Our My Top 5 feature showcases Houstonians who are shaping the culture in the city and impacting people’s lives. In turn, they share their own favorite things to do in Houston when they’re not hard at work. This week, we’re very pleased to feature Max Fields, independent curator of Suplex and Communications Associate at the CAMH.
My Top 5 Things to Do in Houston
by Max Fields
- Blaffer Art Museum – You’d think that because I work at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, I wouldn’t spend my free time at another Houston museum dedicated to showing contemporary work, but with Blaffer’s consistent run of incredible exhibitions, I can’t help it. Right now the Blaffer Art Museum is showing works by Slavs and Tatars who make incredibly beautiful and poignant work that investigates geographic, linguistic, spiritual, and semiotic systems that relate to cultural/national identification. I can’t recommend seeing their series of lecture-performances enough!
- Project Row Houses – Project Row Houses (PRH) is one of the most innovative artists projects in the US and it’s right in our backyard. The arts space invites both established and emerging artists from Houston and around the globe to create installations and artworks in rounds of exhibitions that are mounted in shotgun houses along Holman St. PRH also hosts several public programs for free throughout the year. If you haven’t been, I recommend visiting during one of their day-long Block Party events.
- Alabama Song – Artists Regina Agu and Gabe Martinez have sacrificed the comfort of their Third-Ward home to provide Houston’s artists, do-ers, movers, and shakers, space to present ideas. The sporadic programming and undefined hours make visiting a bit difficult, but if you’re lucky enough to find yourself there, you’ll discover a side of Houston’s that is brimming with productive creative energy.
- Vinal Edge, Sound Exchange and Cactus Music – Each of these record stores are special in their own unique way. Vinal Edge carries all the weird you’ve ever wanted, Sound Exchange provides you with a finely curated selection of hard-to-find records from Houston-based artists and beyond, and Cactus Records provides space for performances by local favorites and out of town guests on their in-store stage.
- Hirsch Library, Museum of Fine Arts Houston – When I first moved to Houston, I would walk across the street from my job at CAMH on my lunch breaks and dig into the MFAH’s growing archive of artists books, criticism, and art journals/magazines. The Hirsch is completely free to visit and has every arts-related publication you’ve ever wanted to read. AND they have a really handy book-scanner!
About Max Fields
Max Fields is an independent curator and the Communications Associate at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. At the Museum, Fields works to foster opportunities that connect audiences with contemporary art on the web, in print, and in the Museum’s galleries. In 2013, Fields co-founded Suplex, a curatorial group that organizes exhibitions, events, and public programs at various venues in Houston. His most recent curatorial project, “Barry Elkanick: Proceed to the Nearest Exit” is currently on view at She Works Flexible’s Flex Space through February 7.
