Pager Recognized For Art

Just in time for Super Bowl LI in Houston, ten new commissioned pieces of artwork by area artists including Page Project Architect Tami Merrick were hung in prominent places behind the new glass façade of the George R. Brown Convention Center. They were visible to the tens of thousands of football fans who converged on the adjacent Discovery Green Park for Super Bowl LIVE, the NFL’s fan festival, as well as subsequent visitors to Houston.

The works were installed by Houston First, a public-private partnership that operates more than ten of the city of Houston’s convention, arts and entertainment venues. Their mission is to lead the effort to promote Houston as one if the great cities in the US. The art is intended to make the convention center feel more human and give it a stronger sense of place. It overlooks Avenida Houston, a walkable public plaza that offers a wide variety of unique art installations for visitors and residents alike.

Tami collaborated on “SkyScape” with Joe Aker of Aker Imaging. The three-dimensional piece was conceived to celebrate Houston’s urban context, economic, commercial, and cultural diversity while promoting the city and convention center as a sustainable and livable city center with a brilliantly diversified future.  It is a geometric, photographic wall mounted installation proportionally floating within a contrasting red orange color-field background. 

Seven Di-bond metal panels are placed in a linear series with painted, slim wood inserts oscillating in between recessed in a welcome entry niche.  The forms feature Houston photography emphasizing a distinct, directional color palette in each direction.  Green photography faces Discovery Green Park while dark blue photography faces the George R. Brown.  Intermittent painted wood inserts rhythmically dance via the gesture of viewers walking by the art in either direction.  Acrylic painted wood panels have hand cut wood details creating a stained glass relief pattern.

Tami’s talent also secured her an invitation to join a group of ten local artists selected to be the facilitators for the national organization Artist INC’s launch of its Houston program. The City of Houston supports the organization’s mission to foster professional skills in the artist community by teaching artists to take control of their careers. Tami and her fellow facilitators are leading a class of 25 successful applicants through an eight-week program in early 2017.

SkyScape and the related, commissioned pieces on display have received local media coverage. To read the articles, click the links below:

Houston Chronicle

Houston Business Journal

Congratulations, Tami!