We recently took a visit to Houston, TX and made a stop at the H.A.M museum (Harrisburg Arts Museum) in east downtown to check out the warehouse covered in graffiti art. The project is curated by Daniel Anguilu. On one side there are murals created by various artists with no rhyme or reason (but dope AF) however if you venture to the back side of the warehouse, you will notice all the bay doors spell out “Houston, Texas” with each letter being created by a different artist. The inside of the warehouse is also filled with murals however we showed up on an off day. Each artist represented their own personal style whether it was in the murals or in the letters. On site is also an 18 wheeler covered in a mural as well and a mural painted on the ground.
HAM’s mission is to “create a contemporary art museum in the community and to provide a space for installation art” and they’re crushing it. The project started about 7 years ago with permission from the property owner as “a place for artists to have freedom to create murals with a majority of the artists having a background in graffiti art.” The space has been painted by hundreds of artists from all corners of the globe. Daniel said there’s also been “a few memorial pieces there for my friend Nekst. It is important to have a place for artists to paint when they want to come together”.
There’s no schedule to rotate the murals although there is a system that we learned as graffiti writers… “some pieces last longer than others based on the skill level and art history of each artist. The murals that are up were painted at different times and some have only been up for a day or two while others have lasted years”.
Currently At this time we are working on the interior of the building to create a space suitable for art exhibitions and installations. We are having a monthly art market and the community is really coming out to support. We hope to have a series of events starting in October, so keep an eye out for updates and check our social media for upcoming events.
We would like to thank the property owners, the community that the museum is a part of in Houston. All the artists that have helped us and support us. Shout out to Empire, Jerk , W3r3on3, Nacho and all the Ham crew.
