You'd love to paddle Buffalo Bayou. But you don't know about put-ins, take-outs or landmarks along the way. You're concerned about the water levels and potential obstructions. You can't get anyone to run a shuttle for you. Why not do the next best thing and walk or cycle along the bayou? There's a lot to see.
One of the areas we particularly enjoy visiting is the area near Sabine Street Bridge known as the Buffalo Bayou Artpark. For those of you who have never experienced the random art and sculpture along the bayou, you're in for an unexpected treat.
Located at 500 Allen Parkway and at several other locations along the bayou, the Buffalo Bayou Artpark showcases installations from artists across the country. The Artpark attempts to merge nature and art, placing significant pieces on the edge of the Bayou, right smack dab in the middle of hectic Houston!
The Buffalo Bayou
Artpark traces its history to a "spontaneous guerilla
show" co-founded by Charlie Sartwelle and John Runnels about 15 years
ago.
Rumor has it that the International Festival did not have enough money
left
in its coffers at that time to fund their annual sculpture exhibition.
So
a group of young and innovative artists banded together to promote
their
own show. They chose the site along Buffalo Bayou that was historically
a
farmer's market known as Watermelon Flats in an area between Fire
Station
No 1 and Buffalo Bayou on Bagby Street. In 1992, however, the site was
occupied
mainly by the homeless and had been neglected for years. That first
guerilla
show grew into a "happening" involving hundreds of people. From
that
initial event sprang the art car movement and the creation of the
Buffalo
Bayou Artpark.
Working with the Municipal Arts Commission and
the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, the park leases space
along
Buffalo Bayou from the city to use as a permanent area for
site-specific
projects by local artists. The Artpark has been relocated from its
original
location to an area east of the Sabine Street Bridge and under I-45 due
to
construction of the 2nd phase of Sesquicentennial Park. It also has an
artist-in-residence
program, which has hosted, among others, Herb Parker and Patrick
Dougherty
over the last few years.
Much of the artwork and sculptures along the
bayou
changes frequently, but some of the permanent fixtures are
Side.Walk.Poems
by John Runnels, Bayou Alligator by Greg Bruegger, and Doors by
Kathamann.
The Winnebago/baby stroller, the triangle and several other pieces of
sculpture
grace the slopes along the bayou.