From the author of the book comes a wonderful tour and a riveting journey through the forgotten parts of downtown Galveston that were once bustling with wild parties and generous offerings of hourly love.

Join renowned author and speaker Kimber Fountain as she brings to life the tales – both tragic and triumphant – of Galveston’s Red Light District: A History of The Line.

Known today as a colorful resort destination featuring family-friendly entertainment and a thriving arts district, Galveston was once notorious for its flourishing vice economy of illegal liquor and gambling and an infamous red light district called simply, “The Line.”

This unassuming five blocks of Postoffice Street came to life every night and remained a stubborn mainstay of the island cityscape for nearly seventy years. In the late 1950s, the era was known as the “Free State of Galveston” finally came to an end, and today, almost all that remains of its history has been sensationalized and marginalized.

Galveston was more than just a city of “gangsters” and lewd women,  and Kimber Fountain pursues the authentic, sequestered story of women who wanted to make their own rules and the city that wanted to let them.

Tours are every Wednesday-Saturday starting at 7pm. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased online at redlightdistricttoursofgalveston.com in advance or at the start of the tour (cash only).

Reservations are required for cash/onsite tickets, and both online ticket purchases and cash reservations must be made by 5pm the day of the tour.

The tour meets on the north steps of the old Galveston Post Office at 601 25th Street (corner of 25th and Church St.). Meet at the north steps located on Church Street side.

Tours begin promptly at 7pm. Please arrive at least 5-10 minutes early to ensure ample time to park and/or purchase onsite tickets. Due to mature content, this tour is strongly recommended for adults and older teens only. Tour content will not be censored for younger audiences, and teens and children must be accompanied by an adult.

Signed copies of Kimber’s books  Galveston’s Red Light District: A History of The Line and Galveston Seawall Chronicles  will be available for purchase (cash or credit) at the conclusion of the tour.

For more info go to redlightdistricttoursofgalveston.com, email GalvestonRedLightTours@gmail.com, call or text (409)526-6883. Reservations required.

LEARN POTTERY!…

Pottery Art Classes/Ceramics in Galveston Private Studio of artist located in mid-town Galveston.  Class times are Tues and Thurs from 9am-11am and students pay by the month, which includes 8 classes. 

Class includes all of your clay, use of all tools, glazes, paints, pottery wheel, and lessons will be taught on hand building, wheel, and your pieces are fired in the kiln.

Come learn pottery! Adult classes, Senior Citizens Welcome!

www.Studio908Pottery.com

Call to R.S.V.P. and for information: 409-795-4268

Develop a sense of purpose by Volunteering with Artist Boat at the Coastal Heritage Preserve! Build connections. learn something new, and meet new people while having fun outdoors! At a Volunteer Workday, you can help preserve and restore the native coastal prairie ecosystem. Activities might include planting native grasses, laying down seeds, taking care of our native plant nursery, removing or treating for invasive species, and more! This is held the first and third Thursdays in Galveston at the Coastal Heritage Preserve. Events are open to the public but you must RSVP to the Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager at artistboat.org.

Artist Boat’s purpose is protecting our Gulf Coast through land conservation and with fun, educational, inspiring adventures that spark creativity, awareness, and action.

Since its inception, over 100,000 participants have helped bring 40,000 students to estuaries by kayak, foot, or vessel; created over 50+ public artworks; conserved over 600+ acres on west Galveston Island forming the Coastal Heritage Preserve and creating a place for the future Gulf Coast Environmental Education Center; restored over 50 acres of dunes and prairies to assure recovery of these ecosystems following Hurricane Ike; formed the Bucket Brigade comprised of a Marine Debris Task Force; conducted interpretive tours; and beautified buckets for trash, recycle centers, and more on Galveston beaches.

For more info call (409)770-0722, email residency@artistboat.org, or go to artistboat.org.

On view through November 17th is Erin Curtis’ “Night and Day.” 

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, 2019.

Erin Curtis is an artist living and working in Austin, Texas. Curtis’s work combines utopian ideals of beauty and structure, with process and chance. Primarily working as a painter, she also creates large-scale, site-specific installations and public art projects.

