COMPLETION DATE
2024
LOCATION
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, D-West Pier
2800 N Terminal Rd
Houston, TX 77032
District B
CLIENT
City of Houston
SPONSORING DEPARTMENT
Houston Airport System
PROJECT BUDGET
$90.000.00
Upon moving to Houston from Venezuela during the summer of 2000, artist Jose Gerardo Rosales was enchanted by the size and exuberance of the trees growing throughout the city. Reminding him of the verdant flora of his home country, the nature found in the city helped to ease the transition to Houston, where Rosales now calls home. Houston’s nature continues to be a generous source of inspiration to Rosales; resulting in intricate, vibrant compositions of organic shapes, foliage, insects, and flowers.
The three unique paintings focus on the relationship between the urban landscape, nature, and the diverse culture which exists in the city of Houston. The compositions are designed to welcome travelers through vibrant visual elements that celebrate nature and multicultural identities. The playful imagery welcomes travelers of all ages as they make their way to their various destinations.
HAA oversaw the artist selection, design, fabrication, and installation process for this artwork. Working diligently with sponsoring city departments, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the selected artists, HAA created and publicized the opportunity, coordinated the panel process, managed artist communications, and monitored on-site installation. Recommendation reports were submitted at the conclusion of Artist Selection and Design phases, and a robust closeout report was provided upon project completion detailing project summary and ongoing maintenance requirements.
The Houston Airport System (HAS) is the City of Houston’s Department of Aviation, comprised of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, and Ellington Airport/Houston Spaceport. The System served 54 million passengers in 2022 and nearly 60 million in 2019. HAS positions Houston as the international passenger and cargo gateway to the South-Central United States and as a primary gateway to Latin America. It contributed $36.4 billion to the local economy in 2019 and is responsible for creating 190,000 jobs.
This project was funded through Houston’s Civic Art Ordinance, which requires 1.75% of the budget for eligible City-funded construction projects to be spent on integrating artwork and artists’ ideas in public spaces and conserving the City of Houston’s Civic Art Collection. The Houston Arts Alliance administers the civic art program for the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
ARTS REPRESENTATIVES/PANELISTS
Alison de Lima Greene, Isabel Brown Wilson Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Melanie K. Brown, Division Manager for Customer Service, George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Andrew Czobor, Assistant Director, Terminal Management, Terminal D, George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Felicia Kizzie, Secretary, Heather Ridge Village Homeowners Association
Naiomy Guerrero, Graduate Center Teaching Fellow, The City College at The City University of New York
Nicole Mullen, Curator of Exhibitions at SFO Museum at the San Francisco International Airport
Nominating Committee
Christian Wurst, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions at the Sheldon Museum of Art
Marcela Guerrero, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Mari Carmen Ramirez, Wortham Curator of Latin American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Gerardo Rosales, born in Venezuela, is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who has been living and working in Houston, Texas, for 19 years. Rosales first started producing art as a self-taught artist, before attending the Armando Reverón Art Institute in Caracas, Venezuela, where he earned a B.A. in Fine Art. After graduating, he moved to London to study at Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he obtained an M.A. in Fine Art. Achieving recognition for his distinct and original work in Latin America’s best known art venues, Rosales has continued developing his art career in Houston. Rosales’s art calls attention on issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality, at times with biting humor, while other times with loaded, painful drama. Rosales was an artist-in-residence at The Lawndale Art Center in Houston in 2020 and was recently awarded the 2019 Support for Artists and Creative Individual Grant from the City of Houston, through the Houston Arts Alliance.
