A first-time visitor to Houston may find the nation’s fourth-largest city visually perplexing. Skyscrapers by Philip Johnson and I.M. Pei command the skyline, while the streets are a visual jumble of small, tired 1950s apartment buildings abutting 1910s gingerbread houses and 1990s convenience stores. This is not surprising, for among America’s large cities, Houston is unique in having no zoning. In that populist independence lies a key to understanding Houston’s arts scene. Individuals and institutions with good and big ideas are free to pursue their dreams without exceptional governmental or social hindrance. more>>

Like the larger-than-life city it belongs to, Houston’s arts scene has always made a big statement, touting some of the nation’s most reputable arts institutions and nurturing emerging artists. But bad things sometimes happen to good people, and looking back on the last five years, one can’t help but recall the biblical story of Job. Like the devil’s hapless victim, arts organizations in the nation’s fourthmost- populous city have been hit with a series of calamities. more>>