If you are visiting or live in or near Houston, you can keep yourself busy for days with all of the creative things to do in and around the city. Not only does Houston host the International Quilt Festival every fall, they support creativity and arts year-round.
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a non-collecting museum presenting new art and exhibits in its two floors of gallery space. Each exhibit is accompanied with a publication that explains more about the work as well as provides lasting documentation about the exhibit.
Cullen Sculpture Garden is located at the Museum of Fine Arts, consisting 25 works from 20th and 21st century artists, including works from Auguste Rodin, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Henri Matisse, Louise Bourgeois and more.
Museum of Fine Arts Houston includes over 70,000 works of art across different times, cultures and mediums. From photography to Asian Art to Decorative Arts, Craft & Design and Prints & Drawings, the works and exhibits at the MFAH will spark creativity and inspiration.
Czech Center Museum Houston promotes art, music, dance and history of the immigrants that sought freedom despite oppressive rulers and systems, leaving their countries to seek liberty and democracy in the United States.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
Houston Museum African American Culture celebrates and recognizes historical and contemporary experiences of African Americans to build a common future for people of all colors.
The Health Museum‘s mission is to foster wonder and curiosity about health, medical science and the human body. Heath includes a larger-than-life journey through the human body, mini classes and med schools, traveling exhibits and more.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science includes the Burke Baker Planetarium, Cockrell Butterfly Center, as well as 16 permanent exhibitions. and interactive labs.
At the Cockrell Butterfly Center you walk through a living butterfly habitat, enjoy hundreds of species of butterflies and learn about gardening with butterflies.
National Museum of Funeral History‘s mission is to preserve the heritage of death care. They claim the largest collection of authentic funeral service items. Learn about caskets & coffins, hearses and famous funerals of Presidents and celebrities.
The Menil Collection is a place “where each visitor’s very singularity is valued: you are not told how to look, you are invited to imagine the possibilities of vision and contemplation”. The collection does not aspire to be comprehensive; it strives for excellence in the distinct areas its founders and curators have established.
You’ll need to make reservations to visit the James Turrell Skyspace at Rice University. Turrell uses light to create works of art. He invites visitors to ‘go inside and greet the light’. During sunrise and sunset, colored lights illuminate the walls and contrast the natural skylight in the oculus.
Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel with 14 black color-hued paintings by Mark Rothko. It is a place for solitude as well as gathering – a destination for people of all faiths. The gardens surrounding the chapel include a reflecting pool as well as sculptures.
Have some fun and enjoy the whimsical automobiles at the Art Car Museum. The goal of the museum is to encourage public awareness of the cultural, political, economic and personal dimensions of art. They emphasize art cars and other contemporary art from artists that rarely are acknowledged for their work.
The Printing Museum has over 10,000 items in its permanent collection, as well as traveling exhibits. It was started to explore the intersections of the history, art and technology of printing. The museum hosts creative workshops, as well as interactive tours.
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is a unique gallery with resident artists, a garden and gift shop. It was founded to educate about the process, product and history of crafts and primarily emphasizes clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood or found & recycled materials.
The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art is a folk art environment that was built from 1956 until 1979 by Jefferson Davis McKissask, a Houston postal worker. He built it to honor his favorite fruit, the orange. It includes an oasis, a wishing well, stage, museum, gift shop and several levels. The team now supports a variety of visual experiences around Houston, including the Houston Bike Parade, Houston Art Car Parade, Beer Can House and Smither Park.
Watercolor Art Society of Houston has a gallery in the Museum District of Houston and brings exhibits and classes to the community. They offer year-round opportunities for every level of painter, monthly meetings with demonstrations and open studio afternoons.
History buff? You’ll need to take the time to visit The Antiquarium in River Oaks. They have a large collection of original antique prints, maps, historical Texas documents, old photos and lots of great unique items to add to your art.
The Center for Recycled Art was started by grade school teachers to provide a place for unused art and craft supplies. It receives donations of clean scrap and reusable art and craft supplies from Houston’s citizens and businesses. The Center has diverted more than 400,000 pounds of reusable materials from Houston’s landfills. Never know what you’ll find when you visit! Perfect for stash building.
Just a short drive east of Houston, you’ll find the famous Space Center Houston. Learn about the race to space at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The center features over 400 space artifacts and both permanent and traveling exhibits. Explore spacesuits, see lunar rocks and go inside a space shuttle replica.
And, about 1-1/2 hours west of Houston is La Grange and home to the Texas Quilt Museum. Make it a day trip. La Grange is a great representation of small town Texas. It has great shops to browse through and small locally owned restaurants with great food. Make sure to stop by the quilt shop right next to the museum to add to your stash!
Always make time to shop along the way for your favorite supplies. Plan your own fabric shop hop with this map.
Visit yarn shops in and around Houston for your next knitting or crochet project.
Beads are a perfect small package to fit in a suitcase or carry on to remember your trip to Houston. Plan to stop at a few of these bead shops in and around Houston on your visit.
Enjoy scrapbooking and paper crafts? Plan to stop by some of these shops on your visit to Houston.