VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Architecture Center Houston Foundation presents the exhibition Ready Set Go Houston Stage Designers. Exhibition Dates July 22 through October 15, 2010; Opening Reception Thursday, July 22, 2010, 5:30 - 8:00pm.

Since the earliest days, Houstonians have always been ready to see a show. In the beginning there were tent shows, followed by “opera houses”, usually over commercial establishments on the ground floor. By the early twentieth century world-renowned touring artists were playing such venues as the City Auditorium and the Majestic Theater. Most local productions remained strictly amateur.

By mid-nineteenth century Houston boasted several producing theaters that employed their own crews that could design and build sets, create props and organize impressive lighting effects. Some of these houses developed into major arts organizations, like the Alley Theatre; most however disappeared, leaving behind only warm memories and faded programs.

Today this city is enriched by the talents of many professionally trained set designers – some working full-time, some part-time. Some work for professional theaters, some for small non-profits, some for educational institutions, and some work free-lance. All these creative people have one thing in common: they are the ones that make theater architecture come alive – by the hard work of interpreting the intent of the playwright and director, by furnishing the stage with a dramatic environment, and by painting the actors with light.

This exhibit showcases the work of some of our most talented and promising stage designers and their principal stages, including Tom Guthrie (UH Moores Opera program), Jodi Bobrovsky and Kevin Holden (Stages Repertory Theater), Kevin Rigdon (UH Theater program and Alley Theatre), and James Thomas (Ensemble Theatre) – through their models and production photographs.

About the curator, Barry Moore, FAIA, Curator
Barry Moore, FAIA, is a Senior Associate at Gensler where he serves as a firm-wide resource for theater design and historic preservation projects. His design credits include the High School for Performing and Visual Arts, the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, Stafford Performing Arts Centre, Fine Arts Building at Lone Star College, the Ensemble Theatre, Teatro Bilingue de Houston, the Willow Street Pump Station at UH Downtown, and all KIPP Charter School projects since 1999. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at UH where he teaches fifth-year design and serves as founding director of the Workshop for Historic Architecture. He is Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and has served as President of AIA Houston.

Architecture Center Houston is located downtown at 315 Capitol, Suite 120 on the corner of Bagby and Capitol. Parking is available in the Hobby Center parking garage located across the street with entrances on Rusk and Walker. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 9am to 5pm and Fridays from 9am to 3pm.