april calendar HOME SHOW The Houston Home Show takes place April 13-15 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Get your spring projects underway with help form the experts and sources for outdoor living, landscaping, air conditioning, design and decor. Information: www.TexasHomeandGarden.com.
On view at Rice Gallery, April 13 through June 24, Yasuaki Onishi creates one of his reverse of volume installations.
MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Learn how to build a pergola at the Arbor Gate on April 21. Photo courtesy of Home & Habitat.
Last month, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston debuted the first-ever monographic exhibition of paintings by 17th Century Dutch still-life painter Willem van Aelst. Co-organized by the MFAH, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Elegance and Refinement: The StillLife Paintings of Willem van Aelst features 28 of the artist’s finest works culled from private and public collections in the United States and Europe. Recognized as one of the leading painters in the Dutch Republic during the “Golden Age” of Dutch painting, he was largely forgotten by the 19th century. The exhibition aims to restore Van Aelst’s stature by showcasing his technical brilliance, attention to detail and ingenious brushwork for 21st-century audiences to discover. The exhibit continues at the MFAH through May 28. Information: 713.639.7300 or www.mfah.org.
CLASSES Gardeners looking for knowledge and ideas will always find an impressive variety of classes at The Arbor Gate. On April 14, gardeners can learn about Heirloom Shrubs and Vines for Houston Gardens. The class is led by the co-authors of Heirloom Gardening in the South-Yesterdays Plants for Today's Gardens Dr. William Welch and Greg Grant. On April 21, the class Perfect Pergolas, offers a hands-on demonstration of how to make your own eye-catching garden structure. The class is led by Steven Chamblee, Chief Horticulturist for Chandor Gardens in Weatherford and consulting editor and author for Neil Sperry's GARDENS magazine. Information: 281.351.8851 or www.arborgate.com. The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center is encouraging families to Get Outside for Earth Day with free activities including a hike along an Arboretum trail, Animal Activity Challenge stations, and more on April 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Staff from REI’s Houston store will be onsite from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a demonstration campsite and information on opportunities for outdoor family recreation. Arboretum memberships will be discounted for the day and those joining will receive discount coupons to local museums and attractions. The event also includes a Native Plant Sale at Arboretum’s main building, as well as refreshments. Admission to the Earth Day Celebration is free. Information: 713.681.8433 or www.houstonarboretum.org.
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Houston’s own Rice University is home to the only university art museum in the nation dedicated to site-specific installation art. Rice Gallery presents temporary, large-scale environments that visitors can enter and explore. Artists typically use inexpensive materials to create stunning works of art. Opening April 13 and continuing through June 24, Rice Gallery’s commission of Japanese artist Yasuaki Onishi coincides with the Grand Opening of the Asia Society Texas Center’s new Houston headquarters designed by Yoshio Taniguchi. Yasuaki Onishi’s creation for Rice Gallery, reverse of volume (RG) employs the simplest materials – translucent plastic sheeting, strings of black glue, and fishing line – to create monumental forms that resemble mountains or clouds floating in space. His process of “casting the invisible” involves draping the sheeting over objects, which are removed to leave only their impressions. Onishi views this process of “reversing” sculpture to be a meditation on the nature of the negative space, or void, left behind. Information: 713.348.6069 or www.ricegallery.org. This gallery show is for those handyman types and anyone who appreciates their work. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft features the fascinating woodcarvings of Houston Heights resident Chris Hedrick. The exhibition, Implied Utility, runs April 14-June 10. Hedrick’s meticulous, yet humorous works depict hacksaws and power drills, hammers and rakes that elevate these hardworking, old-school tools to new artistic heights. The show is an experience a delightful combination of beauty, accuracy, wit and irony. Information: 713.529.4848 or www.crafthouston.org.
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