Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, serves as a welcoming and inclusive place for all people, connecting the communities of Houston with diverse histories of art spanning 5,000 years and six continents. Through our permanent collections, special exhibitions, learning and interpretation programs, studio instruction, publications, conservation, and scholarly research, we strive to inspire appreciation and understanding of the broadest spectrum of human achievement.

Houston has been hailed as America’s most diverse city, a reflection of how the nation will look in the coming decades. By its nature, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, along with the Glassell School of Art and the two house museums—Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, and Rienzi—embodies the character of this city through the Museum’s staff, visitors, mission, programs, and collections.

Although the MFAH depends on admissions revenue to support its operations, the Museum provides a number of opportunities for visitors to experience the collections, exhibitions, and programs at no charge. Nearly 40 percent of visitors to the MFAH and both house museums are admitted for free.

• The Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza; PNC Roof Garden; and Cullen Sculpture Garden are always free to visit.
• Children 12 and younger are always admitted to the MFAH, Bayou Bend, and Rienzi for free.
• During the week, most school tours are free, providing access for 40,000 children each year.
• On Thursdays, admission to the MFAH Permanent Collections is free for all individuals, courtesy of Shell USA, Inc.
• Lone Star Card participants receive free admission for up to six people when they present their card and ID at the Museum’s main campus, Bayou Bend, and Rienzi.
• On weekends, guests 18 and younger can show their library card from any public library in Texas and receive free general admission to the Museum.
• Each year, scholarship programs allow some 380 students to attend classes at the Glassell School of Art for free, and 40 students to attend the Summer History Camp at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens.
• Annually, thousands of visitors enjoy Family Days at Bayou Bend and Rienzi for free.

MFAH’s History:

In 1900, a women’s volunteer organization shared a love of art with school children in Houston by taking art reproductions into classrooms. The idea of collecting original works of art took hold, as did the aspiration of opening an art museum in Houston. Land was acquired at Main Street and Montrose Boulevard, and the first iteration of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, opened in 1924. Over the door, the public could read this inscription: “ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE USE OF THE PEOPLE.” The original Museum had a collection of 60 works of art.

Now, more than a century later, the MFAH is one of the top art museums in the country, and its collection holds nearly 80,000 works of art. What began as a focus on European and North American art has become an encyclopedic collection that also includes Asian and African art, Latin American art, Pre-Columbian and African gold, art of the Islamic worlds, Judaica, decorative arts and design, photography and video, works on paper, costumes, and textiles.

The 14-acre campus features three buildings for the display of art: the Caroline Wiess Law Building (renamed in 1998), the Audrey Jones Beck Building (opened in 2000), and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building (opened in 2020). In addition, the Museum campus includes the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, the Glassell School of Art, and the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza. Nearby are two house museums: Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, and Rienzi.

In the years since the original building opened, the MFAH has truly become a place for all people, and it reflects the international diversity and dynamism of the city of Houston.

MFAH’s House Museums:

• Bayou Bend
  • Bayou Bend is the MFAH house museum for American decorative arts and paintings. Displayed in the former home of Houston civic leader and philanthropist Ima Hogg (1882–1975), the collection is one of the finest showcases of American furniture, silver, ceramics, and paintings in the world. The house is situated on 14 acres of organically maintained gardens in Houston’s historic River Oaks neighborhood. Open year-round, Bayou Bend welcomes thousands of visitors annually for tours and special programs. Bayou Bend is also home to Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center and the Kitty King Powell Library and Study Center, home of the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive.
• Rienzi

Rienzi, the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts, is situated on four acres of wooded gardens in the historic River Oaks neighborhood, about five miles from the main MFAH campus and about two miles from Bayou Bend, the MFAH house museum for American decorative arts and paintings. Formerly the home of philanthropists Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, Rienzi was designed by prominent Houston architect John Staub in 1952. Opened to the public in 1999, Rienzi houses a substantial collection of European decorative arts, paintings, furnishings, porcelain, and miniatures. Rienzi welcomes visitors for tours, family programs, lectures, music performances, and a variety of special events.