Buffalo Bayou Partership debuts Artful Anniversary Series in October

Was it just five years ago that officials cut the ribbons to open Buffalo Bayou Park? Three years ago that the landscape along the historic waterway filled with sand during Hurricane Harvey? Six months ago that a pandemic reminded us why the green ribbon between Shepherd and downtown was not only fun but necessary?

Apparently so. Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the nonprofit that developed and operates the park, is staging a series of fifth birthday events in October.

The Artful Anniversary series commissioned by the partnership includes virtual performances of opera, chamber music and contemporary dance, each filmed to spotlight different park landmarks. A colorful knitted art installation on Rosemont Bridge and a sculpture show of monumental works could be called landmarks in their own right; viewers will be able to experience them live or online.

Performances debut at 7 p.m. on successive Saturdays via buffalobayou.org. Viewing is free. Here’s the full lineup:

Oct. 3-31: Urban Yarnage’s “Knitscape” colors up the railings of Rosemont Bridge with a fun, knitted landscape celebrating the park’s ecological diversity.

Oct. 10: Houston Grand Opera performs “Songs on the Water,” using the partnership’s pontoon boat as a stage, “Fitzcarraldo”style. (Virtual only)

Oct. 17: Urban Souls Dance Company goes deep with “Take Me To the Water,” filmed in the cavernous and dark Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. (Virtual only)

Oct. 22-April 23: “Estructuras Monumentales,” an exhibition of five monumental sculptures by the Cuban-born Carmen Herrera, will stop traffic across the Fondren Foundation Meadow. These significant works, being shown only for the second time since debuting last year in New York, were created as early as the 1960s; but Herrera, now 105, has only recently been acknowledged as an important force in contemporary art. The Buffalo Bayou Park exhibition runs concurrently with a show of more than 30 works by Herrera at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Oct. 24: DaCamera curates performances by musicians of different genres at three iconic spaces around the park. (Virtual only)

Jonnu Singleton / SWA Group One of Anthony Thompson Shumate’s “Monumental Moments” sculptures is among the locations where DaCamera will record its virtual performance for the series.

Courtesy of the artists / Buffalo Bayou Partnership Urban Yarnage’s colorful “Knitscape” will “bloom” across Rosemont Bridge in October as an anniversary art display.