Best Free Museums In Houston Near Me

4worldlovers: HMAAC Presents: el Franco lee II: mid-career survey, curated by HMAAC’s chief curator, christopher blay

The exhibition of paintings and drawings cover works from the twenty-year period from 2003 - 2023 and features 61+ works that span the artist’s career.

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Visit the Culture Shoppe at HMAAC for all your local artists and vendors merchandise!

The Houston Museum of African American Culture dedicated its Stairwell of Memory on February 19, 2022 with the addition of the portrait of Houstonian Robbie Tolan, “The Survivor.” On December 11, 2021, HMAAC dedicated a portrait of Tolan by artist Cedric Ingram that was added to the ones of Bland and Floyd. The three of them represent our area’s most prominent symbols of police brutality. America is indeed lucky and blessed that one of them survived; a living reminder that justice for black victims of police brutality is so rare as to essentially be non-existent, and that good citizens of all races must be diligent to change our current culture to one of fairness and equity.

“The Jazz Church of Houston is an endeavor by artist Tierney Malone to create a temporary institution dedicated to collecting and sharing the story of Houston's musical tribe. While there are museums in Texas dedicated to music, a space does not exist that chronicles the jazz history of Houston. The name “Jazz Church” drew its inspiration from the Church of John Coltrane in San Francisco. Established in 1970, the church uses John Coltrane’s music as an expression of worship. The Jazz Church of Houston is a secular temple that will serve as a communal gathering place for like-minded people to listen, learn and celebrate jazz music and culture in Houston.


The Jazz Church of Houston’s patron saint is Texas tenor legend, Arnett Cobb. He is the standard bearer for all those who came after him. He made Houston his base of operation instead of New York or LA, as many of his contemporaries have done. He mentored the next generation of jazz musicians who followed in his footsteps to New York. He is the model of rugged individualism that often characterizes Texans. He survived many physical challenges to pursue his passion of making music. He was hospitalized for a year from a car accident, and used crutches for the rest of his life. He never let his physical challenges prevent him from playing for audiences around the world.”-Tierney Malone, via jazzchurchhouston.org

The mission of HMAAC is to collect, conserve, explore, interpret, and exhibit the material and intellectual culture of Africans and African Americans in Houston, the state of Texas, the southwest and the African Diaspora for current and future generations. In fulfilling its mission, HMAAC seeks to invite and engage visitors of every race and background and to inspire children of all ages through discovery-driven learning. HMAAC is to be a museum for all people.

4worldlovers: Station co-founders Ann and James Harithas have had a tremendous influence on art in Houston and Texas and beyond. The Station Museum of Contemporary Art has hosted some of the most progressive and revolutionary exhibitions in Houston in its two-plus decades of operation. Those exhibitions have reflected and honored the diversity of our community as well as the larger socio-economic issues that affect us all.


We have had many questions about what’s next for the Station Museum.

Going forward, The Station Museum of Contemporary Art will be on a hiatus from public exhibitions and programming until further notice.

We are grateful for the support of the community that we have been a part of through the years. It is through the participation by artists, performers, and especially our visitors that we have been able to foster dialogue, expression, and activism for a better world, and we thank you all.

We will communicate further information as it becomes available. In the meantime, please visit our website for updates.

4worldlovers:
The Cockrell Butterfly Center and Brown Hall of Entomology provide entertainment and education for the whole family. Walk through a living butterfly habitat, marvel at spectacular live and preserved specimens of some of the world’s largest and weirdest arthropods, and enjoy interactive games and quizzes.


Strollers are not allowed in the Butterfly Center, but there is stroller parking available nearby.


Please be aware that this is a live animal exhibit, which can be overwhelming to service animals. If your service animal or the animals inside become agitated through vocalization, urination/excretion, or aggressive behavior, we may ask that your service animal step out of this area of the Museum.


Enter a stunning, three-story glass structure built around a 50-foot waterfall! This simulated tropical rainforest is filled with exotic plants…

Soar into first class with the Cockrell Butterfly Center’s Flight School! Led by a team of expert butterfly flight attendants,…