Houston’s Southern Culture on the Rise

 The American Association of Museums conference in Houston last year was the most welcoming event the organization has ever experienced.

WHEN YOU THINK OF THE WORLD’S GREAT CULTURAL CENTERS, CITIES SUCH AS CAIRO, LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON, D.C., ARE LIKELY TO IMMEDIATELY COME TO MIND. Inquiries into why Houston is conspicuously absent from this list may be met with a scoff or an odd look. But for those in the know, the question would be legitimate, because Houston has quietly (and with much success) become an arts and culture powerhouse.

Last May, the American Association of Museums (AAM) held its annual meeting in Houston. The AAM is the largest service organization for museums. It establishes standards and best practices for the industry, provides professional development and, most importantly, serves as an advocate on Capitol Hill so museums can continue to receive financial assistance from the federal government.

“The AAM conference in Houston was the most welcoming meeting we’ve had in terms of physical layout of the convention facilities and the warm reception we received from the people we worked with at the various museums,” said Dewey Blanton, AAM director of communications. “Houston’s host committee really bent over backwards and made this a big deal. When we arrive in town we’re not there to make news, but in Houston we were all over the TV and on the front page of the Houston Chronicle three times during our five-day convention.”

Monica Rhodes was the local meeting planner hired by the AAM to coordinate all the activities and logistics between the AAM staff in Washington, D.C., the various museums in Houston, the army of 400 volunteers, the convention center and the hotels. Rhodes, who is a native Houstonian, says that the local arts and culture scene has grown organically over the years but more often than not Houston is overlooked as a cultural center.

“We have more than 150 museums in the region, 18 in the Houston Museum District—10 of which are free all the time,” Rhodes said. “We also have another 130-plus museums outside the district, many of which are also free. Houston shines in the performing arts, too. We have more theater seats in Houston, second only to New York City, than any other city in the country.”

All 18 of the city’s major museums are located within three miles, or a 10-minute ride on the light rail, from the center of downtown Houston and the convention center (and within a mile or so of each other). The anchor museums are the Museum of Fine Arts and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The Museum of Fine Arts is the Southwest’s largest art museum, and its Menil collection is widely considered to be one of the most significant in the world. The Museum of Natural Science has one of the world’s best collections of gems and minerals.

Conference tracks for the AAM conference were held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, where 150 sessions took place over five days, covering topics ranging from helping small museums establish a social media program to educating museums on the parameters for selling pieces from their collections.

Rhodes says that one of the most popular sessions allowed the general public to sit in and interact with museum personnel.

“The work that folks in museums perform is ultimately for the public, and we realized that we get all of these museum professionals in the same place but there’s no opportunity for them to interact with the public that they serve,” Rhodes said. “The museum professionals found these tracks especially helpful because they had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with their target audience and gather feedback.”

The Museum District members also pulled together to play host to some spectacular events that took place in the evening. Attendees had the opportunity to purchase a ticket for an event at a specific museum or a collection of museums. On the first night of the conference, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art partnered to host a Texas block party. The museums are located across the street from each other so AAM members were able to go back and forth freely between the venues, view the collections, listen to live music and, most importantly, network with colleagues.

“Everyone who attended the evening events not only felt they were worthwhile professionally, but it was a prime opportunity for the attendees from across the country to network,” Blanton said.

Looking from the outside, it might seem a bit strange that cultural centers that rely on the same sources for funding would be spending so much time networking and sharing information. But in these tough economic times, Blanton says working together is the only way to survive. Museums around the country now routinely share ideas, best practices and, for those in the same city, frequently work cooperatively to attract visitors.

In Houston, for example, the 18 museums within the museum district each contribute to a general fund that helps to promote all of them. The results have been nothing short of spectacular. In 2010, more than 3.3 million people visited the district, more than the total attendance of all three of Houston’s professional sports teams combined.

As for the museums outside the district, some are a little quirky (the Beer Can House), some serve a very niche audience (the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum) and others are a bit macabre (the National Museum of Funeral History). But like the bigger museums they are available for group tours. The National Museum of Funeral History is even available for corporate parties.

Know Before You Go

There’s only one way to describe Houston’s summertime climate: brutal. The heat and humidity combine to drive up daytime temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But Houstonians are also quick to point out that theirs is the world’s most air-conditioned city. Air-conditioned underground tunnels and above-ground walkways allow folks in the downtown area to move around without having to brave the scorching heat. Any outdoor event held during the summer is likely to result in some very uncomfortable guests.

Houston’s weather is pleasant outside the summer months. As with most sub-tropical locations, the best time to visit is autumn and winter, when temperatures range from the low 60s to mid-70s Fahrenheit.

Houston is one of the most accessible cities in the U.S. Two commercial airports serve the Houston area, with George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) being the largest. IAH is a major hub for Continental Airlines and United, so finding a non-stop flight from any large U.S. city isn’t difficult. The other commercial airport in the metro area is William P. Hobby, which handles short- to medium-haul domestic flights.

A taxi from IAH to the downtown area runs approximately US$50.

If you’re downtown, there’s plenty of public transportation to help you get around. The METRO provides service via buses and light rail, which provide service to museums, the performing arts districts and sports stadiums. And Houston has a flat rate of $6 for taxi rides that originate and end within the central business district.

Keep in mind that almost three-quarters of all Houston residents don’t carpool when they drive to work. This translates to significant traffic during commuting hours. So if your group is staying outside of the downtown area but they need to get into the city for meetings or events, it’s always a good idea to allow extra time for the commute. One+