She has received grants from the Dallas Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Foundation, the City of Austin and the District of Columbia. Curtis has had solo shows at Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX (2017), CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, California (2016), Big Medium Gallery, Austin, Texas (2015) and Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC (2015). She has created commissioned works for the Chicago Transit Authority, the City of Washington D.C., Facebook, Art in Embassies and the City of Austin. In the summer of 2019, a 20- foot tall cut brick mural commissioned by Intelligentsia Coffee will be installed in downtown Austin. Curtis attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2010 and was awarded residencies at Anderson Ranch (2012) and Vermont Studio Center (2014). In 2008-2009, Curtis was a Fulbright Scholar in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Curtis graduated from Williams College with a BA in Liberal Arts in 1999 and received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007.

For more info go to erinelizabethcurtis.com.

In GAC’s second-floor galleries, the exhibition Exchange Rate is on view through October 6th, 2019. The exhibition features artists who incorporate currency in their work as material and subject matter. “Exchange Rate” features work by Corey Ackelmire, Mike Beradino, Rene Cruz, Kevin Curry, Kathy Hall, Mary Jeys, Virginia Lee Montgomery, Ken Little, Deborah Mersky, Phillip Pyle II, Dan Tague, The Art Guys, and Anthony Thompson Shumate.

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

GAC is the organizer of ArtWalk, which takes place every six weeks in downtown Galveston. The ArtWalk brochure, which lists participating venues, hours, information, and map can be downloaded at galvestonartscenter.org. The galleries are open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, and Sunday 12 noon-5pm. Admission is free at all times.

Galveston Art League exhibits the entries that were accepted into its Fall 2019 Juried Show. Members and nonmembers from Galveston County and beyond create works in various media; most are for sale. Hours: noon-6 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. www.GalvestonArtLeague.com

On exhibit is Gaw Jones. G.  Lee Gallery, a retired U. S. Marine, in his first show “Godere.” Emerging artist, Gaw Jones, makes his artistic statement in acrylic contemporary, non-representational art. Mr. Jones has recently retired from the U. S. Marine Corps. Originally from Liberia, Africa, he and his family emigrated to the United States during that country’s civil war. He has made the U. S. his home becoming a citizen and serving as a Marine. Gaw’s original, unique art will be featured 1-9pm Saturday, July 13th.

Also showing art is Constance Paul, Ruth Ann Rickman, Sherrie Kostura, Liz Wilson, Kelly Halbach, Jane East, Susan Tyler, Jeanetta Brewster; jewelry by Rene Armstrong and Charlotte Martin; fused glass by Sheryl Lambert; pottery by Lana Loveland and, our resident artist George Douglas Lee with still life, landscapes, contemporary and iconic Galveston landmarks in oil, acrylic and mixed media.

G.Lee Gallery is located at 2217 Strand, Suite 107-B in Downtown Galveston. For more info call (409)370-7350 or go to gleegallery.net.

August 18th (2-4pm): Daughter of Fortune: The Bettie Brown Story – Join us discuss Rebecca Ashton “Bettie” Brown, a woman who epitomized America’s Golden Age and represented the changing face of the Victorian woman at the turn of the century. Born into merchant aristocracy of Galveston in 1855, she enjoyed a luxurious upbringing in Aston Villa. Notably, she served various philanthropic causes throughout her life, helped care for the homeless after the Great Storm of 1900, and raised money for many children’s charities. Be prepared to discuss “Daughter of Fortune: The Bettie Brown Story” (Women of the West Series) by Sherrie McLeRoy. This Book Club is for members only.

The Bryan Museum is located in the historic Galveston Orphans Home at 1315 21st St. in Galveston. 

Tours are given (no reservations needed) at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and military, $10 for students with valid ID, $5 for children 6-12, and children under 6 are free. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, and closed Monday. For more info call (409)632-7685 or go to thebryanmuseum.org. 

September 14th (4-6pm): La Salle’s Ghost: American Claims to Texas from the Louisiana Purchase to the Republic of Texas – Dr. Frank de La Teja, Director of the Texas State Historical Association and former State Historian, will make the presentation “La Salle’s Ghost: American Claims to Texas from the Louisiana Purchase to the Republic of Texas,” an epic story of Texas as part of world history.

The Bryan Museum is located in the historic Galveston Orphans Home at 1315 21st St. in Galveston. 

Tours are given (no reservations needed) at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and military, $10 for students with valid ID, $5 for children 6-12, and children under 6 are free. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, and closed Monday. For more info call (409)632-7685 or go to thebryanmuseum.org.