Museum plans expansion

Big plans are in store to expand art in northwest Houston.

The Cypress Creek Cultural District is working on plans to build a new art museum during the next five years.

It will be a larger extension of The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, which recently reopened after undergoing upgrades and annual cleaning.

The new art museum will be located at the intersection of Texas 249 and the new Grand Parkway, said Laura K. Baker, development and marketing director at The Pearl.

“We already have the land and agreement with the county that this is happening,” Baker said “We are hoping to be well underway by 2020.”

The new museum will have its own collections permanently housed at the facility. Currently, The Pearl borrows collections throughout the year.

“We are going to make a much bigger institution,” Baker said. “The Pearl will remain. But this will be a larger facility.

The plans are still being discussed about exactly how the museum will take shape. There would likely be a partnership between The Pearl and the new museum, allowing The Pearl to borrow from the new museum’s collection. Another option, once the new art museum opens, is to completely transform The Pearl into an educational space.

The Pearl is already frequented often by school children. The Pearl works closely with Spring ISD and Klein ISD and hosts many student field trips. Between 30 percent and 35 percent of its visitors are schoolchildren.

“They are just throwing ideas around at this stage,” Baker said.

Like The Pearl, the new museum will be part of the Cypress Creek Cultural District.

The museum will be located within a community center at the intersection of the new Grand Parkway and Texas 249, which will also include law enforcement offices and a library.

“The land is already purchased,” Baker said. “We are in the capital campaign and planning stage.”

The Pearl opened in 2008 and was created within the shell of Harris County’s former Cypress Creek library, which closed when the 32,000-squarefoot Barbara Bush Library opened next door.

In 2006, the Fincher Family Trust made a major donation to the Museum of Fine Arts, Cypress Creek in honor of their mother, Pearl, and the museum’s official name was borne.

The Pearl is a smallerscale version of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The two museums have a cooperative relationship, but the Cypress Creek museum is independent from the downtown facility.

“Our admission is free,” Baker said. “We try really hard to make it as accessible as we can.”

And The Pearl works to bring top art to the area.

The Pearl recently announced plans to install a backup generator that will give the nonprofit the ability to borrow high-quality artwork. A generator will ensure the museum’s air quality does not change, even in the event of a power outage or natural disaster.

This summer, the museum received a $50,000 grant from the Hamill Foundation to help pay for the generator. Harris County is helping to pay for the remaining half of the costs.