HOUSTON, Texas – When you walk into the Freedmen’s Town welcome center for your tour of the historic Black neighborhood, you may not expect to be walking into an art gallery.
Through the Freedmen’s Town Rebirth in Action Project, an initiative to help tell the story of freedom through art and cultural experiences, two Row House galleries were born.
The three homes, built in the 1920s, are original structures of Freedmen’s Town and now stand as permanent exhibition spaces on the campus of the Welcome Center.
“We have been so honored to be able to work with the Houston Public Library and the City of Houston to repurpose these homes. These are three homes that have been re-established for adaptive reuse. So, the thought process for these three houses was really to represent the past, present, and future,” said Sharon Fletcher, executive director of the Freedman’s Town Conservancy.
Fletcher said the exhibits began in May 2024, featuring a group art show entitled “This Way.” The exhibit featured 12 artists who told 12 different stories, highlighting different events or happenings in Freedmen’s Town.
Currently occupying the spaces are art pieces from two Houston natives and former NFL players — Martellus (Marty) Bennett and Michael Bennett. The first structure, by Michael, represents the future and showcases more modern art pieces.
“We thought it would be great to have the Bennett brothers to be able to come in and do their exhibition. Their exhibition here is really Black labor with the thought process of imagination. How do you do Black labor imagination, right? And so, you’ll see that a lot throughout the artwork,” Fletcher said.
The second house, which features artwork from Martellus, is a blast from the past.
“You have the original shellac wood on the walls, which really gives you, like, this nostalgic feeling, like if you’ve ever visited, like your grandmother in a country. But that’s the intention around this space. And in this space, we have the exhibition from Martellus Bennett,” Fletcher said. “It’s really a human experience, if you will, a place to dive into like joy. As you can tell, he is like an animation creative artist. A lot of his work is inspired by his daughter.”
Although the Bennet’s exhibitions end at the end of Black History Month, Fletcher said the Row Houses are booked with different artists until 2027.
“We’re always looking to work with artists. So if artists want to be able to exhibit in this space and there’s an opportunity to do so, all they have to do is reach out to us via email, and then we can begin those discussions about how their artwork could be featured here in the Rowhouse galleries,” Fletcher said.
Anyone looking to visit the exhibits at Freedmen’s Town Welcome Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.