FAQ

How do I buy tickets to an event at DiverseWorks?

Want to attend a performance at DiverseWorks? Click Here to see what performing arts events we have coming up.

Please note that if you don’t see tickets to an event on our website, it’s possible that tickets to “your event” are available through another outlet. From time to time, other organizations rent our space and maybe performing here as part of a rental agreement. Therefore, please make sure to check the details on your event and make sure it’s a DiverseWorks program.

How do I perform at DiverseWorks?

If you are interested in performing at DiverseWorks, we encourage you to submit a proposal for the Houston Performing Arts Residency.  Here are the guidelines for submitting a proposal.

How do I get involved at DiverseWorks?

1. Write a check. We love checks . Big ones, little ones, especially big ones. Make it out payable to DiverseWorks, 1117 East Freeway, Houston, TX 77002. All donations are tax-deductible.
2. Ran out of checks? We take American Express, Mastercard and Visa. If you prefer, we can charge your card in quarterly installments.
3. Volunteer. Time is the most valuable commodity of all, and we are always in need of people to help out at special events, performances, visual art installations, general office work, etc. Contact Tracey Morton for more information on current volunteer opportunities.
4. Buy groceries for your family. Everyone has to eat, but when you buy groceries at Kroger, you could be supporting DiverseWorks. Pick up a Kroger Share Card the next time you’re at DiverseWorks, and then give it to your friendly Kroger cashier before she/he starts scanning your groceries. A portion of your purchase will go to DiverseWorks. Not going to stop by DiverseWorks for a couple of days? Just email Tracey Morton and she’ll mail a Kroger Share Card out to you.
5. Clean out your garage. What may be junk to you may be manna from heaven to us. DiverseWorks is always on the lookout for donations of office furniture, computers and monitors, paint, theater lights, gallery paint and painting supplies, office supplies, etc. Just call us at 713-223-8346, and we can arrange a pick-up of your donation.
6. Get your friends involved. Do you know some people who would love the cutting-edge programming presented at DiverseWorks? Send us their information, and we will send them an introductory packet and an invitation to join.
7. Feed the staff. We especially like fudge brownies.

Can you rent DiverseWorks?

Yes! DiverseWorks has a very busy schedule but we do rent our facility from time to time. For more information on facility rental, please click here.

What is DiverseWorks?

DiverseWorks is a non-profit art center dedicated to presenting new visual, performing, and literary art. DiverseWorks is a place where the process of creating art is valued and where artists can test new ideas in the public arena. By encouraging the investigation of current artistic, cultural and social issues, DiverseWorks builds, educates, and sustains audiences for contemporary art.

Our History

Now in its 25th year, DiverseWorks continues to be an artist-inspired organization dedicated to presenting provocative new works in the visual, performing and literary arts. Founded by artists in 1982, DW was originally situated downtown at 214 Travis and helped revitalize the Market Squarearea of downtown.  In 1989, DiverseWorks moved six blocks north to a 1920’s former cotton warehouse in the Warehouse District.

DiverseWorks is a leader in the nationwide movement of artist-centered organizations, and is a vital presence in national organizations such as the National Performance Network, the National Association of Artists’ Organizations, and the National Dance Project and the National Dance Project. DiverseWorks serves as a forum for art that has no other public outlet in Houston.  Playing a similar role nationally, DW provides first-time commissioning opportunities for emerging artists and acts as a catalyst for young artists and arts organizations. The organization’s support of challenging work by local artists, especially those considered too young or controversial to be featured in the city’s galleries and museums, contributed to Houston’s emergence as a leading art center in the 1980s.

In the 90’s, DiverseWorks enjoyed growing community support. The organization cemented its reputation as an artistic provocateur and risk-taker through high quality exhibitions such as Project Houston (a collaborative exhibition that addressed urban and sociological issues facing Houston such as housing, transportation and the environment); 16 Houses (an exhibition that proposed new housing design for the inner city); andStories About Us: Photographs from Juarez (a hard-hitting look at this border city through the eye’s of its local photographers). DiverseWorks became known for bringing a wide variety of performance artists, dancers, and musicians to Houston well before they achieved international reputations. This included Blue Man Group, The Los Angeles Poverty Department, Annie Sprinkle, Pomo Afro Homos, and members of the infamous “NEA 4.”

DiverseWorks expands its commitment to connecting communities to artists and the artistic process through DiverseDialogues. Developed with the assistance of a $250,000 NEA Challenge Grant in 1994, DiverseDialogues has provided over a dozen diverse community groups with the opportunity to create original work in all media, resulting in extraordinary new works. In 2001, choreographer Victoria Marks came toHouston for a 6-week residency to develop The Father/Daughter Project, a evening length work starring leaders of Houston’s many religious communities and their fathers or daughters. This project was a partnership between seven clergy members, their families and their congregations, as well as The Jewish Community Center, The Asia Society and Interfaith Ministries. Projects such as these forward DW’s commitment to engage people in the importance of contemporary art and artists by bringing people into the art making process. In 2004 DiverseWorks and ARTPIX released a DVD that chronicled over 20 of these projects.

Other recent projects and successes include originating the national touring exhibition of William Pope.L:eRacism, a show that has won awards from the American Association of Museums for best catalogue, and from the International Art Critics Association for best show in an alternative space. DiverseWorks has received recognition for a number of our visual arts exhibitions including recent accolades for Thought Crimes: The Art of Subversionand Full Stop an installation by Tom Burkhardt.  DiverseWorks has also provided major exhibitions to emerging and established talents including Michael Jones McKean (2007), Marina Zircow (2006), David McGee (2004). In the performing arts, new and continuing projects such as the Houston Residency Program, Monday Night Footfall, and 12 Minutes MAX! continue to support Houston artists while presenting new works toHouston audiences. DW is also well known for bringing to Houston some of the nations’ hottest talent, including performers Miguel Gutierrez (2006), Donna Uchizono (2005), Miranda July (2001), choreographers Bill Shannon (2001) and Jennifer Monson (2004) and musicians Susie Ibarra (2000) and Eve Beglarian (1998, 2000, 2004).

DiverseWorks’ hard work and successes have been recognized on many fronts have been consistently recognized and supported by numerous funders, both regional and national. DW has been awarded prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Houston Endowment Inc., the Rockefeller Foundation, Institute of Library and Museum Services, the Louisa Sarofim Foundation and the Ford Foundation and had been noted by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation as one of the leading Mid-Sized Presenting Organizations in the country.

How do you get to DiverseWorks?

In order to get to DiverseWorks please click here and the link will provide you with directions to our artspace.

How do I show my artwork at DiverseWorks?

If you are interested in showing your artwork at DiverseWorks, please submit a proposal. Here are the guidelines for submitting a proposal.

When is DiverseWorks open?

Gallery Hours: Noon - 6pm, Tuesday – Saturday
Admission to the Gallery is Free

Office Hours: 10am - 6pm, Monday – Friday

Does DiverseWorks rent artist studios?

DiverseWorks does not have artist studios for rent but we are happy to recommend some places to you. Below are a couple of links.

Box13 Artspace

Winter Street Studios