A Work of Art
Project Row Houses Helps a Houston Neighborhood Find Hope and Prosperity

By Erin Casey
April 2008

The saying is art follows life. But in Houston’s Third Ward, the opposite is true. Art and a sense of community were the inspiration for Project Row Houses. This nonprofit organization inspires hope and brings new life to this low-income, predominately African American community.

When Project Row Houses (PRH) founder, Rick Lowe, first visited the site where the vibrant organization is based, hope wasn’t part of the landscape. “I was on a tour with people who were identifying neighborhoods that needed to be torn down,” Lowe says. “The site where Project Row Houses started was determined to be the worst part of the neighborhood. It was mostly abandoned and overgrown.”

The area consisted of 22 shotgun houses, small wooden structures built in the 1930s. In their dilapidated state, the houses were an eyesore. But Lowe discovered value and hidden potential in the history these homes hold for the African American community. A few months after seeing the area for the first time, Lowe saw artwork by Dr. John Biggers depicting shotgun communities. The famed artist’s work reflected the communities so positively that Lowe, an artist himself, was drawn to the opportunity of transforming this run-down neighborhood.

“It was at that point, after looking at his paintings, that I knew there was a possibility to transform the worst place in the neighborhood into a kind of idyllic John Biggers painting, a living John Biggers painting,” Lowe says. “That was the beginning.”

Lowe saw the area as a blank canvas for the work of Project Row Houses. From the beginning, PRH had two main purposes in mind. One focus was to offer artistic opportunities and resources to the community. The second was to address the blight in the area. During the past 15 years, the organization has grown and evolved and has made a huge impact on the neighborhood.

“When we first started out, we were basically a group of artists that had a focus of generating opportunities for artists to come here and work,” Lowe says. “But we realized there were lots of young people who needed something to be involved in.”

In answer to that need, PRH began an after school and summer youth education program for 5 to 13 year-olds. Area teachers and artists help students with homework and offer instruction in a variety of subjects, from ceramics and visual arts, to Afro-Brazilian dance and drumming. “There are young people who’ve gained a sense of purpose in life here and have gone on to do great things,” Lowe says. “They’re still doing great things.”

Another initiative that grew out of listening to the community is the Young Mothers Residential Program (YMRP). The program addresses the need for housing and offers opportunities to help young women continue their education. “The ones who are successful give us inspiration,” Lowe says. “A number of young women who have gone through the program realized the opportunity to advance their educational career while they were here and have moved to complete law degrees and PhDs.”

The success of the transitional housing program for young mothers made PRH leaders recognize that housing is a major issue in Houston’s Third Ward. As a result, the organization set up a community development program to build and manage affordable housing. Rice School of Architecture works with PRH to design housing that fits into and works with the existing structures. Equally as important is the organization’s goal to strengthen the community’s economy. One way PRH works toward this goal is by bringing visiting artists from around the world to live and work in the area. The organization also hosts an annual community celebration during the second week of October. With food, art and music, the event creates opportunities for artists to show and sell their wares.

The artistic approach PRH takes to reinvigorating this community has as much to do with heart and soul as it does with paint and brushes. “As artists we take material that has basically no value and we transform it into something meaningful,” Lowe says. And in this growing community, the transformation can be seen in the structures, but more importantly in the lives of those who live here.

Erin Casey is a freelance writer, the editor of SUCCESS for Women (www.sfwmag.com) and the books editor for SUCCESS magazine. She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband and two sons.