A ramp arcs over the Hillcroft Transit Center, photos by Rose Kuo
In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, Raj Mankad, the editor of Cite and OffCite, takes us on a tour of the triangle-shaped area bounded by Highway 59, Hillcroft, and the Westpark tollway. First he braves the feeder road, pointing out a school next to a strip club next to an international bus station, before taking you deep into the ethnic mish-mash of Houston. Referencing a recent Houston Press article on “Little India” and his own experience, he shares an unlikely vision for a less ugly and more pedestrian-friendly city. Rose Kuo photographed the walk.
Click on the link below to listen to the tour:
Hillcroft and 59 Walking Tour
by Raj Mankad
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, Daniel Anguilu, a prolific street artist responsible for some of Houston’s most compelling murals, and Alex Luster, documentary filmmaker of “Stick Em Up,” take us on this tour of art outdoors. Begin at Lawndale Art Center where you’ll see Anguilu’s latest work overtaking one of its walls. From there, both Anguilu and Luster shout out War’Haus at 4715 Main. From there, get the inside scoop on Houston’s street art scene from Luster as you take a light rail trip toward 2618 Main. For the past seven months, Anguilu has been overtaking this former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center with his art. Walking around this building is like walking around inside the mind of the artist: see the evolutions of form, line, and color as you turn each corner, and imagine the layers of history between each coat of paint. Listen by clicking on the link below:
Street Art
by Daniel Anguilu and Alex Luster
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This Hear Our Houston audio tour mixtape and contribution to Unexpected City is a glimpse into the minds of 7th and 8th grade writers who attended Writers in the Schools Summer Creative Camp this year. Breaking the form of the usual Hear Our Houston tours, this mixtape will only let you follow along in your imagination, but it is rich with the insights of young people who we don’t often get to hear from and well worth a listen.
Out of 921 students in WITS Creative Writing Camp this summer, this is a sampling of recordings featuring work by Yuna Booyoung, Leah Chemaly and Rachel Barnes, Wesley Pierre, Mia Simmons, Rose Li, Clint Ferrell, Julie Dietrich, Anna Demecs, Aerial Starks, Veean Chen, Emma Bolton, Melody Voo, Divya Jain, Katherine Walters, Irene Vasquez, and Albert who were taught by Casey Fleming, Deborah Wiggins, Van Garrett and Olga Feliciano at Annunciation Orthodox School. Stay tuned for long format tours made by more WITS students this Fall for a rich take on our city from a younger point of view.
So turn up the volume, crack a smile, and get ready to walk down memory lane. Listen by clicking on the link below:
Writers in the Schools Mixtape
by Students of WITS Creative Writing Camp at Annunciation Orthodox School
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, artist, musicologist, and historian Tierney L. Malone walks along Almeda from Southmore to Wheeler, in Houston’s historic Third Ward that has served as a major hub for some of Houston’s most talented artists and musicians
Almeda (mp3, 14 minutes, 11.7 MB)
by Tierney L. Malone
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19th Street, photos by Heather Korb
In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, documentary filmmaker Heather Korb acquaints us with some of the Heights’ charm. This one way, looped route is as packed as 19th Street itself with recommendations, introductions to the locals, and interesting tidbits of both historic interest and everyday fabulousness.
The SoHo of Houston: 19th Street (mp3, 9.6 MB)
by Heather Korb
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, Artist Ayanna Jolivet McCloud takes a walk through the Third Ward where she grew up taking art classes and now runs her own experimental art space, labotanica, at 2316 Elgin, just beneath the historic El Dorado Ballroom. In Jolivet’s words “labotanica responds to the need to have super diverse, flexible, forward-thinking and community-driven platforms for the arts,” a relevant thought in the Third Ward as you pass by Project Row Houses, an internationally recognized model of art in community development. McCloud appreciates the Southern pace and tradition of porch sitting while making her way to S.H.A.P.E. Community Center where she grew up as a Summer program attendee and student in West African dance classes. Be sure to stop in for a delicious healthy meal or fresh smoothie at The Vegan Cafe inside S.H.A.P.E. Center. Listen by clicking on the link below:
Third Ward El Dorado to SHAPE Centerby Ayanna Jolivet McCloud
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, Musician Pete Gordon takes us on a looped walk around Midtown where he has owned and operated The Continental Club for ten years. 3700 Main used to be a general store in the 1920s and is now a thriving music venue and bar run by Pete, who loves preserving the old architecture while importing some of Austin’s quirkiness after the original Continental Club. I personally recommend stopping by on a Monday night to hear the masterful contemporary tango composer and piano man Glover Gill. Sink into a Southern pace and the pats of Pete’s cowboy boots while he recalls the area’s evolution over the past ten years, marvels at his favorite buildings, and hopes for preservation of historic architecture moving forward. Listen by clicking on the link below:
Midtown by Pete Gordon
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, writers Diana and Steven Wolfe stroll from their first Houston residence, a house in the Heights at 920 Ridge where they lived together thirteen years ago. Turning left onto Julian Street, they pass under the oaks and crepe myrtles to Bayland Street, where “if you look down to your right the streets just become this whole cathedral of overhanging oaks that are like protective Heights spirits, and they make it feel beautifully warm and welcoming.”
Listen by clicking on the link below:
Oaks and Crepe Myrtles in the Heights (mp3, 12 MB) by Steven and Diana Wolfe
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In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, writers Kelly Moore and Addie Tsai take a walk from an apartment to the labyrinth at St. Thomas, with a stop at the reflecting pool by the Rothko Chapel. Moore, who uses a wheelchair, contributed the cover story to the current issue of Cite (84, Spring 2011), available at bookstores now. Listen by clicking on the link below:
A Walk With Wheels (mp3, 5.3 MB) by Kelly Moore and Addie Tsai
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Microcosm, photos by Stephanie Toppin
In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, Visual Artist Stephanie Toppin echoes Bob Stein, the dean of the School of Social Sciences of Rice University: “Hillcroft is disorganized but not necessarily unorganized development. It is what Houston is all about. When you go from one end of Hillcroft to the other end, you cross every ethnic and racial group in our city. As a result, I want to say it is a microcosm.”
In Toppin’s words: “This one mile stretch of Hillcroft provides everything you need but wins you over through your stomach. Your destination is Bayland Park, always bustling with a game of soccer, families relaxing after a long day, and children unphased by the summer sun. I grew up here for my elementary school life and my mother always chanted that perhaps we would not have money for some things but we would never, ever go hungry. There was always food, ‘our food,’ as well as the education of sampling tastes from many different cultures. ” Listen by clicking on the link below:
Microcosm: A Stroll Down Hillcroft (mp3, 13.9 MB) by Stephanie Toppin
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