In honor of THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride at the Galveston Railroad Museum, the hotel is creating a special “Polar Express” themed gingerbread house. You’ll have to see it to believe it. The gingerbread house is on public display in the lobby of the hotel. This display makes a perfect pre- or post-train ride stop for families.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2370808969639100/?event_time_id=2370808976305766

Moody Gardens is located at 1 Hope Blvd. in Galveston. For more info or tickets go to moodygardens.com. 

Starting November 16th-January 12th, Holiday in the Gardens will take place. As the largest holiday destination in the Southwest, Moody Gardens offers more holiday attractions, activities, festive fun, dining and hotel packages than you can imagine.

The eight Holiday Attractions at Moody Gardens are Ice Land: Christmas Around the World, Festival of Lights, Cirque Joyeux, Holiday 3D Films, Rudolph 4D, Ice Skating, Arctic Slide, Train Rides, and Photos with Santa plus live entertainment, great food, group rates, hotel packages and more! 

There will also be ice skating, an arctic slide, photos with Santa, train rides and more.

Tickets are available in all kinds of combo packages as well as individual packages. Moody Gardens has SUPER Value Days for Bigger Discounts at Holiday in the Gardens! Admission starts at just $8.95 for Festival of Lights and $19.95 for ICE LAND with an additional $5 off for seniors and children at ICE LAND on these special days. For more information, including a calendar of Super Value Days, go to moodygardens.com/holiday_season/plan_your_visit.

Hours are 10am-10pm for Iceland daily. Festival of Lights is 6-10pm daily. Christmas day Iceland will open at 12 noon.

There is a live IceLand webcam set up at moodygardens.com/iceland_tent/ so that you can  see Ice Land: Christmas Around the World come to life.

Thursday, January 2nd, 2020 (10:30am): New Year’s Ball: Baby Prom – Ring in 2020 with tiny tuxes & pint-sized gowns at this ball for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and their chauffeurs/guardians.

On view November 23rd- February 23rd at Galveston Arts Center will be “Amber Eagle: Nap Dreams.”

There will be an Opening Reception Saturday, November 30th, 6-9pm with an Artist Talk at 6:30pm.

Amber Eagle is an artist based in Houston, TX and San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Eagle received an MFA from the California College of the Arts and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She was a Core Fellow with the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and has been an artist in residence at The Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, The McColl Center, Charlotte, NC, The Portland College of Arts and Crafts in Oregon, and Lawndale Art Center, Houston. Eagle has spent extensive time in Mexico following an initial award from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County to research fiestas and sugar sculpting traditions. Her work has been featured in exhibitions throughout North America and is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Five Points Museum of Contemporary Art, Victoria, as well as public art installations in Houston’s East End and Cherryhurst House, Houston. Eagle is an accomplished art car artist whose cars Our Lady of Transportation and Rosebud have received awards at the Houston Art Car Parade. For more info on the artist, go to ambereagle.studio. For more information on this exhibition, please visit galvestonartscenter.org/exhibitions/ambereagle.

Galveston Arts Center continues on exhibit “Undercover,” a solo exhibition by Venezuelan-born and Houston-based artist Gerardo Rosales. Rosales explores issues of class, race, gender, and immigration to expose social inequalities experienced by immigrants coming from Latin America to the United States. Rosales appropriates ornamental aspects of folk art and geometric abstraction, infiltrated with elements that evoke adversity faced by these individuals looking for a better life, only to find themselves facing similar conditions of social and economic exclusion. His paintings include rich colors and patterns that juxtapose the harshness of the wilderness of the tropics with domestic imagery. His works mix conflict with playfulness as a means to exaggerate reality with irony. The exhibition will be on view through January 5th, 2020.

Also on view through November 17th is Erin Curtis’ “Night and Day” in the main gallery on the first floor. Curtis’ exhibition includes recent large-scale paintings that are dense with color and pattern. Her layered, cut-canvas works contain disrupted surfaces and reflect an interest in geometric abstraction and its historical roots in weaving, architecture, nature, and ritual. The paintings in “Night and Day” are nearly overwhelmed by an unreadable chaos that is pulled back to the edge of order by familiar patterns and forms. The exhibition will be on view through November 17th. For more info go to erinelizabethcurtis.com.

These exhibitions are supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The galleries are open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, and Sunday 12 noon-5pm. Admission is free at all times.

Galveston Arts Center presents “Undercover,” a solo exhibition by Venezuelan-born and Houston-based artist Gerardo Rosales opening Saturday, October 12th, 6-9pm, with artist talk beginning at 6:30pm. Rosales explores issues of class, race, gender, and immigration to expose social inequalities experienced by immigrants coming from Latin America to the United States. Rosales appropriates ornamental aspects of folk art and geometric abstraction, infiltrated with elements that evoke adversity faced by these individuals looking for a better life, only to find themselves facing similar conditions of social and economic exclusion. His paintings include rich colors and patterns that juxtapose the harshness of the wilderness of the tropics with domestic imagery. His works mix conflict with playfulness as a means to exaggerate reality with irony. The exhibition will be on view through January 5th, 2020.

Every Thursday 3-6pm and Sunday 9am-12 noon (note new summer hours), Galveston’s Own Farmers Market is held at The Bryan Museum Gardens, located at 1315 21st St. Come to the beautiful Conservatory and botanical gardens to relax and enjoy time and conversation with friends, family, and museum staff while shopping for locally grown produce, prepared foods, and edible farm products, plus live music, yoga, massage, crafting and Kids Corner! 

The Thursday market features all of the perks that you’ve come to expect at the market plus the added charms of the Bryan Museum’s “Wine at the Bryan” weekly event.

Thirsty Thursdays is every 3rd Thursday wherein Galveston Island Brewing donates beers first-come, first-serve to our market customers. They shop, sip and stroll the market while exploring the museum grounds & buying local foods.

The Sunday market also features wonderful goods and the charm of Bryan’s courtyard. It is always free to browse and most events are FREE to participate. 

At every market, there will be:

• Live music
• A chance to learn more about The Bryan Museum
• FREE recycling with Keepin’ It Green: Every week, they accept your clean, rinsed recyclable plastics, glass, aluminum and paper/cardboard. KIG comes to pick it up every week aftermarket.
• Family-friendly activities sponsored by partners like Rosenberg Library, Galveston Island State Park, Galveston Island Humane Society, etc.

GOFM is always “BYOC” – bring your own cup. They have eliminated single-use cups for the free Sunday morning coffee station and Thursday water station. Support the initiative by cleaning out your cupboards and donating unwanted mugs to market for others to use.

December 13th (7-10pm): Christmas Murder Mystery at Schaefer Haus – Creative Learning Society is pleased to invite you to a Christmas Murder Mystery to celebrate the most wonderful time of year with a fun Christmas-themed murder mystery. All of our guests will have the choice of playing a character or a detective in the mystery. They will provide costumes and props and all of the fun. The event will include a delicious array of appetizers and dessert platters with the mystery and you are welcome to bring your own beer and wine to enjoy. Tickets are $60 per person. Make a whole weekend out of the event and book a room at The Schaefer Haus. Contact them at schaeferhausgalveston.com. If you have questions please call Beth with Creative Learning Society at (713)876-2585. Schaefer Haus is located at 1711 Postoffice St., Galveston.

Queen of Hears Drawing. This game has big pots and weekly drawings. Come join the fun!https://www.facebook.com/events/2292432317715647/