Montrose (3 Views)
Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin
COMPLETION DATE
2024
LOCATION
District B, 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
Photo: Shau Lin Hon, Slyworks Photography 2024
Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin – Montrose (3 Views)
Using original photographs turned into stencils, the stencils are then rendered on paper in vibrant pink pigment. Some of the pigment remains after applying wind, and creates the image. Montrose (3 Views) by Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin captures the iconic Houston skyline through the lens of nature. Each of the three pieces depicts the city’s towering structures framed by the plants and trees at three historically significant locations within Montrose, the city’s LGBTQ+ enclave. The series speaks to the resilience of both the natural world and the community, intertwined in the urban landscape of Houston.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Artists Bios
Nick Vaughan & Jake Margolin are Houston-based interdisciplinary artists. Their life’s work, an ongoing series of 50 interdisciplinary installations inspired by little-known LGBTQI2 histories from each state, involves extensive original archival research and deep collaborations with local LGBTQI2 communities. They have completed six installations in this 50 States Project (Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Louisiana) and have had solo exhibitions at The Blaffer Art Museum (Houston), DiverseWorks (Houston), the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, the Invisible Dog Art Center (NYC), Art League Houston, Aurora Picture Show (Houston), McClain Gallery (Houston), Devin Borden Gallery (Houston) and nontraditional community-facing venues including Pride Festivals in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and Houston, Houston Community College Campuses, Houston Public Library, University of Houston MD Anderson Library, and numerous queer bars.
Their work has been included in many group shows including the Contemporary Art Museum Houston’s “Stonewall 50”, and the Blaffer Art Museum’s “Carriers”. Their work is included in public and private permanent collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Getty Research Institute, the City of Houston Public Art Collection, The Brooklyn Historical Society, The University of Houston MD Anderson Library Special Collections, The Texas A&M Cushing Library Special Collections, and BlackRock International. Coverage of their work includes a “critic’s pick” review in Artforum (April 2020 for “50 States Louisiana”).