Chris Becker

The arts culture of Houston never stops — from a late-night salsa show that dances on into the wee hours of a new day, to a solitary sculptor working on a haunting papier-mâché piece just before midnight. The everyday wonders of making art in Houston, over the 24 hours of Friday, Sept. 27. With Reporting by Chris Becker.

With growing worldwide recognition of Houston as a hub for the development of jazz and hip-hop, the time is right for a museum to throw down and present a “visual arts interpretation” of music producer and community leader Robert Earl Davis, Jr. a.k.a. DJ Screw, one of the city’s most respected and influential figures in hip-hop.

For a few seconds, there is only the sound of a falling rain, and a chord played on classical guitar. Then suddenly, a crash of thunder, and the mood is set for “Monandengue,” the first track on singer Vivalda Dula’s ambitious new album Dula, which drops Friday. The song describes the plight of children subjected to human trafficking and forced labor, and Dula’s voice is filled with strength and defiance, qualities she no doubt inherited from her mother, Marcelina, who passed away in May 2017...

So what does “Knockin’ Da Boots” really mean? In 1993, those three words heralded the arrival of H-Town, a trio of supremely talented singers born and raised in Houston who named their group after the city they loved.

Cover story for the February issue of Acoustic Guitar. My profile of guitarist Eric Johnson.

A brief history of Magnificat Houses, Inc., a faith-based nonprofit that serves the needs of Houston's homeless community. My story begins with a look inside Magnificat's soup kitchen Loaves and Fishes.

Throughout the decades, renovations to Houston’s Lancaster Hotel, still standing in its original 1926 location at 701 Texas, arguably made little or no effort to connect back to its historical origins. . . . But in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which completely flooded the Lancaster’s basement, and filled the first floor with two feet of water, the slate was wiped clean, and Dallas-based interior designer David Cadwallader and Lancaster principal partner Jay Shinn, also of Dallas, recognized the opportunity to try something new.

Prolific Houston artist Robert Hodge returns, with a new body of work exploring the spectrum and subtext of the color black.

It’s a sticky September afternoon, and inside Salento Bistro in Rice Village, patrons are enjoying the cafe’s air-conditioned ambience, many conversing in both Spanish and English. Seated on a vintage couch, ignoring her espresso and croissant, singer-saxophonist Evelyn Rubio leans forward, describing the first time she heard Aretha Franklin.

My profile of 2018 Texas Artist of the Year Francesca Fuchs.

A behind-the-scenes look at Meta-Four, Houston's premier poetry slam competition team.

I recorded, edited, mixed, scored and co-scripted this podcast, a profile of the late composer Julius Eastman. The host is Houston artist David McGee.

When Nakita Campbell arrived for Houston Roller Derby’s Beginners Boot Camp two and a half years ago, she was completely new to the sport. “I had never worn roller skates in my life,” says Campbell. “I fell every two feet!” She was surprised when the more experienced skaters told her without a trace of irony: “You’re really good at falling!”

The new Glassell School of Art is set to open May 2018. This is a brief history of the school and a profile of its director, sculptor Joseph Havel.

Methodist Hospital. Houston, Texas. 1963. 23-year-old heart surgeon-in-training O.H. “Bud” Frazier, a former football star from small town Stephenville, is attempting to save the life of a teenage boy whose heart, despite what appeared to be a successful operation to replace a damaged aortic valve, has stopped beating. Frazier reaches into the chest cavity, wraps his hands around the young patient’s heart and begins squeezing steadily . . .