The Heights Studios You Walk Past Every Day Open Their Doors on November 7

The bulldog sculpture at Heights High, the murals on East 11th Street and the sculptures on the Heights Boulevard esplanade are all connected. Many of them trace back to the same block, the same nonprofit and a group of artists who still work a short drive from where their pieces stand. On Saturday, November 7, from 1 to 5 p.m., the Houston Heights Association and Redbud Arts Center will open 14 of those places for a self-guided studio tour, the Houston Heights Artcrawl 2026. Tickets cost $50 per person, children under 12 aren't admitted and the net proceeds go to the Houston Heights Association.

The HHA's description of the tour says that decades ago the Heights was home to 20% of the working artists in Texas. No independent source has confirmed that figure. The history behind it is easier to document. A Houston Press retrospective by a writer who lived in the Heights in the late 1970s remembers low rents drawing artists, musicians and other creative residents, with restoration-minded newcomers arriving by the late '80s and early '90s. The November tour shows what's left of that community, and a good share of it is still at work.

One Block of East 11th Street Holds Most of the Walkable Tour

Six of the nine walkable stops are at 301, 303 and 305 E. 11th St. According to The Leader, the building there has been a grocery store, a furniture store and a boat shop. Sharon and Gus Kopriva bought the boat-shop property in 1999 and turned it into Redbud Gallery and studio space for artists. At the start of 2023, the gallery became Redbud Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The same paper describes the center's East and West galleries, which stagger their exhibitions. It also runs free public exhibitions, workshops and lectures, plus a "Bare Wall" of works priced under $900. The tour map lists Redbud at 301 E. 11th, but Redbud's own site gives 303 East 11th Street.

Here's who you'll meet on that block and the one next to it:

• Sharon Kopriva, 305 E. 11th St. Her career began with the Fresh Paint exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in the mid-1980s, and she has exhibited continually since. She's also had a solo show at the Menil Collection.
• John Carroll Runnels, 305 E. 11th St. In 1984 he co-founded MotherDogStudios, which the HHA calls the oldest surviving artists' warehouse in downtown Houston. He has made large-scale public art for Houston and Phoenix.
• The Daniel Johnston mural, 305 E. 11th St. Carlos Carazan painted it, drawing on Johnston's piece "Don't Be Scared."
• Kelly Moran, 303 E. 11th St. Her work draws on painting, ceramics, printmaking and collage.
• Redbud Arts Center and the Daniel Anguilu mural, 301 E. 11th St. Anguilu's mural combines pre-Columbian imagery and graffiti with animals.
• The Heights Petite Shoppe, 223 E. 11th St., an international, women-owned co-op that sells art prints, vintage pieces, leather goods and textile home decor. It also holds hands-on workshops.

The Bulldog and the Boulevard Lead Back to the Same Block

Stop 6 is Joe Barrington's welded-metal bulldog at Heights High School, at Oxford and East 13th streets. The Leader reports that Redbud commissioned the sculpture through the School Parks Program. The HHA notes that Barrington often works with recycled materials and uses his art to advocate for the environment.

Stop 14 is the longest stop on the tour: True North, which covers the 400 to 1800 blocks of Heights Boulevard. True North is a temporary public sculpture exhibition at eight sites on the esplanade. An all-volunteer team runs it with Houston Parks and Recreation, and the HHA serves as its nonprofit sponsor. The project started in 2013 and held its first exhibition in 2014. The 2026 exhibition, its 13th year, is up from March to December. The project says it has shown more than 100 sculptures by Texas artists since it began. The welcome note for 2026 is signed by Donna Bennett, Dean Ruck and Gus Kopriva, who co-founded the gallery on East 11th.

So the esplanade, the school sculpture and the 11th Street galleries share some of the same people. Here's the 2026 True North lineup to look for on your walk:

The Leader's 2026 feature describes the lineup as eight sculptures by nine artists.

The North Studios Show Where the Work Gets Made

The first five stops sit north of the walkable cluster, on Delz Street, Martin Street and Thornton Road. The HHA suggests driving between them. The sculptures on the boulevard are finished work. These stops show the process behind it, with works in progress, materials and techniques.

Three of the five stops are within a few doors of each other on Martin Street. Once you park there, you can walk to the Balinskas, Kittelson and Ernst, and Wilson and Boltz-Wilson studios.

How to Plan the Afternoon and Evening

The tour has two clusters and you can visit stops in any order. Most of the timing comes down to how you link the north studios to East 11th, and what you do after the tour ends at 5.

1. Start at the north studios after 1 p.m. Drive from Delz Street to Martin Street to Thornton Road.
2. Leave extra time for the trip south. The 11th Street end of the tour is next to the Shepherd-Durham reconstruction. A city update on Engage Houston dated October 5, 2026, announced a lane shift on Shepherd between roughly 10th and 12th streets, with the two right lanes restricted through the 11th Street intersection. The city's schedule has the project wrapping up in fall 2028, so check current traffic notices before you head out that Saturday.
3. Park once and walk the rest. Go from the bulldog at Oxford and East 13th to the 223–305 block of East 11th, then on to the esplanade. The HHA's own advice is to watch for traffic, take an Uber or park on the street.
4. Stay for the 6 to 9 p.m. reception at Redbud. Ellis Barber's "Strange Days" opens in the West Gallery that evening and runs through January 2, 2027. Pat Edwards's "African Figures: Expressions in Clay" will still be up in the East Gallery, where it runs through November 28.

Some practical details from the HHA:

• Your ticket is a live digital pass that's emailed before the event. Volunteers check it on your phone at each stop, and screenshots aren't accepted.
• One order can cover your whole group.
• There are no rain checks.
• Wear shoes you can walk on grass in.
• Don't touch the art.
• These are private working studios.

True North Comes Down in December

True North's permit covers March through December, so the eight boulevard sculptures in the table above won't be up much longer after the crawl. Each year brings a new set of works, so the 2026 lineup won't be on the esplanade again.

The neighborhood's next big evening out is close behind. The Woodland Heights Civic Association has set Lights in the Heights for Saturday, December 12, from 6 to 9 p.m., on a route the city has approved. Volunteer musicians play from porches along the way. Its fundraiser, the LITH Boots & Bow Ties Bash, is October 15 at the Historic Heights Fire Station, 107 W. 12th St.

Living close to the people who make the neighborhood's art is part of what makes these streets feel like home. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of East 11th or the boulevard, Andrea Smith would be glad to talk through which blocks put these studios and sculptures on your daily walk. Schedule a Consultation, and bring your Artcrawl map along.