Project Row Houses

Project Row Houses
Hourick · CC BY 3.0 · source
Name	Project Row Houses
Formation	1993
Founders	Rick Lowe
Type	Nonprofit arts organization
Headquarters	Houston, Texas
Region served	Third Ward, Houston
Mission	Community-based arts and cultural development

Project Row Houses is a community-based arts and cultural development organization founded in Houston's Third Ward that combines artist residencies, historic preservation, affordable housing, and social services. The initiative transformed shotgun houses into creative spaces and social programs that intersect with wider networks including neighborhood revitalization, African American cultural heritage, and contemporary art biennials. Its work has engaged artists, activists, foundations, universities, and municipal entities while attracting national attention from arts institutions, philanthropic organizations, and media outlets.

History

Founded in 1993 by artist Rick Lowe with collaborators drawn from University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, and local community activists, the project emerged amid discussions linked to urban renewal strategies in Houston and broader debates following initiatives like the National Endowment for the Arts grants for community arts. Early phases involved rehabilitating shotgun houses associated with the historic Third Ward and the nearby Emancipation Park (Houston) legacy, connecting to civil rights history and the cultural memory of figures such as Emancipation Proclamation anniversaries and the legacy of Juneteenth. The organization’s model echoes precedents from interventions by artists associated with Martha Rosler and community arts advocates from Community Arts Network dialogues, while attracting interest from curators at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Menil Collection. Through the 2000s and 2010s, collaborations with municipal agencies including the City of Houston and neighborhood stakeholders addressed post-Hurricane Katrina migration, regional demographic shifts, and debates around gentrification that implicated developers such as Hines Interests and preservationists associated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Architecture and Site

The physical campus comprises rehabilitated 19th- and early-20th-century shotgun houses in the Third Ward, sited near landmarks like Freedmen's Town Historic District (Houston), Houston Independent School District facilities, and Texas Southern University. Architects and preservationists involved have included alumni and faculty from Rice School of Architecture and practitioners linked to firms with projects at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and Houston Museum District properties. Materials and techniques reflect vernacular Texas shotgun typologies adapted for contemporary programmatic needs, drawing comparisons to adaptive reuse examples at Theaster Gates's initiatives in Chicago, preservation projects coordinated by the National Park Service, and community-driven housing models promoted by Habitat for Humanity International. The site planning interfaces with local infrastructure including Buffalo Bayou, neighborhood parks connected to Houston Parks and Recreation Department, and transit corridors served by METRO (Houston). Landscape interventions reference regional ecologies and historical garden traditions present in sites like Hermann Park.

Programs and Community Impact

Programs span artist residency initiatives, youth education collaborations, housing preservation, and social support services in partnership with organizations such as Houston Food Bank, United Way of Greater Houston, and local schools like Yates High School (Houston). Artist fellows and collaborators have included practitioners connected to institutions like Creative Time, International Studio & Curatorial Program, and the Guggenheim Fellowships. Community impact assessments have been discussed in scholarship from University of Houston researchers, urbanists from Harvard Graduate School of Design, and policy analysts citing case studies in books published by Princeton University Press and Routledge. Outreach projects have intersected with music and cultural programming involving artists linked to Geto Boys history, jazz traditions associated with Houston Grand Opera events, and public humanities initiatives supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Programs addressing housing crises have been compared to models advanced by Enterprise Community Partners and informed by studies from the Urban Institute.

Leadership and Organization

Leadership has centered on founder Rick Lowe as executive director with a governing board composed of leaders drawn from arts institutions like The Menil Collection, academic partners such as University of Houston–Downtown, philanthropic entities including representatives of the Surdna Foundation, and civic figures from the City of Houston cultural affairs apparatus. Organizational development has engaged consultants and capacity-building programs affiliated with Grantmakers in the Arts, nonprofit legal advisors from the Texas Civil Rights Project sphere, and program strategists who have previously worked at Creative Time and municipal arts commissions. The staff includes curators, community organizers, housing specialists, and youth educators collaborating with faculty from Rice University and Texas Southern University for research and evaluation.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources have combined grants from national funders such as the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation, corporate philanthropy from entities with regional investments, and local government support through the Houston Arts Alliance. Partnerships extend to universities including Rice University, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, health providers like Texas Medical Center affiliates, and housing partners such as Enterprise Community Partners and community development corporations associated with Houston Housing Authority initiatives. The project's model has been cited in reports by Brookings Institution, case studies in MacArthur Foundation-funded research, and featured in exhibitions co-curated with institutions like Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and programmatic exchanges with international partners hosted by organizations such as Istanbul Biennial and Venice Biennale.

Category:Arts organizations based in Houston Category:African-American history in Houston