The Menil’s Reopening Plan

Covid shut its doors in March, but the Menil reopens with an artful vengeance next weekend.

Paul Hester
Installation view of Helen Frankenthaler, Hybrid Vigor, 1973. Photo by Paul Hester.
Installation view of Helen Frankenthaler, Hybrid Vigor, 1973. Photo by Paul Hester.

After six months of Covid-related closures, The Menil has announced its buildings will reopen on Saturday, Sept. 12.


The refreshed displays will include works by Dan Flavin, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol and others; a 1973 painting by Helen Frankenthaler, which has not been publicly exhibited in more than 40 years, will hang in the main building. An exhibit that opened at the beginning of this year, Photography and the Surreal Imagination, will be continued. And in the Menil Drawing Institute, patrons will find an extension of the exhibit of Think of Them as Spaces: Brice Marden’s Drawings.

At the end of the month, two major exhibitions debut: Allora & Calzadilla: Specters of Noon, with seven newly commissioned pieces by Puerto Rico’s Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, inspired by the Menil’s collection of Surrealist works; and Virginia Jarmillo: The Curvilinear Paintings, featuring eight canvases from the early 1970s in the artist’s first solo museum show.

The Menil Collection is enforcing the use of face masks and requesting tickets be reserved in advance online.

AT TOP: Installation view of Helen Frankenthaler, Hybrid Vigor, 1973.

Art+Culture
Top Attorney Lauren Varnado Says Networking Is Key: ‘Relationships Are Everything’
How did you get to where you are today? It takes a village. I was fortunate enough to have great mentors and individuals who instilled confidence in me. I think that when you face a challenge or an obstacle, you are able to overcome and make things happen. You can continue moving forward, more resilient over time.
Keep Reading Show less

Outside The Kennedy (photo by Tarick Foteh)

A RESTAURANT OFFERING “refined, classic cuisine in an elevated, cocktail-lounge experience to Montrose and River Oaks” has opened where Montrose meets River Oaks.

Keep Reading Show less
Food+Travel

Lynn Wyatt and Steve Wyatt

IT'S BEEN A century since what’s now known as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston debuted, and the society set celebrated the 100-year milestone in high style. Some 375 guests turned out for the 2024 Grand Gala Ball at the museum, raising $5.5 million in total, including Nancy and Rich Kinder’s $1 million gift and another hefty gift from J. Venn Leeds.

Keep Reading Show less
Art+Culture