The Beer Can House actualmente está abierto los sábados y domingos de 12 a 5 p. m.
The Beer Can House actualmente está abierto los sábados y domingos de 12 a 5 p. m.
ORANGE SHOW CENTER FOR VISIONARY ART & ARCHIVISTS OF THE HOUSTON AREA PRESENT
A CELEBRATION OF OUR CITY'S HIDDEN HISTORIES
March 21, 2026 | 12pm - 5pm
Orange Show World HQ | 2334 Gulf Terminal Drive
FREE TO ATTEND
The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art presents "Old, Weird Houston," a local alternative history fair and symposium that preserves, interprets, and shares the hidden histories of unusual and creative people, institutions, and events that have made our city one of the most diverse and livable in the country.
Organized collaboratively with Archivists of the Houston Area (AHA!) and the University of Houston Center for Public History, "Old, Weird Houston" features a day-long schedule of speakers and panels, from a keynote address to presentations by students active in the fields of history and library science. Regional archives both private and public display offbeat, rarely seen materials from their collections in a fair-style setting along with food trucks and vendors specializing in Houston-proud books, crafts, and apparel.
Old, Weird Houston takes its inspiration from the Orange Show itself, a historic sculptural environment and a monument to good health built by a self-trained visionary working in isolation through the 1960s and 1970s with castoff architectural materials as Houston’s historic downtown was razed to make way for the skyline we know today. The Orange Show monument is on the National Register for Historic Places and currently the subject of a major restoration project funded by the National Park Service’s “Save America’s Treasures” grant program.
Old Weird Houston 3 program schedule:
12:15 - 12:20 Welcome by Orange Show and AHA! [dock area]
12:30 - 01:15 Archivists of the Houston Area "Round Robin" presentation
01:30 - 02:15 lecture: Michelle Verret Johnson:
The Lithographic Stones of Clarke & Court [classroom]
02:30 - 03:15 lecture: Kirk Farris: Tales of Old Frost Town [classroom]
03:30 - 04:15 screening: Walt Zipprian’s “Wendy Chicago” [classroom]
04:00 - 04:30 Orange Show conservation tour [monument]
04:30 - 05:30 keynote performance: Rock Romano [Smither Park]
12:30 - 01:15 | Orange Show World HQ classroom
Archivists of the Houston Area “Round Robin”
Representatives from various partner repositories characterize their work in a “round robin” style series of fast-faced, timed presentations. Five minutes only!
01:30 - 02:15 | Orange Show World HQ classroom
Lecture: Michelle Verret Johnson: The Lithographic Stones of Clarke & Courts
Michelle Verret Johnson is the project manager of the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in Houston. Since joining the Hill Archive in 2014, she has engaged in numerous partnerships at museums, libraries, and with private collectors across Texas to develop this freely accessible online database that documents the lives and work of craftspeople working in Texas before 1900. This talk will focus on the recently (re)discovered sample inventory of lithographic stones used by Clarke & Courts of Galveston and Houston, the most prolific lithographic company along the gulf coast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A visual treasure trove of job printing work, this inventory contains roughly two thousand, double-sided stone impressions that feature decorative typography and flourishes, business logos, printing directives, and other visual information for clients throughout the south and southwest United States, Canada, the Caribbean islands, Mexico, and Latin America.
02:30 - 03:15 | Orange Show World HQ Classroom
Lecture: Kirk Farris: Tales of Old Frost Town
Kirk Farris is an artist, activist, performer, poet, historian, preservationist, and a former investigator for the Harris County Pollution Department. Over more than forty years, he has meticulously researched and single-handedly revitalized the area around the McKee Street Bridge near Daikin Park, once an enclave of German immigrants known as Frost Town. What started as a series of bridge drawings led to a grant to paint the McKee Street Bridge in its now-iconic colors in 1985. That momentum sparked the creation of Art & Environmental Architecture, Inc., the nonprofit that went on to acquire and steward the land surrounding the bridge, now known as James Bute Park, including the historic Frost Town site. In this presentation, Kirk traces more than 400 years of history—from the area’s Indigenous roots to the vibrant waves of German, African-American, and Hispanic communities who shaped Frost Town. He will also share how today’s partners, including Harris County Precinct 2, are advancing a new Master Plan vision to honor the past while building a resilient and inclusive future.
03:30 - 04:15 | Orange Show World HQ classroom
Screening: Walt Zipprian’s “Wendy Chicago”
Walt Zipprian is a Houston based actor, writer, and director who has been a mainstay in the local theater scene for over three decades. “Wendy Chicago” is a short-form, lo-fi documentary film that follows a 72-year-old drag queen’s afternoon, shot on location at Mary’s Lounge and EJ’s.
03:45 - 04:15 | Orange Show monument
Orange Show conservation tour
Orange Show staff and conservation team discuss the work accomplished over the past year through the support of the National Park Service’s “Save America’s Treasures” grant program and our own volunteer group the Orange Show Conservation Corps. Learn about what’s been done so far and find out how you can get involved in the ongoing effort. .
04:30 - 05:30 | Smither Park, Lindley Fish Amphitheater
Keynote Performance: Rock Romano
Rock Romano is a musician, producer, storyteller, and painter whose career spans decades of sonic exploration. He’s known for his distinctive voice, masterful songwriting, and deep connection to the roots of rock, blues, and folk. His songs resonate with raw emotion, heartfelt lyricism, and a timeless quality that speaks to listeners of all ages. Beyond his own recording and performing career, Rock is also renowned for production expertise through his studio work as owner and head engineer at Red Shack Recording Studio, helping hundreds, if not thousands, of local Houston-based musicians set their tunes down in pristine recording conditions. For Old Weird Houston, Romano presents a selection of songs and stories from throughout his long and storied career.
