Christina Carter on some of the best parts of being an MFAH member.

There was a time when going to a museum felt like an event. You bought a ticket, mapped out what you wanted to see, and tried to fit as much as possible into one visit. Museum membership changed that for me. Now, some of my favorite visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), are the ones when I see an exhibition, attend a program, or simply spend an hour wandering. I can always come back.

My perfect museum day as a member is surprisingly unhurried. I might spend some time in the galleries before stopping in the private Members Lounge for a complimentary beverage and time with the exhibition books. There’s no urgency to move on. Free admission, along with benefits like discounted parking and dining, makes it easier to turn a museum visit into part of an ordinary Saturday rather than a special occasion.

But the biggest surprise has been how membership has encouraged me to say yes to things I might otherwise have overlooked.

This year I joined a Saturday Members Tour of Picasso, Klee, Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen. Curator talks and gallery programs have also given me opportunities to hear directly from the people researching, interpreting, and caring for the art. I’ve attended programs on subjects ranging from dining in the Atomic Age and Merce Cunningham to recent acquisitions in the Asian Art department. MFAH Films has become another part of my cultural calendar, with everything from Oscar-nominated shorts to documentaries and film festivals. Next on my calendar is the Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour.

My husband, George, who shares the Patron membership with me, has become accustomed to my ever-growing museum calendar. “I never know what she’s going to sign us up for next, but I usually enjoy it,” he says.

Then there is Rienzi.

My first visit to Rienzi, the MFAH house museum, was in February. I returned in May for a behind-the-scenes tour, and again in July for a calligraphy class. What began as a museum visit became a much larger curiosity about the house, its architecture, and the people who lived there. Eventually that curiosity led me to the MFAH Archives, a resource that is free and open to the public, where I began doing my own research.

Membership has even followed me outside Houston. Patron members receive reciprocal privileges at more than 70 museums around the country. On a recent trip to Miami, I used that benefit at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Suddenly, a line on the membership benefits page had become part of the way I travel.

The savings are easy to calculate. But the part I value most is harder to put a dollar amount on.

Membership lowered the barrier to curiosity. It gave me permission to see less, return more often, try something unfamiliar, bring someone along, and follow an interest wherever it led—even into an archive.

Maybe that’s my perfect museum day after all: one that leaves me with a reason to come back.

LATELY IN HOUSTON

All’s fair in love and logos. If you dined out at all, you’ve run into Letterset. Matthew Tabor, owner of branding studio Letterset, is the artist behind the signs and lettering around Houston including Burger Bodega, Maximo, Anvil, and more. He’ll be hosting sign-painting workshops starting August 29th. Houston Chronicle

H-Town breakfasts lean… nostalgic? Katharine Shilcutt polled Houstonians on their favorite bfast spots, and here are some of the top hits: Kenny & Ziggy’s, New York Deli & Coffee, Tell-Wink Grill, Dot Coffee Shop, and, coming in number #1, Casaema. Substack

Inside Culture Club. Basket Books & Art is currently showing Christopher Cascio’s Culture Club, with walls completely filled, floor to ceiling with masks, knives, medical imagery, and “general debris of a culture producing images faster than anyone could reasonably absorb them.” Maximalist at its finest. (Or worst). Paper City Magazine

WEEKEND EVENTS

All weekend:

• Summer Vibe Artisan Market at Silver Street Warehouse

• Wishing Hours at Perseid in Hotel Saint Augustine

• Wellness Weekend Summer Edition at Blessings Gallery

• Estate Sale by Blue Moon Estate Sales in Spring area

On your radar:

• August 24-30: Houston Theatre Week next week! Buy one, get one tickets.

• August 24: Pick up a special edition Laufey library card at

  • Central Houston Public Library or

  • Harris County Public Libraries (RSVP at midnight on August 23)

• August 30: HTX Drawing Club

Thursday, 8/20

6pm-8pm, Workshop | Sip and Paint Clay Pot Paint Party at Moharani Coffee House. $50.

6pm-9pm, Games | Blanket Bingo at Market Square Park. “$10 admission includes one bingo packet (nine rounds). The daubers can be purchased for $1 each (card payment only). Packets will go on sale at 6 PM and Bingo will begin at 7 PM.”

8pm-11pm, Live Music | Matthew Cruz Triom at MOTH: “Not a Jazz Night.” $23.

8pm-12am, Nightlife | Nite Owl featuring Santos Sounds and Joe Espinoza at Concrete Rose Bar.

Friday, 8/21

4pm-6pm, Workshop | Custom Hand Embroidery Sessions at Tadaima. $60.

7pm, Market | Lotería Night Market at 2800 Navigation Blvd.

7pm-12am, Art | 7th Annual Summer Slashers Art Showcase with Insomnia Gallery at Bad Astronaut. $7.

8pm, Live Music | Jason Hainsworth & New Jazz Underground produced by DACAMERA at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Free.

9pm, Nightlife | Heated Twilight Night at Warehouse Live. “An Evening of Heated Rivalry + Twilight.” $32 and up.

Saturday, 8/22

12pm-4pm, Community | Julia Ideson Building’s 100th Birthday Celebration: A Day of Vintage Library and Book Fun.

12pm-4pm, Food | Umami Matcha Pop-up at Gerry’s Grill.

4pm, Workshop | Summer Floral Workshop with Taiba’s Floral at Eden Plant Co. $75.

6:55pm, Film | Watch La La Land (2016) at Rooftop Cinema Club. $22 and up.

7pm-9pm, Nature | Bikes & Bats Tour with Buffalo Bayou Partnership. $10. 

Sunday, 7/23

11am, Art | Beans & Botanicals, a Pish Posh Plants Experience at Little Dreamer Coffee. “Tap into your creativity by painting a terracotta pot with delightful colors and enhance your green thumb with a mini plant workshop…” $25.

6pm-9pm, Food | The Big Deviled Egg Throwdown at Grand Prize Bar. $20. 

ON THE HOU(S)E Concierge

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