Mitch Cohen

What’s going on? Everything, of course, this is Houston! I was looking around to see what fun events are happening and I am not disappointed, here are my weekend picks close to town. The 40th Annual Pride Parade hosted by Pride Houston is this Saturday and with over 700,000 attendance last year, there’s a good chance you knew this already. Officially called Houston LGBT+ Pride 2018, the annual event takes place downtown at City Hall from Noon - 11 p.m. Get details at PrideHouston.org and get there early - this event is amazing. Poetry seems to keep popping up on my radar, I even attended a poetry club event and read my own poem last weekend. I liked it, and thank goodness the club did too! Saturday evening at Brasil Houston, 2604 Dunlavy St., you can test the poetry waters at a free … [Read more...] about Art Valet: Houston comes alive with Pride and poetry

In my February 10 column I introduced you to the non-profit Art Launch, managed by artist John Ross Palmer and husband Ryan Lindsay. A fabulous photo of the three of the four Escapist Mentorship Program’s 2018 artists ran with my column.  Today I get to introduce you to the fourth artist, Nabarupa Bhattacharjee, who recently joined the other “Escapists” from her home in India. A little refresher about the program first. Since 2014, the Escapist Artists each receive use of a personal state-of-the-art studio and gallery space in the heart of the Historic Houston Heights known as the Chrysalis. The Escapist Mentorship Program has always been entirely free for the accepted Escapist Artists. Art Launch doesn’t just “teach” artists business skills in a bubble. The Escapist … [Read more...] about Art Valet: 4th Escapist Arrives from India

Not too long ago Winter Street Studios was the only name used to reference Second Saturday Open Studios. Now it’s Second Saturday followed by one of six different buildings. There is a lot of talent in those buildings and they want you to come see them. The Silos, Silver Street, and Winter Street Studios open their studios to the public from 12-5 p.m. Sabine Street, Spring Street and Summer Street Studios open from 2 - 7 p.m. Visit the website for studio info and a map of the entire complex sawyeryards.com. Rhonda Lanclos is a figure and portrait artist in studio # 18 at Winter Street. At the beginning of this year she started a podcast titled Artists of Houston (artistsofhouston.com) and in a very casual manner, has a conversation with different artists each month, generally around … [Read more...] about Art Valet: Sawyer Street Artists Reach new Heights

Living in a city that has temperatures that “feel” like anything over 100 degrees is insanity, isn’t it? Twelve years ago at this time, I was getting ready for my first evening art market on 19th Street, to you know, avoid the heat. I was about to find out just how crazy we Houstonians really are. The evening markets proved quite popular from the beginning, and those of us that survived set up (we all survived), loved it. Strolling among white canopied tents glowing like luminaries have a magical feeling. Making the evening markets a little more tolerable. If you’re reading this for the first time, I own and operate First Saturday Arts Market on 19th Street and The Market at Sawyer Yards on second Saturdays. The night shows are misleading to us that attend the shows all year … [Read more...] about Art Valet: The roots of White Linen Night

Summer is here, regardless if you’re ready, you can put those coats and sweaters away, there will be no more cold fronts for a while. They sure were pleasant little surprises though, weren’t they? Let’s get your art on this summer, and maybe I’ll get to write about you or your children in the future.  Did you notice the Museum of Fine Arts Houston had a big event last weekend? It does mean the traffic cones are gone now from Montrose at Bissonnet. Most Houstonians may know the MFAH’s Glassell School of Art for the enormous mirror like sculpture installed a few months ago titled Cloud Column by Anish Kapoor.  From my observations of adult students that attend here, Glassell takes a student of art and turns them into the artists they were meant to be. Instructors are … [Read more...] about Art Valet: Get your art on this summer