Creative partners Dan Havel and Dean Ruck the pair responsible for the funnel structure at the Art League of Houston site before construction on the new ALH building began have been busy for the last several months building a stage thats as much a work of art as anything that will be performed on it.
Taking a condemned house and found materials, Havel and Ruck created Fifth Ward Jam, a temporary public art piece set in a pocket park on Lyons Avenue. After putting interior supports in place, Havel and Ruck set about adding wooden boards and other recycled materials to the exterior, creating a sort of explosive, haphazard effect. The front of the structure forms a bandshell over an open stage. More boards wrap around the house, with some seeming to fall out of an attic window. Parts of the original rose-colored bungalow and its tattered red-brown roof are still visible through the multihued wooden boards Havel and Ruck added.
The public opening for Fifth Ward Jam included a variety of performers taking the structures stage, including bluesman Texas Johnny Brown, zydeco bandleader Prince Jabo, rapper Moon Rue and the gospel quartet Endurance, each selected to represent a part of Fifth Wards rich musical history. Fifth Ward Jam remains on display through December. 3705 Lyons Avenue. For information, call 713-527-9330 or visit www.haatx.com. Free.
Sat., Oct. 1, 4:30-7 p.m.; Oct. 2-Jan. 1, 2011
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.