How are you doing? I was talking to a friend about the sadness we feel daily -- and how we are grieving for the arts especially. The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University recently studied the role the arts have played during the pandemic (here). The conclusion they came to is that art is FUNDAMENTAL -- "The creative connections to art that so many have shared through social media during the quarantine have underscored the fact that creative expression is an innate need for humans." Amen!

I know you're here because you love artI hope my weekly missives are cheering you up and are opening your eyes to new ways we can interact with arts & culture organizations. If you are a parent, please check out my CAMPS PICKS blogs. There are many ways your kids can enjoy the arts safely! My latest PICKS are here

My ⭐️ARTS PICKS Spotlight⭐️ this week is the Asia Society Texas Center, which is offering free admission through July 31. They still have a robust schedule of digital offerings as well as their annual ExploreAsia Summer Camps (online this year) and virtual film screenings such as "In My Blood It Runs." The current exhibition is " Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes" which is on view through November 29.

If you've been with me awhile, you know I'm passionate about racial justice and also about highlighting art from a variety of cultures (which is easy to do in the country's most diverse city!). A recent blog of mine focused on racial justice resources and now I'm taking it one step further: I am organizing events called "H-Town Evolution" which are (of course!) evolving as I write this. Our first event, "H-Town Evolution: Racial Justice Peace Gathering," is tomorrow night (Thursday, July 3, 7:30pm) and will be livestreamed via Zoom on the Facebook event page. There will be a high school activist, a gospel singer, a couple of priests, artists, and more! My goal with these events is to bring people together to present their viewpoints and also to dialogue. I hope you'll tune in! (And, hey, please help us spread the word by sharing this link. People on and off Facebook will be able to view it. Thanks!)

This Saturday is July 4 and The City of Houston's fireworks show  can be viewed live at ABC13, so pop on your red/white/blue jammies and watch the sparks fly. For something a little different, watch my video  of women reading the Declaration of Independence . It's my way of celebrating women, who should have been in "the room where it happened"!


CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO

In non-pandemic times, and since I started publishing this blog in 2004, it has been a space to promote my curated list of unique live Houston area cultural events (PICKS) on the weekend for adults and kids. Because of COVID-19, those haven't happened since mid-March so I originally re-worked the format to focus on 5 Houston-based arts & culture organizations in my (Almost) Daily Dose of ARTS PICKS blog each of the NINE weeks of quarantine. You can see each edition - and read about 45 arts groups! - here.
 
And now I've started a new feature: my  ⭐️ ARTS PICKS Spotlight ⭐️ . Each week, I will let you know about a space that is open along with details of all their activities and sometimes a video to bring them to life. I'll keep doing that until live events start happening again on a larger scale and I can start curating PICKS again.

In the meantime: please enjoy my weekly Spotlights, and please stay healthy!

Sincerely,

Sarah Gish
713.492.1173

P.S. If you want to IGNITE YOUR LIFE now or anytime, check out my list of "12 Ways to Ignite Your Life Daily" -- and watch the 12 videos I recently made about each Way  here. I'm very proud of that list and my work and I hope it will help you live a better life. Meditation, taking care of yourself, enjoying life, and laughing -- plus more! -- is what will get us through this global pandemic.