The Menil Collection The Menil Collection

Join us for the Menil Collection’s second annual Neighborhood Community Day.

Enjoy an afternoon of free art, music, poetry, and family activities in celebration of the museum’s vibrant neighborhood. Participating organizations include: DACAMERA, Houston Center for Photography, Inprint, The Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, Writers in the Schools (WITS), and Watercolor Art Society.

Eureka Heights will be onsite with complimentary samples of Somethin’ Light and Hopps Hopps Hopps, a west coast lager brewed exclusively for the Menil’s exhibition, The Curational Imagination of Walter Hopps. Try them both while supplies last.

Food trucks will also be on-site: Boombox Taco (street tacos), and Pollywog’s Cajun Persuasion (Cajun cuisine).

As always, Menil programs are free and open to all.

All activities take place at the Menil Collection unless otherwise noted.

12:00 – 12:15 p.m. - Performance
Outspoken Bean, Houston Poet Laureate

12:15 – 12:45 p.m. - Poetry Slam
Presented with Writers in the Schools (WITS). Houston’s Youth Poet Laureate, Ariana Lee, performs. She is joined on stage by members of the Meta-Four Houston poetry slam team.

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. - Drum Circle
Learn the basics of African drumming with Sam Dinkins III, co-presented with DACAMERA. Drop-in experience, no registration is required.

1:00 – 1:45 p.m. - Ars Lyrica Reading & Performance
Ars Lyrica presents an interactive family-friendly musical story time for Maria’s Magical Music Adventure, with musical accompaniment and narrators reading the book in English and Spanish. Please note that this event will be held at the Rothko Chapel and immediately followed by a book signing at Rothko Chapel’s Welcome House.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. - Poetry Workshop
Writers in the Schools invites children to participate in a collaborative writing activity. Space is limited, register in advance at the WITS table.

2:30 – 3:15 p.m. - Neighborhood History Talk
Led by Menil Collection staff, this tour chronicles the changing inhabitants and uses of the land owned by the Menil, from the earliest known populations to the gray-painted bungalows familiar to our neighbors today.

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. - Jazz Trio Performance
Featuring DACAMERA Young Artists Jalen Baker, vibraphone, Gavin Moolchan on drums, and guest artist A.J. Moyler on bass.

3:00 – 3:45 p.m. - Ars Lyrica Reading & Performance
(Repeat performance)

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. - Inprint Prize Winners Reading
Featuring short readings by this year’s recipients of 10 annual Inprint Prizes, awarded to Graduate students in the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and one undergraduate at Rice University.

All-Day Activities

Have a poem written for you on a typewriter by the Inprint Poetry Buskers.

Participate in a watercolor activity led by Watercolor Art Society teaching artists, while supplies last.

Explore the Flash Drive, Houston Center for Photography’s mobile education unit, and participate in creating your own cyanotype using found objects and the light of the sun.

Enjoy a self-led drawing activity on the grounds of the Menil Drawing Institute. Free paper and pencils are available at the front desk of MDI.

This event takes place outdoors at the Menil Collection, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street. Please bring your own picnic blankets or lawn chairs; seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Menil green space policies apply.

Further information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.

Schedule of events is subject to change, especially in the event of inclement weather. Please check this page on the day of the program for up-to-date information.