LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is pleased to present a two-part lecture series based on one of Houston’s earliest cultural institutions, the Houston Lyceum. Curated by Andrea Grover in conjunction with No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston, this program invites experts to lecture on identical topics to those of the early Lyceum, but from a contemporary vantage point.

Dr. Mike Fain, Director of Forensics, University of Houston Forensic Society will present Eloquence on September 10, 6:30 p.m. Lew Fincher, President of the Houston Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, and Lance Wood, Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in League City, TX, will present The Cause and Laws of Storms on October 1, 6:30 p.m.

The Houston Lyceum was a cultural organization founded in 1854 (when the city had a population of approximately 2000) as a precursor to the first public library and as a means to centralize educational resources. The Lyceum held a lecture series that became a popular form of entertainment and took place at the German Evangelical Church, Louis Roos Hall, and Market Hall. Lectures were delivered by regional experts and on rare occasions by someone from outside Texas.

Early lecture titles included The Science of Astronomy; The Properties of Light (electricity); True Manliness; Influence of Fine Literature; and Vegetable and Animal Respiration. CAMH’s presentations of Eloquence and The Cause and Laws of Storms were originally presented by W.T. Bond (date unknown), and by C.G. Forshey (1855), respectively.

“I wanted to create a series of public programs for No Zoning that would give insight into the development and character of Houstonians. By exploring these topics from a contemporary perspective, we can ask ourselves how these interests informed early settlers and continue to define Houston’s culture,” says curator Andrea Grover.

From the Houston Lyceum’s constitution, 1854: “The objects of this association shall be to diffuse knowledge among its members, intelligence, and information, by a library, lectures on various subjects, and by discussion of such questions as may elicit useful information and produce improvement in the art of public speaking.”

HOUSTON LYCEUM SCHEDULE
The Houston Lyceum will take place at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. The events are free and open to the public.

Thursday, September 10, 6:30pm: “Eloquence”
Presented by Dr. Mike Fain
(Original lecture given W.T. Bond, date unknown)
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines eloquence as “fluent or persuasive speaking.” Find out more about the art of public speaking from one of Houston’s leading orators.

Dr. Mike Fain has won more than 150 national speech awards. The former coach of the Rice University speech and debate team, he is currently Director of Forensics for the University of Houston. Mr. Fain holds a JD and MBA from the University of Houston, TX.

Thursday, October 1, 6:30pm: “The Cause and Laws of Storms”
Presented by Lew Fincher and Lance Wood
(Original lecture given by C.G. Forshey in 1855)
Weather is more than small talk in Houston, and its science has long been critical to residents of the Gulf Coast region. Join Lew Fincher and Lance Woods, two regional experts on hurricanes and forecasting, to learn more about the science behind storms in Houston.

Lew Fincher is the President of the Houston Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, and co-founder of Hurricane Consulting, Inc. Fincher is a hurricane specialist and historian, who has assisted the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He was part of the 2005 National Weather Service Hurricane Katrina Assessment Team and the Houston/Galveston Area Council’s Hurricane Rita Evacuation Taskforce. Fincher also is a member of the Galveston County Historical Commission and a Life Member of the Galveston Historical Foundation. He has served both as an information source and on camera spokesman on the subject of tropical cyclones and the history of hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin, including on the Weather Channel, History Channel, Discovery Channel, ABC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, NBC, Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, Galveston County Daily News, New York Times, among others.

Lance Wood is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in League City, TX. Prior to this position, he was a senior forecaster at the League City office. He began his career with the NWS in El Paso, TX in 1994. Wood became a forecaster at the NWS Lake Charles, LA office in 1995, before coming to the Houston/Galveston area in 1998. In addition to his NWS experience, he worked for Duke Energy in Houston as a trade floor meteorologist where he provided weather forecasts to support energy trading. He has a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University.

ABOUT ANDREA GROVER
Andrea Grover is an independent curator, artist, and writer. In 1998, she founded Aurora Picture Show, a now recognized center for filmic art that began in Grover’s living room as “the world’s most public home theater.” She curated the first exhibition exploring the phenomenon of crowdsourcing in art (Phantom Captain, apexart, New York, 2006), and, with artist Jon Rubin, organized an exhibit in which worldwide participants created a photo-sharing album of their imaginings on Tehran (Never Been to Tehran, Parkingallery, Tehran, Iran, 2008). She recently curated an evening of films for Dia Art Foundation at The Hispanic Society of America, New York. Presently she is organizing 29 Chains to the Moon, an exhibition at Carnegie Mellon University’s Miller Gallery, which continues her research into cooperation and distributed thinking across disciplines. She has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a BFA from Syracuse University, and was a Core Fellow at the Glassell School for the Arts, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Free from the land-use and zoning ordinances that shape other large American cities by separating residential, commercial, and industrial areas, Houston allows a mixed-use approach where disparate architectures and functions blend. In this often chaotic, jarring urban topography, many Houston artists have been able to carve out spaces and opportunities for themselves, their work, and their communities. No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston is the first museum exhibition to consider the current and past efforts of regional artists working in the urban environment. This exhibition was co-curated by Toby Kamps, senior curator at CAMH, and Meredith Goldsmith, curatorial associate at CAMH. On view through October 4.

EXHIBITION FUNDING AND SUPPORT
No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston has been made possible by generous support from the Union Pacific Foundation. The exhibition has been made possible by the patrons, benefactors, and donors to the Museum’s Major Exhibition Fund: Major Patrons—Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Fayez Sarofim, Michael Zilkha; Patrons—Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Ballard, Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner III, Ms. Louisa Stude Sarofim, Leigh and Reggie Smith; Benefactors—Marita and J.B. Fairbanks, George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, Jackson Hicks / Jackson and Company, Elizabeth Howard, Marley Lott, Elisa and Cris Pye, Beverly and Howard Robinson, Swift + Company, The Susan Vaughan Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Wilson; Donors—Baker Botts, LLP, Bergner and Johnson Design, Susie and Sanford Criner, Julia and Russell Frankel, Jo and Jim Furr, Mr. and Mrs. William Goldberg / Bernstein Global Wealth Management, Louise D. Jamail, King & Spalding L.L.P., KPMG, LLP, Judy and Scott Nyquist, Lauren Rottet, David I. Saperstein, Karen and Harry Susman, John and Becca Cason Thrash, Martha Claire Tompkins, Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray.

EDUCATION SUPPORT
The Museum receives support for its education programs from M.D. Anderson Foundation, Baker Hughes Foundation, Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Louise D. Jamail, Kinder Morgan Foundation, Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment, and Nordstrom, Inc. Teen Council is supported by The Baker Hughes Foundation and Baker Botts L.L.P.

GENERAL SUPPORT
The Museum’s operations and programs are made possible through the generosity of the Museum’s trustees, patrons, members and donors. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston receives partial operating support from the Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through the Houston Museum District Association, National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

Continental airlines is the official airline of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

CAMH MISSION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is an idea and a place shaped by the present moment. The Museum exemplifies the dynamic relationship between contemporary art and contemporary society through its exhibitions, public and educational programs, and publications. The CAMH provides the physical and intellectual framework essential to the presentation, interpretation, and advancement of contemporary art; it is a vibrant forum for artists and all audiences, and for critical, scholarly, and public discourse.
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GENERAL INFORMATION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is located at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, in the heart of Houston’s Museum District. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Thursdays to 9:00 PM, and Sundays noon to 5:00 PM. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.camh.org or call (713) 284-8250.