The first Sunday Street drew more than 3,000 people, in the rain, on White Oak and Quitman. The second one turned out more than 20,000 people on Westheimer. Now Washington Avenue must represent. The final of the three pilot Sunday Streets will be held Sunday, June 1, 11 am to 3 pm, along a two-mile stretch from Studemont and Washington Avenue to Market Square via Preston Street. Unlike Westheimer, there will be large open expanses, a landscape of vacant lots and warehouses full of "potential." However, the route is also rich with historic buildings and landscapes. Yes, Houston is the amnesiac city, but sometimes we forget to demolish. Sometimes we forget so that we can discover.
And right in the middle of the route will be a great deal of activity. Read on for an incomplete guide to what you can expect.
Market Square photo from WikiCommons.
Market Square anchors the eastern end of the route. In the park, Rice Design Alliance and Cite, the publishers of this blog and my employer, are teaming up with the Inprint Poetry Buskers. Houston Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Zepeda, David Tomas Martinez, Margaret Monahan, and others will compose verse on site, on demand, on typewriters on themes specified by you. They'll even sign the poems, and you can take them home at no charge.
If you can't think of a theme for the poets, look around you. Stephen Fox writes in his AIA Houston Architectural Guide, "Market Square is one of two public squares that the brothers Augustus C. Allen and John K. Allen set aside in their 1836 survey of the City of Houston. From 1840-1929 it was the site of the city's public market and from 1841-1939 site of the city hall." The park features art by James Surls, Doug Hollis, Richard Turner, Malou Flato, and Paul Hester. At 301 Travis is a tower that contains the market clock from the 1904 City Hall and Market House. Read articles by David Theis (1, 2) to learn more about the history of the area.
You'll also be able to eat treats from Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt and Niko Niko’s, and enjoy other activities at Market Square.
Heading west, you'll cross Buffalo Bayou at Sesquicentennial Park, which was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Houston's founding in 1836. The park, Fox writes, "represents an architectural vision for treating the banks of Buffalo Bayou as a terraced landscape that dates to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1986 the Rice Design Alliance [my employer!] organized a national design competition for this site." Not so long ago, the bayou was considered a toxic place only fit for dumping bodies and this park helped turn that perception around. Take in the 70-foot laser-cut stainless steel Seven Wonders by Mel Chin. Each contains 150 cutouts based on drawings made by Houston children born in 1986. Fox calls it "the most heroic work of public art in Houston."
After the bridge, the highway and a rather bleak stretch of road might intimidate you. Then again, perhaps all of us occupying the street with our bikes and bodies will help us see the potential here for an open, diverse, pedestrian-friendly future.
When Preston merges into Washington Avenue, the activity will pick up. Trinity Lutheran Church will be hosting Zumba dancing, hula hoops, live music, and martial arts demonstrations.
Between Silver and Hemphill streets, the action will be thick. Susannah Mitchell, director of a new entity called the Washington Avenue Arts District, has helped organize neighborhood groups, businesses, and artists to host a huge number of activities. After several years of effort, led by David Brown and funded by Jon Deal, Steve Gibson, and Paul Hobby, the arts district was chartered by the state and dedicated in April of this year.
A stage at Liberty Station will feature Texas Johnny Boy (11:15-12:15), Jeremy O'Bannon (12:30-1:30), and Nick Guitan and The Umbrella Man (1:45-2:45). Between acts, Evolve Fitness Studio will hold fitness competitions. Grifters & Shills will headline another stage in the "Creative Zone" where more than 70 arts groups will have tents. The First Saturday Arts Market will set up a (day later than their name suggests) pop-up art market. Aerosol Warfare has curated live mural making by Eles Iak, Moe Iak, Vurseone, Article, Select Skates, Scott Tarbox, SBK Crew, Hostal, Flip, Kween, Anat Ronen, and Gonzo247. B-cycle will have a temporary station. (Remember to dock and share!) Neartown Church has organized a family zone with a bounce house and carnival-inspired games for kids. And there will be food trucks: Taco Nutz, Muiishi Makarritos, Goro and Gun, Cadillac Coffee, and Ice Paradise Snoballs.
Bike Houston will be leading a Kidical Mass ride departing at 11:00am from 2115 Washington Ave (at Hemphill). Bring the kids for this slow paced, safe family ride, before the crowds are out. Kidical Mass is all about getting the family out on the bikes, safely circulating and having fun.
The scene on Washington Avenue should be hopping, but don't forget to explore our newest designated historic district, the First Ward to the north, and our oldest designated historic district, the Sixth Ward to the south. Decatur Street in the Sixth Ward, also called Del Sesto as Gwendolyn Zepeda has written in Cite (pdf), has an especially lovely group of houses from the 1870s.
Gwendolyn Zepeda on Decatur Street in 6th Ward, or Del Sesto. Photo by Lawrence Landers.
Photo by Raj Mankad.It could be hot, and there's probably no shadier place in the city than Glenwood Cemetery. Easy to miss despite its ivy-covered gate, this Victorian cemetery was designed to be like a park and enjoyed by visitors. So stop and enter. Everyone is welcome as long as you are respectful. The most visited grave is probably that of Howard Hughes, but there are many, many Houstonians of note buried there including Charlotte Allen, the pioneer often left out of our historical narrative.
Towards the Studemont end of the route, there isn't much programmed or planned activity that I know of. Remember that the concept of a Sunday Street is simply to open up space for physical activity. A place to walk, bicycle, skateboard, unicycle is a wonderful thing if we show up and use it.
