Here’s Your Splashy New Welcome Sign, Houston

Backsplash from a stream of strange particles falling from the sky, or is that just some mucky stuff bubbling up from underfoot? Either way, what better way to say, “Welcome to Houston”? The night lights are now on at “Radiant Fountains,” the new collection of pipe-assembly sculptures by New York artist Dennis Oppenheim, commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance, working with Houston Airport Systems — whose offices are nearby — under the city’s 11-year-old “percent for art” policy. Recently completed on JFK Blvd. near Rankin Rd., they’re meant to greet newly arrived passengers from IAH. Andrew Vrana from Metalab — the local architecture firm that coordinated the installation — captures an early glimpse of the splashy action on video:

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Videos: Andrew Vrana, Metalab

31 Comment

  • It only works if ZZ Top is being piped in with Viva Las Vegas played on continuous loop.

  • While cool looking at night, they look like hell during the day.

  • Tumescence; thy name is Houston.

    Houston, we have a hard on.

    Expect the unexpected.

  • When i saw them this week, i thougth it was just holiday decorations. Wow, they could have come up with something better. Welcome to Santaland!

  • To be really effective, they should have put up at least seven. I mean, if we’re gonna splash, we should splash BIG! This just kinda peters out to a drip.

  • We’ve always referred to the airport as ‘Intergalactic Airport’ – beam us up, Scotty

  • This is the kind of thing that every kid who lives here will remember 40 years from now. “Remember that weird light show thing they had at the airport?”

  • Saw it last night; totally cool.

  • Looks great during takeoff.

  • miss-msry, thanks for the laugh du jour!

  • Great work, Metalab!…can we have a few of those here in town?

  • I saw this at night after returning from Thanksgiving travel. It’s unbelievably tacky. My taxes wasted again. I felt like I was arriving in Las Vegas except the Las Vegas airport isn’t this tawdry!

  • These lights are nice and fancy, but they make me sentimental for simpler days when all we needed to greet visitors was Mayor Lee P. Brown’s smiling face.

  • To paraphrase: Anything but Brown.

  • More or less distracting than a tweeting cell phone? Discuss.

  • I think they are great and all, but who is responsible for the upkeep? I have a feeling that in 10 years, these will just be odd metal structures with broke lighting/wires hanging for them similar to the “Gateway Bridges” over Hwy 59.

  • Sad that the Houston Arts Alliance didn’t commission a local artist–I hope that they at least sought entries from local artists.

  • Great point, mojo jojo. Hopefully the “holy crap the world is looking” factor of IAH will outweigh the “screw those blue collar commuters” factor of Highway 59. Plus you have to be a little more committed to graffiti to deface the Radiant Fountains…

  • Mojo, IAH has a huge art budget, and so far has done an incredible job maintaining the millions of dollars worth of commissioned art throughout the facilities. I expect that to continue. TxDot was involved with the US59 bridges; nuff said.
    .

    Mary T, I could not disagree more with your sentiment. The commissions should go to the best artist who applies, not to some local (whatever that really means) just to make somebody feel warm and cozy. The city and county have for years, unofficially of course, limited major building contracts to local firms for political reasons. We have some great, but some truly awful civic projects because of this. The firms/artist/designer who submits the best proposal should be awarded commissions regardless of locale (or campaign contributions). If the locals can’t compete and win on their own merits, too bad.

  • Does anyone else see a Hallmark logo?

  • I don’t hate it, but I have to say it does seem pretty gaudy. As for it being a waste of taxpayer dollars, one could say that anything above and beyond the most basic utilitarian level of functionality for a public structure is a waste of taxpayer dollars. I’m glad I don’t live in that world.

  • All that said, I still regret that we didn’t put up two enormous inflatable gorillas, standing on either side of JFK Blvd., like the statues of Isildor and Anárion flanked the river Anduin in The Lord of the Rings.

  • Taxes are my (and every other hard working person’s) money that is stolen for a supposedly higher purpose. A city that is trying to cut millions of dollars right now from the police department’s budget has no business installing art at the airport or anywhere else.

  • “Taxes are my (and every other hard working person’s) money that is stolen for a supposedly higher purpose.”

    Stolen? You must be living in a dictatorship.

    I, however, live in a city where I can vote for or against people with taxing authority. Not only can I vote, but I can affect government actions through a variety of other means as well–petition, monetary support for candidates, public pressure, etc. And while I don’t approve of every way my tax dollars are spent, I have little issue with the pittance they spend decorating public places. Makes Houston a nice place to live, as far as I’m concerned.

  • Radiant Fountains was a million dollar baby, but since a local firm helped construct it, at least some of the money went back into the local economy.

  • City council needs to “cut the budget” and as far as I’m concerned they can cut the “percent for art” from the budget.

    I didn’t think anything could be tackier than the “silver arches” on Post Oak. I was wrong.

  • Good chance this came out of the hotel/motel tax, which is mostly paid by people who dob’t live here. Probably was budgeted back in the pre-shortfall days.(Took my street 8 years after appoval to actually get the curbs we petitioned for.)And I cannot imagine what type of art would make everyone happy.

  • To quote a certain salsa commercial from yesteryear: “New York City?!”

  • Eric – Property is theft!

  • From RWBoyd: Stolen? You must be living in a dictatorship.
    I, however, live in a city where I can vote for or against people with taxing authority. Not only can I vote, but I can affect government actions through a variety of other means as well–petition, monetary support for candidates, public pressure, etc. And while I don’t approve of every way my tax dollars are spent, I have little issue with the pittance they spend decorating public places. Makes Houston a nice place to live, as far as I’m concerned
    People like this got us into this mess we are in today, They vote but for the incorrect people and they have so much confidence in the system,
    NEWS FLASH, The system is broken why don’t you fix it then. Can’t you see what is happening,

  • If only we lived in a dictatorship where voting for the wrong people was outlawed!