Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests.

I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families.

Do you have something you would like to promote on Gish Picks? Advertisers can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below.

SUMMER'S ALMOST HERE. We're busy putting together THE SUMMER BOOK: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS. The book will be available in bookstores March 1. Stay tuned for details!

TWEETIN' FOR CULTURE!  Hey tweet peeps! Follow me on Twitter and you'll get lots of PICKS of fun times in Houston – news you can use.  I look forward to being stalked by you!

Now, GO FIND FUN!

LOVE IS STILL IN THE AIR AT BAYOU BEND

Valentine’s Day may be over, but the spirit of romance is still very much alive at Bayou Bend! Valentine’s Day performances, crafts, and activities are highlights of their free Family Day this Sunday, February 21 from 1-5pm (last admission at 4:30pm). Kids will love this unique afternoon of nature, beauty, and history which will include music by Susan McDonald at 1:30pm (Classical Guitar) and Master Chords at 2:30 & 3:30pm (Great Love Songs), traveling performances by Puppet Pizzazz from 1:30–2:30pm and 3-4pm as well as craft workshops -- Mosaic Heart Mobiles with teaching artist Janice Warren from 1–4:15pm and Victorian Valentine Cards from 1-4:30pm.

Bayou Bend was the 1920s home of Houston philanthropist Miss Ima Hogg. Best known for her superb collection of American decorative arts, Miss Hogg was also largely responsible for Bayou Bend's innovative architecture and breathtaking gardens. These gardens were created from a site that was "nothing but a dense thicket" (according to Miss Hogg); they were intended as outdoor rooms for living and entertaining, not just views to be admired from within the house. But Miss Hogg was also appreciative of the wilder side of nature, and she always intended that the surrounding woodlands remain more or less natural, as they are today. In 1957 Miss Hogg donated her home and her collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Bayou Bend opened to the public in 1966 and stands as one of Houston's cultural treasures. The collection at Bayou Bend presently contains several thousand objects installed in some 28 period room settings that showcase American decorative arts from 1620 through 1870.

SOCIETY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS HOSTS FREE FAMILY FUN EVERY THURSDAY

You'll find free family fun on select Thursdays at 6:30pm at the Children's Museum with a variety of artists in a program sponsored by SPA. Each performance matches the theme of a concurrent program presented by SPA at Jones Hall. These programs give the entire family a chance to meet local and touring artists and learn about other cultures and art forms.

Upcoming workshops and performances are:

• 6:30pm, Thursday, February 18
  McTeggart Irish Step Dancers of South Texas for Band of the Irish Guards
  
  
• 6:30pm, Thursday, April 8
  KIPP Sharpstown College Prep Choir for Soweto Gospel Choir

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

“Stop Hate. Starting Here.” is one of the simple yet profound mottos of the Holocaust Museum Houston (others are “Stop Genocide. Starting Here.” “Stop Ignorance. Starting Here.” and “Stop Apathy. Starting Here.”). The Museum was founded in 1996 and is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, their programs teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy. Their website is chock full of information for parents and teachers, including a request for children to create butterflies for their “Butterfly Project,” part of a special exhibit in 2013 that will use 1.5 million butterflies to memorialize the same number of children who were murdered during the Holocaust. The website also has an eight-minute informational video to learn more about the mission, programs and accomplishments of Holocaust Museum Houston.

Permanent exhibits include “Bearing Witness: A Community Remembers,” which contains authentic film footage, artifacts, photographs and documents showing life in pre-war Europe, the Nazi move toward the "Final Solution" and life after the Holocaust; a 1942 World War II railcar that is of the same type as those used to carry millions of Jews to their deaths, and a Danish Rescue Boat from World War II, a rare Holocaust-era artifact that tells the heroic story of a three-week period in 1943 when Christians in Denmark risked their own lives to save more than 7,200 Jews from almost certain execution at the hands of Nazi Germany.

The Museum is open to the public seven days a week and is free. Hours are Mondays through Fridays, 9am-5pm and Saturdays and Sundays, noon-5pm.

MOTHERS ARE THE FOCUS OF "EAST END LIVE ART" THIS SUNDAY

Voices Breaking Boundaries is hosting "East End Live Art: Artists / Mothers 2" this Sunday, February 21 at 5pm at Café Flores, 6606 Lawndale Street. In this free event, VBB has organized an alternative celebration of mothers, featuring dynamic artists, whose readings, visual art, and performances inspire audiences to consider the excitement and conflict attending artists who are also mothers. Artists include Saida Carter, Michelli Cockburn, Anju Mittal, Jacsun Shah, and Yunuen Perez Vertti. After the performances, the artists will discuss how these two roles intersect, inform one another, inspire, and create conflict and creative work in their lives. They will present work that addresses the challenge of raising children while producing art. "Artists / Mothers 2" is curated by Samina Mahmood, Gunjen Mittal, Selina Pishori and Jacsun Shah. VBB's Founding Director Sehba Sarwar will host the evening and there will be an open mic and discussion.

I will be there with some art to share so I hope you will join me and bring your voices! Everyone will mix and mingle after the show and eat sandwiches made with Berta Flores' famous home-made bread. See you there!

VBB is a local alternative arts organization whose mission is to cross borders, sustain dialogue, and incite social justice through art. Upcoming productions in this 10th anniversary season include "East End Live Art: Annual La Voz Femenina 7" on Sunday, March 28 at 5pm at Café Flores; "East End Live Art: Teachers Speak Out 2" on Sunday, April 18 at 5pm at Café Flores; and "East End Live Art: Un/Natural Disasters" on Sunday, May 23 at 7pm at Café Flores. They are also organizing an art car-themed "Living Room Art" production (complete with a VBB art car!) which will take place in May in conjunction with the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art's Art Car Parade (details tbd).

Sarah Gish
Gish Creative
1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116
Houston, Texas 77057
phone/fax: 713.532.1173

email: sarah@gishcreative.com
web: www.gishcreative.com
and: www.thesummerbook.com
and: www.saveourlandmarks.org

© 2010 Sarah Gish

Designed by West of the World