The Architecture, Design and Art Library has developed an online collection of interviews called Building Houston, which documents the oral history of Houston’s built environment, as told by the people who impacted it. Architects, developers, planners, scholars, philanthropists, and community leaders discuss their work and its relationship to Houston’s urban fabric in this online collection. Each subject is interviewed by a scholar or colleague who frames the discussion and provides context. Ten recordings made earlier this year are now available in the UH Libraries’ audio/video repository. Click on the link to see interviews with Leslie K. Elkins, Natalye Appel, James B. Thomas and others.
By selecting a language from the drop down menu at the bottom of the Architecture, Design, and Art Library’s page, users can now translate this site into 80 different languages.
The William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library is pleased to present Play and Process by student artist Felicia Leyva. The opening reception will be held on Friday, August 3, with light refreshments. The exhibit will be on display through October, and is free and open to the public.
Leyva is a sculpture BFA student at the University of Houston. While she has experimented with several mediums, her work mainly focuses on her increasing interest in fiber arts. Known for her fun and colorful style, she enjoys bringing new life to everyday soft materials like yarn, foam, and felt. Her work has been exhibited at Blaffer Art Museum’s Student Exhibition and UH Biannual Art Show on campus grounds. As she continues her creative journey, she hopes to further blur the line between craft and fine art.
Artist’s statement:
I make art because I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. It’s a great part of who I am. When I go days without making something, I feel almost sick and weighed down. The process of making art is my way of clearing out my mind and letting go of frustrations. Art is very therapeutic and as a person who internalizes things, I find much relief in it.
I’m geared towards making playful, lighthearted art because it reminds me of easier times as a child. I feel as though somewhere down the line of growing up, my life picked up a lot of anger and pain. I’ve been trying to cancel out these negative feelings with bright, colorful, artworks. I think I’m trying to create a fun and beautiful world to live in. One that makes myself and others feel happy.
I was introduced to the world of fiber arts about a year ago and fell in love with it. Fibers are the best medium for producing inviting, comforting textures. There is something magical about creating work that entices others to reach out and touch them. I have never minded if people touch my work. I actually encourage it because then you are no longer simply viewing but experiencing the piece. Through touch, I believe that you can connect with my artwork and ultimately, myself.
A newly digitized and accessible collection focusing on Houston’s Riverside Terrace has been added to the UH Libraries Audio/Video Repository.
The collection features raw footage captured for the production of the 1987 documentary This Is Our Home, It Is Not For Sale by Jon Schwartz. The searchable and viewable clips comprise over 110 interviews with former residents, city council members, former University of Houston faculty, and other community leaders discussing the evolution of Riverside Terrace amid urban development, expansion of neighboring institutions, and changes in demographics during the 1950s and 60s. The firsthand perspectives of interviewees collectively provide a fascinating and honest narrative about race and real estate in mid-century Houston.
The complete documentary is available to watch in the UH Special Collections Reading Room. In addition, the papers of filmmaker Jon Schwartz are preserved and accessible in the Reading Room. This collection covers the full scope of records related to the production of the documentary. Interviews from the collection were digitized with the generous support of an Institute of Museum and Library Services TexTreasures grant, administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library offers art and design students the opportunity to exhibit their work inside its facility, giving them experience installing work in a public space, as well as the chance to explore the relationship between their work and the library’s materials. Work exhibited in the Architecture and Art Library during the Fall Semester can be viewed in the UH Digital Library. Use the links below to see each artist’s work.
Students in the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design and the School of Art may propose to exhibit their work using our online form.
The Architecture, Design, and Art Library will close from 2 pm on Friday, May 11th, until the College of Architecture and Design’s graduation has commenced, approximately 90 minutes.
Sketches Abroad has been digitized for the UH Digital Library. The oversized portfolio features sketches made by Julius A. Schweinfurth during a nine month tour Spain, Italy, France, and the South Kensington Museum in 1886. Mr. Schweinfurth earned a Rotch Travelling Fellowship from the Boston Society of Architects, which allowed him to travel and publish his sketches. He later became chief designer at Peabody and Sterns, one of the most prominent American firms of the late nineteenth century, before launching his own firm in 1895. His notable works include several dormitories at Wellesley College and the Bradley Chapel at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, NY. He and his family endowed the Schweinfurth Art Center, which continues to operate in Auburn.
This rare portfolio is part of the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design and Art Library’s Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room collection. Contact Catherine Essinger at cwessinger@uh.edu to schedule a time to view this or other rare books on art and design.
An installation of prints and multimedia artwork by UH alumnus Lisa Marie Kress is on view on the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design and Art Library’s upper mezzanine through May 2018. Ms. Kress, currently an instructor at the University of Houston-Downtown, earned her MFA from the UH School of Art in 2001.
The William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design and Art Library has recently acquired a number of exceptional works for its Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, thanks to the generous support of donors Edward Lukasek and Barry Moore, who donated titles from their personal collections, and the families of Howard Barnstone and Melita Franzheim, as well as Kenneth Franzheim II, all of whom established endowments that allow the library to acquire and maintain superb books on art, architecture and design. The books listed below may viewed by appointment. Contact Catherine Essinger at cwessinger@uh.edu for more information.
| The alphabet of Francesco Torniello da Novara [1517 : Followed by a comparison with the alphabet of Fra Luca Pacioli] |
L’architecture gothique religieuse en Catalogne, Valence et Baléares
L’art chrétien : son développement iconographique des origines à nos jour
Les débuts de la sculpture romane espagnole : Leon, Jaca, Compostelle
Designs for monuments : including grave stones, compartments, wall pieces and tombs on 40 plates
The earliest painted panels of Catalonia
The Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John / with wood engravings by Hans Alexander Mueller
French cathedrals / by Benjamin Winkles
Mineko Grimmer : Remembering Plato : the Menil Collection
Screen tests : a diary / [by] Gerard Malanga and Andy Warhol
Visionary architects : Boullée, Ledoux, Lequeu
Winkles’s architectural and picturesque illustrations of the cathedral churches of England and Wales