Inside the Heights' Art Studios on Nov. 7, and Who Puts On the Holiday Season That Follows

The 300 block of East 11th Street doesn't look like much from a car. On Saturday, Nov. 7, three addresses there, 301, 303 and 305 E. 11th St., account for six of the 14 stops on the Houston Heights Association's Art Crawl. They include Sharon Kopriva's studio, Kelly Moran's studio, Redbud Arts Center, a sculpture by John Carroll Runnels and two murals. A short drive north, three more studios sit almost side by side on Martin Street.

The Art Crawl runs 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $50, children under 12 are not admitted, and net proceeds go to the Houston Heights Association. From the Art Crawl through the Mistletoe Market on Dec. 13, most of what fills a Heights calendar is put on by the neighborhood's own civic groups, and much of it pays for the next event. The lights on Highland and Omar in December started with a ticketed party at the old fire station in October.

The tour runs through two clusters of studios

The association's tour page notes that "decades ago, the Heights was home to 20% of the working artists in Texas." The tour map shows where that history still lives today. It splits the route into a drive-between northern loop and a walkable stretch in the core of the neighborhood.

These aren't hobby rooms. Broker taught drawing and printmaking at Rice University from 1980 to 2021. Kittelson is on the faculty of the UH School of Art and makes large-scale public art. At 410 Martin, Ray Balinskas is an art conservator, and Lourdes Balinskas is an art historian who focuses on colonial Spanish artwork. Glover is a high school art teacher who lives in an artist community called "Itchy Acres."

The walkable half picks up at the high school and heads down 11th and onto the Boulevard:

1. Joe Barrington's welded-metal Bulldog at Heights High School, Oxford St. and E. 13th St.
2. John Carroll Runnels, 305 E. 11th St. In 1984 he co-founded MotherDogStudios, which the tour calls the oldest surviving artists' warehouse in downtown Houston.
3. The Daniel Johnston mural at 305 E. 11th St., painted by Carlos Carazan and inspired by Johnston's "Don't Be Scared."
4. Sharon Kopriva Studio, 305 E. 11th St. Her career began with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Fresh Paint exhibition in the mid-1980s, and she has had a solo show at the Menil Collection.
5. Kelly Moran Studio, 303 E. 11th St., working across painting, ceramics, printmaking and collage.
6. Redbud Arts Center, listed at 301 E. 11th St. on the tour, a nonprofit and the association's partner on the Art Crawl.
7. The Daniel Anguilu mural at 301 E. 11th St.
8. The Heights Petite Shoppe, 223 E. 11th St., a women-owned co-op selling art prints, vintage pieces, leather goods and textile home decor.
9. True North, the sculpture walk along the 400 to 1800 blocks of Heights Blvd., with work by Robbie Barber, Roger Colombik, Keith Crane and Damon Thomas, Hans Molzberger, Suzette Mouchaty, Mark Nelson, James D. Phillips and Jim Robertson.

Most Heights residents have walked past the True North pieces on the Boulevard. The tour adds the names behind them and the studios a few blocks east where similar work gets made. The organizers say to wear comfortable shoes and expect works in progress, conversations with the artists and light refreshments. Redbud Arts Center's own page lists the same Saturday, Nov. 7 date.

A free arts market runs the same day on W. 19th

The Art Crawl doesn't start until 1 p.m., so the morning is open. The First Saturday Arts Market is free and runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 7 at 540 W. 19th St. Spend the late morning on 19th Street, then head to Delz Street as the studios open. That's a full day of local art without crossing I-10.

The Art Crawl and the market are run differently. The market is free. The Art Crawl is a $50 ticket, and the money goes back to the association that organizes it. Most of the December calendar is built the same way.

The money behind Lights in the Heights

Lights in the Heights is the season's biggest night. It's also the clearest example of a neighborhood group raising money to pay for its own event. The Woodland Heights Civic Association's history of the event, posted Oct. 12, 2026, says neighbors started it in 1987 with luminaries along curbs, driveways and porches, plus entertainment and refreshments on the Norhill Esplanade. The association's 1989 newsletter reported that the first event drew 20,000 people, and the "Lights in the Heights" name appears to date to 1989.

Holding an event that size on residential streets costs real money. The civic association started a fundraising "gala" in 2013. This year it was the Boots & Bow Ties BASH, held Oct. 15 at the Historic Heights Fire Station, 107 W. 12th St. Proceeds from tickets, auction items and sponsorships cover city permits, officer security, portable restrooms and other costs of the December event. Gabby's BBQ, Eureka Heights and Kagan Cellars were the lead sponsors and supplied the food and drinks.

The best-known parts of the night take ongoing support too. The Norhill Esplanade dinosaurs were created by Ward Pennebaker and have appeared for more than a decade. The civic association says they need professional staging, removal, storage and repairs. Pat Rutledge and Louise Moss oversee the lighting of the Watson Street Esplanade, and this year's sponsor is Humbug Lighting.

The 2026 route has been approved by the City of Houston's Special Events office. It runs on Highland and Omar, Saturday, Dec. 12, from 6 to 9 p.m. Music still comes from porches, and the association has asked homeowners on both streets to offer theirs to volunteer musicians. The night before, Friday, Dec. 11, from 5 to 8 p.m., the association holds Friday Night Lights on the Norhill Esplanade. It's limited to neighborhood residents and includes s'mores, holiday music, drinks and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The full calendar, Nov. 7 to Dec. 14

Most of these dates come from the organizers who run and benefit from them: the Houston Heights Association, the Woodland Heights Civic Association, Redbud, and the merchant group on 19th Street.

The Heights Mercantile market runs the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Expect produce, meat, cheese, kombucha, flowers and live music, and check the market's Instagram for the vendor list each week.

Where the dates overlap, and the building at the center of it

Two stretches of the calendar need planning ahead.

The first is Friday, Dec. 4. The Houston Heights Association's Holiday Home Tour opens that evening, the same night as Holiday on 19th Street. The tour has a second session on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 9 p.m., so you can spend Friday on 19th Street and take the tour Saturday afternoon.

The second is Dec. 11 through 13. Friday Night Lights, Lights in the Heights and the Mistletoe Market fall on three straight days. The market moves the season back to 107 W. 12th St., where the Houston Heights City Hall and Fire Station hosts it from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

That address comes up again and again this season. The Woodland Heights group held its Boots & Bow Ties fundraiser there in October. The Houston Heights Association holds its general meetings there on Nov. 9 and Dec. 14, and the Mistletoe Market brings it back on Dec. 13. The Art Crawl and the 19th Street events draw crowds out to the neighborhood's studios and shops, and the fire station on 12th Street is where the people who organize them meet.

If the Art Crawl has you thinking about the studios, porches and esplanades on your own block, and what they mean for a Heights home, Holly would be glad to talk it through. Holly Minter follows these streets closely, so you can request a home valuation, or let's connect to discuss your property this holiday season.