Brown Bag Gallery Tours

Reservations still available -- sign up your child before it's too late!

When: Tuesdays/Thursdays: July 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17.
9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Where:  Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of the University of Houston 

Who & What: Limited to 25 kids ages 6 to 12, workshops are taught by artist and educator Tina Kotrla (MFA, University of Houston), and will give students the chance to be creative and have fun while making artworks that will test the limits of imagination and spark conversation around the dinner table. After visiting the 2008 Houston Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery's summer exhibition, kids will undertake projects inspired in part by ideas in the show. 

Kids will use paint, pastels, drawing media, fabric, natural materials, and found objects to create art in two and three dimensions.

How to Sign Up: Parents may click here to download the registration form (PDF) to print and mail back to us. 

Cost is $60 for the series of workshops.

Checks should be made out to the University of Houston.  Financial aid is available. To make the most of their learning experience, students are expected to attend on time, and on the first day of both sessions, parents or guardians will be required to bring a signed Student/Parent or Guardian Agreement. 

Please contact Katy at 713-743-9971 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions--and register soon!  We look forward to seeing your kids at Summer Arts Workshops.

The Houston Area Exhibition has been a significant component of Blaffer Gallery's program since 1974. This year's installment has been selected by Blaffer curator Claudia Schmuckli through careful portfolio review and a series of on-site studio visits. The resulting exhibition offers a fresh and personal take on the Houston art scene, and features the work of: 

• Seth Alverson
• William Betts
• Sasha Dela
• Jonathan Durham
• Hana Hillerova
• Hedwige Jacobs
• Andres Janacua
• Nicholas Kersulis
• Mindy Kober
• Jonathan Leach
• Lynne McCabe
• Ariane Roesch
• Julie Spielman
• Gabriela Trzebinski
• Jeff Williams
• Audry Worster

Exhibition Credits:

The 2008 Houston Area Exhibition is organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc., the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner, III, Nancy and Rob Martin, Judy and Scott Nyquist, and the Karen & Eric Pulaski Philanthropic Fund.

Charles "Teenie" Harris: Rhapsody in Black and White is presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston. This exhibition is part of a city-wide collaboration with DiverseWorks and Society for the Performing Arts, with additional partners, Project Row Houses and Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Alcoa Foundation. The images on view in the exhibition are from the Charles "Teenie" Harris Archive of Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. The exhibition is organized by August Wilson Center for African American Culture with the help of Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh and PMG Arts Management.

Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion was organized for Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, by Terrie Sultan, Director, The Parrish Art Museum (former Director of Blaffer Gallery); David Pagel, Assistant Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University; and Colin Gardner, Professor in Critical Theory and Integrative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, the Cecil Amelia Blaffer von Furstenberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Ellen and Steve Susman, and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany.