Sculpture Unveiling | Rust Garden: A Triad Harmony by Preston Gaines
Date: Saturday, September 27
Time: 10am – 12pm
Location: Japhet Creek Park (4600 Clinton Dr)
Parking: Japhet Creek Park and 122 Emile St.
Join us for a morning of art, ecology, and community as we unveil Rust Garden: A Triad Harmony, a temporary sculpture exhibition by BBP 2024 Artist-in-Residence Preston Gaines. Installed at Japhet Creek Park in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, this immersive installation reimagines floral forms as sculptural mosaic totems, blending cultural heritage, environmental storytelling, and collective memory.
Throughout the event, fellow Houston-based artists will activate the space:
- Kristi Rangel, BBP’s 2025 Artist-in-Residence, will guide a poetic prompt walk centered on nature, ancestry, and reflection.
- Brittany Mayfield, founder of Foliage Faerie, will present a site-specific floral installation echoing the themes of botanical identity and personal memory.
Enjoy complimentary coffee and pastries as you explore the site and connect with the local art and Fifth Ward community.
Rust Garden: A Triad Harmony will be on view through January 15, 2026.
About the Artwork
Rust Garden: A Triad Harmony is a public art installation by Preston Gaines, rooted in the landscape and legacy of Fifth Ward. Weaving together local cultural heritage, ecological awareness, and visual storytelling. The project draws inspiration from the quilting practices of Gee’s Bend, where African American women transformed necessity into artistry, and reinterprets those traditions through oxidized steel and floral forms reflecting the neighborhood’s layered cultural identities.
From Black-Eyed Susans symbolizing justice in African American gardens, to Marigolds from Hispanic traditions, to Cherry Blossoms signifying renewal in Asian cultures, the sculpture becomes a botanical mosaic of shared identity.
Together, these forms compose a sculptural tapestry, echoing the park’s natural rhythms while honoring the community’s past and future. Designed to be experienced from both close-up and afar, offering different experiences from pedestrian paths, park trails, and nearby streets. Its scale and composition are designed to evolve with light and shadow, echoing the creek’s natural rhythms. Rust Garden: A Triad Harmony serves as a sculptural landmark that honors Fifth Ward’s past while affirming its ongoing transformation.
About the Artist
Preston Gaines is a Houston-based architect, designer, and artist whose practice explores the intersection of nature, technology, and public memory. As founder of Inanimate Nature, he leads a multidisciplinary studio dedicated to reimagining ecological narratives through immersive installations, functional sculpture, and community-based design. investigating the use of technology to re-establish our connection to the earth and nature through design.
Gaines’ recent work includes exhibitions with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Project Row Houses, and ION District’s EyeOnArt program. His sculptural environments invite viewers to move beyond passive observation and into a space of resonance, reflection, and transformation.
While any built environment can have a physiological effect on the viewer, Gaines seeks to transcend the physical and activate a deeper psychological response, invoking emotion, memory, and a renewed connection to place.
Generous support for this program provided by
Buffalo Bayou Partnership is
