Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: A Place of Magnificent Creativity

Personally, a trip to an art museum has never been much of a favorite outing - until recently. In September, the senior class of 2020 at The Briarwood School took a trip to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to view the many different types of art, sculpture, and even light-based exhibits by various famous artists. Prior to this trip, we had studied the artists we would see.

One artist in particular who piqued our interest was James Turrell. His work, “The Light Inside,” actually serves as a tunnel that connects the Caroline Weiss Law Building to the Audrey Jones Beck Building. His work never disappoints. My fellow seniors particularly enjoyed William Forsythe’s“Choreographic Objects." This interactive artwork requires visitors to maneuver, even dance, around 200 hundred swinging pendulums without getting tangled in them.

Even though it was the hottest part of the tour on a 100-degree Houston day, the Sculpture Garden was my personal favorite exhibit. Some seniors were captivated by the bronze faces and forms, while others were examining their own reflections in Kapoor’s Cloud Column. We were all in awe of the garden. Finally, our whole experience was enhanced by learning how the museum evolved from the Neoclassical building of 1924 to the ultramodern Audrey Jones Beck Building in 2000. As we compared the architecture of the old and new buildings, we saw a stark contrast in style and charm. 

All in all, the senior class enjoyed the outing, and some of us, myself included, hope to return to take in these magnificent works of creativity again. Before we returned to school, we visited the Asia Society and the Buffalo Bayou Cistern, which is a decommissioned reservoir that once provided the city of Houston with fifteen million gallons of drinking water.  We returned to school better informed of our city’s history, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to the Buffalo Bayou Cistern.