Project Row Houses

Project Row Houses is a community platform that enriches lives through art with an emphasis on cultural identity and its impact on the urban landscape. We engage neighbors, artists, and enterprises in collective creative action to help materialize sustainable opportunities in marginalized communities.

Project Row Houses occupies a significant footprint in Houston’s Historic Third Ward, one of the city’s oldest African-American neighborhoods. The site encompasses five city blocks and houses 39 structures that serve as home base to a variety of community enriching initiatives, art programs, and neighborhood development activities. PRH programs touch the lives of under resourced neighbors, young single mothers with the ambition of a better life for themselves and their children, small enterprises with the drive to take their businesses to the next level, and artists interested in using their talents to understand and enrich the lives of others. Although PRH’s African-American roots are planted deeply in Third Ward, the work of PRH extends far beyond the borders of a neighborhood in transition. The Project Row Houses model for art and social engagement applies not only to Houston, but also to diverse communities around the world

We encourage artists to extend their practice outside of the studio into the social context. Through mentorship, commission-based practices, and public art opportunities, artists foster a positive, creative environment that enriches lives and honors culture and history.  We support people and ideas so that they can do the same. Our programs cultivate independent change agents by creating sustainable opportunities for artists, young mothers, small businesses, and Third Ward residents.  We share a neighborhood with Third Ward residents, and this includes its challenges. We remain dedicated to the culture and history here and work alongside residents to directly address changes that affect this community.