Eleanor Tinsley Park off of Allen Parkway

Fantastic, Fun and FREE! Houstonians, make plans to attend the 2011 Houston Art Car Parade and help us kicks off the American Association of Museums 105th Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo and officially welcome AAM attendees to town!  Part folk art, part fine art, part wholly artistic expression of every kind, the Art Car Parade is entirely monumental, thoroughly spectacular and not to be missed!
 
What started out in the late 1980s as a 40 car parade seen by an estimated 2,000 people is now the largest Art Car Parade in the world.  A celebration of the drive to create, the parade today attracts more than 300,000 spectators, 250+ vehicles and other entries (anything on wheels is welcome – unicycles, lawnmowers, cars, go-carts, bikes, etc.) and artists from 23 states and Canada and Mexico.
 
The parade runs along Allen Parkway, from Waugh to Bagby, just west of downtown, on Sunday, May 22.  While the parade rolls out at 1 pm (and usually concludes around 3 pm), folks are encouraged to come early (as early as 9 am) to view the magnificent works of art up close and meet the artists.
 
AAM will provide transportation to and from the parade for conference attendees, with several drop off and pick up time options. AAMers, for details on how to get to and from the parade and convention center, click here. Don’t forget, you must reserve your seat on the Art Car Parade bus by emailing parade@aam-us.org.
 

Houston Area Museums Art Car
While at the Art Car Parade, don't miss the Houston Area Museums Art Car!  Bring your camera! After participating in the Art Car Parade, the Houston Area Museums Art Car, which was created especially for AAM 2011, will be on display at the convention center during the conference, poised and ready for photos with everyone!
 
The AAM 2011 Local Host Committee commissioned a team of Houston-based artists-- Sasha Dela, Rachel Hewlett, David McClain, and Kristy Peet-- to create an art car realizing the late Dr. Peter Marzio’s vision. Imagine this -- a car that has crashed through the walls of the museums' gift shops-- donor bricks, store furniture and fixtures “flying” off all sides, along with the catalogs, programs, shirts, books, trinkets and toys one would undoubtedly cherish after a visit to any one of Houston's many museums. Playful and whimsical, this art car is a tribute to the diversity of Houston’s many museums and a celebration of the 2011 AAM Annual Meeting in Houston.


FREE EXHIBITIONS, PERFORMANCES & MORE AT DISCOVERY GREEN
Discovery Green park is the “front yard” for the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Hilton America Houston hotel.  That’s why the AAM 2011 Local Host Committee has planned a slate full of activities and programs during the 2011 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, especially for AAM attendees and the local community.  From engaging performances during the lunch hour and early evening, to a special exhibition created especially for AAM 2011, there’s never a lack of fun happening at Discovery Green!  For more information, visit www.discoverygreen.com.

Art Car Parade Sneak Peek
Saturday, May 21
6 – 10 pm
Twas the night before the parade and all through the park, the art cars were glowing and I saw a spark…Celebrate Houston’s Art Car Culture!  Get your first look at the new cars for 2011 (including the Houston Area Museums Art Car!) and see some old favorites from years past. Enjoy live music with illuminated Art Cars and entertainment throughout the park.  This is a great opportunity to enjoy the cars if you can’t go to the parade on Sunday. And, if you are going to the parade, come check out the cars in the dark! They are pretty cool when they are all lit up!

The PODA Project
May 18 – June 5
Be one of the first to see a unique public art exhibition in Houston designed especially for AAM!

Sponsored by the American Association of Museums 2011 Local Host Committee in partnership with PODS Houston, the City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance, the Portable On Demand Arts (PODA) Project is a temporary public art exhibition on display at Discovery Green featuring the work of Aerosol Warfare, Box 13, Jillian Conrad, Lynne McCabe, Gabriel Martinez, Metalab, Anthony Shumate and The Joanna. Each artist or collective of artists will uniquely transform a PODS® container into a work of art.

Created in conjunction with the 2011 American Association of Museums Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo™, and responding to the futuristic theme of the conference– the Museum of Tomorrow – the PODA Project provides a non-traditional platform for artists to explore the cultural, ecological, political, scientific, and socio-economic forces shaping Houston’s aspirations for the future, and showcase the city as a vibrant arts and cultural capital and museum mecca for locals and visitors alike. 

This traveling exhibition will debut at Discovery Green May 18 – June 5, 2011, before touring a series of locations (TBA) throughout the greater Houston region.

Celebrate Houston Arts
The Houston Arts Alliance and Discovery Green have teamed up to present an array of performances and activities while AAM is in town, showcasing the best of Houston's performing and visual arts. The Houston community is invited and encouraged to attend these free performances, too!

Sunday, May 22 at 8 pm
The Aurora Picture Show and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston present Space, Land and Time: Underground Adventures with Ant Farm, a film directed by Laura Harrison and Elizabeth Federici (USA, 2010, 78 min.) that is the first independent video documentary to delve into the work of the renegade 1970s art/architecture collective Ant Farm, best known for its iconic land-art piece Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Radical architects, video pioneers and mordantly funny cultural commentators, the Ant Farmers created a body of deeply subversive work that questioned everything by posing a set of creative and comedic alternative. The filmmakers will be in attendance and will host a Q&A session with attendees following the film.

Monday, May 23 & Tuesday, May 24
12 – 2 pm AND 6 – 8 pm
Houston Arts Alliance Folklife and Traditional Arts Program presents Local Roots/Global Culture, showcasing the city’s diverse performing arts traditions from Creole to Carnatic music, from Highlife to hard core Honky Tonk.
 
Fitness in the Park
Discovery Green offers a regular series of free exercise and movement classes for the community. While AAM is in town, here’s what’s on the schedule. Join us!
Saturday, May 21        930 – 1030 am        Slow Flow Yoga
                                 11 am – 1 pm        Strictly Street Salsa
Sunday, May 22        1030 – 1130 am     Discovery Hoop Dance (hula hoops!)
Monday, May 23        630 – 730 pm        Bum-ba before you Zumba
Tuesday, May 24        630 – 730 pm        Joyful Yoga
Wednesday, May 25    630 – 730 pm         Zumba

Other Fun Activities in the Park
Sunday, May 22 (every Sunday)
12 – 4 pm
Urban Harvest Farmers Market and Craft Beer Garden

Wednesday, May 25 (every Wednesday)
12 – 130 pm
Weekly Blues & Burgers Series, featuring Rue Davis, “the Man with Many Voices.” Pick up a bite to eat at the park’s Lake House Café and enjoy this blues music lunchtime outdoor concert
   
Museum of Broken Relationships
The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston will present an exhibition from May 21 – June 4 from the permanent collection of the Museum of Broken Relationships. The exhibit features detritus from failed relations - be it a wedding dress, an “I Love You” teddy bear or a set of fluffy handcuffs- donated to the museum by people around the world.  Objects from the permanent collection will be on view alongside ephemera offered by Houstonians looking to exhibit their own love legacy.

Houstonians interested in donating objects need to visit www.brokenships.com, click on “Send Your Exhibit,” submit a completed Intent to Donate Form, and then print out the form (will be emailed) and bring it with the object in person to the Blaffer Art Museum from April 26 - May 13 from 10 am – 5 pm, Tuesdays – Fridays. All objects donated in Houston will be on display for the duration of the exhibition, are exhibited anonymously and are non-returnable.