Creation meets conservation today at the Green House Gallery Opening. The latest addition to Houston’s art scene is a showcase space for a collective of 12 artists who put earth first. Monique Weston recycles found objects such as lighting gels, plumbing parts, door hinges and cogs from antique watches for her jewelry. In her paintings, she explores natural elements by dividing up the canvas like a checkerboard, with each square alternating between solid colors and images of earth, water or air. Jonatan Lopez also uses trashed materials; he incorporates found scraps of metal into his sculptures, which range from animals like fish and lizards to more abstract forms that utilize bicycle wheels as a spin-friendly base. Miquel Correl also uses animalistic shapes when forming his ceramic cups, vases, plates and bowls. Lilibeth André conserves culture in her oil paintings of Mexican market scenes. Her images of women making crafts and selling food conjure up a part of the culture she says is disappearing and not as well known to younger generations.

The show also includes more environmentally conscious paintings, collages, ceramics and jewelry by the gallery’s other artists: Mina Agah, Elizabeth Cencini, Lois Morton, Adine Rotman, Susan Spjut, Nan Stombaugh, Keyvan Yousefi and Helena Gijsbers van Wijk. 6 to 9 p.m. 716 West Alabama. The show runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Through September. For information, call 713-535-6462 or visit www.greenhouseartgallery.com. Free.

Fri., Sept. 19, 6-9 p.m., 2008

This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2008.