Interested in exhibiting your collection of Houston-related items, or selling Houston-specific merchandise?
How do I get involved?
We invite vendors with handmade and Houston-forward apparel,artwork, crafts, and ephemera to apply! All prospective vendors must submit a description of their items for sale, price points, and a minimum of two photos in order to be considered. Approved vendors will be provided with a 10’x10’ space under the cover of our open-air warehouse space, one 8-foot table and one chair. Vendors must bring their own point-of-sale system, electricity will be provided upon request. The booth fee is $50, more than 800 guests attended last year. See the reverse for additional sponsorship opportunities. Address questions to Pete Gershon: pete@orangeshow.org.
Major funding for Old, Weird Houston is provided by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily rep resent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional Funding is provided in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Art, the Houston Endowment, The Brown Foundation, Inc., private contributions, and volunteer support.
We appreciate the support of our generous sponsors:
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Past Events
March 30, 2024
10am
Doors Open
All day vendor and exhibitor market
10:30am
Curator's Welcome
11am
Valentin Diaconov "Houston Hauntology"
In February 2024, Houston Hauntology, a symposium on the hidden, the esoteric, and the ephemeral in Houston's recent art and architecture took place at the TransArt Foundation. The symposium's curator Valentin Diaconov talks about the circuitous route to understanding Houston's cultural code, an amalgamation of self-styled spirituality, urban isolation, and distrust of historicizing narratives - both in personal lives of culture practitioners and in (most) generalizing accounts of the local practices.
11:45am
Marco O Iniguez Alba "Calavera Literias"
Literary Calaveras are poetic humoristic parodic death tales, epitaphs about living persons traditionally written during the Día de los Muertos (All Souls’ Day, November 2). The syncretic practice merges medieval Christian Danza Macabre parodies with Mesoamerican mortuary customs that fuse in 19th century Mexico in response to lived trauma. The purpose of the presentation is to present a table of historical samples of Calaveras Literarias housed in archival collections at Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery).
12:00pm
William North "Cimbee's Ramblings"
Over 100 years ago, newspaper satirist Simeon Williams had a regular column in the Houston Informer called "Cimbee's Ramblings,” written from the perspective of a migrant from East Texas who recently arrived in Houston. The character was used to critique the complex issues of the day in a relatable dialect. North has been studying these columns as part of a history project he’s conducting with local youth.
12:45pm
Carolina Suarez Latorre "Centro Aztlán"
Drawing from the Houston Community Services / Centro Aztlán Collection, a post-custodial archive housed at the University of Houston’s Recovering the US Hispanic Heritage Program (Recovery), this poster presentation demonstrates the organization’s efforts throughout the years to address the different needs of the Hispanic community. This includes legal assistance, promotion of local businesses, and hosting social and cultural programs.
1:00pm
Mike Vance "Back When Crime Was Legal"
There was a time in Houston's history when the city's biggest issue with prostitution was not how to get rid of it, but simply what neighborhood to put it in. Not surprisingly, the answer generally came at the expense of minorities. Coupled with the bordellos was legalized gambling, off track betting on a national scale, downtown casinos and flourishing horse tracks. Even Houston mayors were said to have their preferred houses of ill-repute. Some of the Bayou City games of chance have a direct and important direct line to the founding of the Las Vegas Strip. Mike Vance recounts the days when Houston's good times rolled.
1:45pm
Joy Oria "Taxadermied Whale"
Joy Oria presents the story of a sperm whale displayed on a barge on Buffalo Bayou at San Jacinto St. during the 1910 No-Tsu-Oh festivities. The tale of this whale includes its capture in Sabine Pass by a Capt. Cott Plummer and record- breaking crowds to view it in Port Arthur. Capt. Plummer found a willing taxidermist in Harrisburg to transform the whale into a more permanent attraction and displayed the whale in Houston for the winter carnival, even hosting a fine-dining banquet in the whale's interior. Visitors entered the whale through its mouth and exited through a door in its side. The interior was said to be large enough to hold fifty to seventy-five standing persons. Capt. Plummer took the whale on tour to other cities before selling it to an amusement park in Memphis, where shortly thereafter it was consumed in a fire.
2:00pm
Philip Pyle, II
Houston-based artist and designer Phillip Pyle II discusses the research behind his contribution to the Blaffer Museum’s 46th Annual Thesis Exhibition, a satirical marketing campaign that mines the quirks and curiosities of the University’s history. “Pyle is a puckish, yet pointed graphic designer who marries the bombast of advertising and the irreverence of culture jamming with the poetry of artmaking. Mining imagery from consumer culture and contemporary advertising to historical imagery and hip-hop, he builds a complex vision that derives from a comedic foundation and incisive wit.”
3:00pm
Panel Discussion: "Un-Zoned Houston"
Panelists and info TBA
4:30pm
John Lomax III presented "The Lomax on Lomax Show"
Four generations of Lomaxes have been finding, recording, promoting, and presenting unique American music for 140 years. In this one man show, John Lomax III discusses his family’s legacy in Houston and beyond and performs some of the most influential roots-music songs that his relatives have collected and preserved. Lomax will talk about his early 1970s-era visits to the Orange Show as well!
