Restoration of The Beer Can House

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art acquired the Beer Can House after creator John Milkovisch and his wife, Mary, passed away. Diligent documentation and planning over the next few years determined a comprehensive plan to restore the site to its former glory.

Unfortunately, time and Houston’s climate are always fading and deteriorating John’s original art work. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art’s intent was to carefully restore this work to its original condition where possible and to recreate artistic elements where necessary, bringing back the delightful ambiance of the site.

Volunteers from the local neighborhood, to the far reaches of Houston’s suburbs, and even across the country were an integral part of creating these new beer can elements. In 2008, the site opened to visitors for guided and self-guided tours that feature the history of the Beer Can House, the Rice Military neighborhood, John’s artistic techniques and Folk Art in Texas. Preservation of the Beer Can House is an ongoing project for the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art.

Generous support from the The Brown Foundation, Houston Endowment, The Cullen Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Silver Eagle Distributors, as well as in-kind contributions from SpawMaxwell and Apollo BBC, Inc. helpied make this project a success.

Reconstruction services and supplies were donated by Spaw-Maxwell.

Beer Can House Restoration Committee

Allen Caudle

Barbara Hinton

Caroline Huber

Douglas Newman

Fred Brecht

Gloria Perez

John Waits

Julie Birsinger

Lynn Herbert

Maria Moss

Marilyn Oshman

Marks Hinton

Stephanie Smither

Stephen Bridges

Susanne Theis

Renovation Team, Consultants, and Friends

SpawMaxwell

Apollo BBC

TGK + Associates

WhiteboardLabs

Mr. and Mrs. Siml

Rice Military Civic Club

All of our hard working volunteers

Renovation Team, Consultants, and Friends

Houston Endowment

The Brown Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

The Cullen Foundation

Silver Eagle Distributors