Public Art

Buffalo Bayou Partnership believes in the power of art to enhance and illuminate spaces along the historic waterway. Whether a work is part of the City of Houston’s Civic Art Collection or a unique commission by BBP, each of the following artworks is an integral part of life along the bayou.

Permanent Art

Houston Police Officers’ Memorial

JESUS BAUTISTA MOROLES

Tolerance

JAUME PLENSA, 2011

Passage Inachevé

LINNEA GLATT AND FRANCIS THOMPSON, 1990

Portrait of Houston: It Wasn’t a Dream, It was a Flood

CHAS FAGAN & WEI-LI “WILLY” WANG, 2004

James A. Baker Monument

CHAS FAGAN, 2010

Monumental Moments

ANTHONY SHUMATE, 2015

Lunar Cycle Lighting

L’OBSERVATOIRE AND STEPHEN KORNS, 2006

Stainless Steel Canoes

JOHN RUNNELS, 2005

Public Art Tours

Dive deeper into the art installations along Buffalo Bayou at your own pace with a self-guided tour.

Wind along Buffalo Bayou and discover the sculptures, structures, and hidden spaces that line Houston’s waterfront. With contributions from the artists themselves, this tour reveals how public art can deepen the way we experience the bayou.

LISTEN NOW

Rosemont Bridge and Trails-0606-Tom Fox.jpg

Explore forty stops along the trails of the Buffalo Bayou Park, with ROCO providing the soundtrack to its landmarks and public art. #ROCOBuffaloBayou.

Artist-in-Residence

April 24, 2026 – January 24, 2027

Undercurrents

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER

Past Projects

November 28, 2025 – January 18, 2026

Cistern Illuminated

KELLY O’BRIEN

FEBRUARY 2 – NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Haha Real

RACHEL ROSSIN

2011

Buffalo Bayou Invasive Plant Eradication Unit

MARK DION

October 3, 2015

Confluence: A Journey in Five Movements

PROCESSIONAL ARTS WORKSHOP

April 7, 2019

Encounter: Meeting Points on Buffalo Bayou

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON GRAPHIC DESIGN AND CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAMS

June 14, 2019 – September 8, 2019

WE ARE THE ASTEROID III

JUSTIN BRICE GUARIGLIA

February 20, 2019 – August 15, 2019

New Monuments for New Cities

MULTIPLE ARTISTS

October 22, 2020 – April 25, 2021

Estructuras Monumentales

CARMEN HERRERA

December 10, 2016 – June 25, 2017

Rain: Magdalena Fernández at the Houston Cistern

MAGDELENA FERNÁNDEZ

May 12, 2018 – April 7, 2019

Carlos Cruz-Diez at the Cistern: Spatial Chromointerference

CARLOS CRUZ-DIEZ

March 12, 2021 – January 17, 2022

Time No Longer

ANRI SALA

Videos

Subscribe On Youtube

Undercurrents by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Undercurrents is a highly interactive, site-specific art installation created by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer for the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. Through light, sound, a reflection, the artwork activates the cavernous infrastructural relic in ways that feel both monumental and deeply personal.

HomeBayou, Ezra Wube

HomeBayou is a stop-motion animation film created in collaboration with Buffalo Bayou Partnership and residents of the Greater East End and Fifth Ward communities through Wube’s residency with the High Line Network. HomeBayou captures the essence of each location, underscoring the power of collective storytelling and prompting reflection on the intricate relationship between people, urban infrastructure, and ecology.

Rachel Rossin: Haha Real in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Haha Real is an original, site-specific installation created by Rachel Rossin for the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. Learn more about the origins of the work from Rossin and native Houston musician and sound artist, Frewuhn. On view from February through November, 2024.

Public Art

BBP’s VP of External Affairs, Karen Farber, and Board Member and Public Art and Programming Committee Co-Chair Judy Nyquist walk you through the impactful, engaging, and thoughtful temporary and permanent public art along the 10-mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou from Shepherd Drive to the Port of Houston Turning Basin.