For years, whenever I drive through the Museum District, I look at the Jung Center and think I should check it out. So while my brother was here, he, Tom, and I included it on our Day of Museums. It’s a small building, easy to overlook among the larger museums surrounding it, but it has an interesting history. Founded in 1958 by five women who were studying the writings of Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, it has become a thriving organization that:
- Offers more than 100 classes, programs, and weekend workshops rooted in analytical psychology, the expressive arts (writing, painting, movement), and the humanities to more than 3,000 students annually.
- Welcomes over 5,000 visitors annually to its gallery spaces showcasing the work of Texas artists.
- Collaborates with like-minded Houston organizations in efforts toward global psychological wholeness and compassionate action.
- Hosts public conferences to explore current-day compelling issues, partnering with other organizations, including the Alley Theatre, Diverse Works, Holocaust Museum Houston, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Menil Collection, Methodist Hospital, Rice University, Rothko Chapel, and the University of Houston Honors College.
- Currently provides expressive arts programs free of charge for at-risk children, senior citizens, individuals suffering from life-threatening illnesses, and professional caregivers dedicated to meeting some of our city’s most pressing needs.
An impressive organization to have begun with a shared idea among five trailblazing women.
Currently hanging in the center’s art gallery: Testing the Waters by Texas artist Robert Batterton. The drawings in this series feature mystical images blending the ethereal with the everyday. Many of the works are viewable on his site, including this one that I like a lot:
I recommend seeing them in person to fully appreciate them. There’s no charge to browse through the gallery. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center also includes a bookstore with a fascinating range of books–and Carl Jung action figures!
On the corner of Montrose and Berthea.
I love the fairy wings on the guy walking his dog. Turns an everyday scene on its head.
I’m not sure what the Jungians will say about the doll!
I think I have to go back and buy one. He can keep my Tim Gunn bobblehead company.
Okay, I find the drawing a little scary and forboding, except for the dog. I don’t see dark spirits and the like hanging with puppies, unless they are hell hounds – and that is not a hell hound. Scary and forboding… you know what that means, ME LIKEY!
You should click on the link to his site and see some of the other drawings.
Every. Single. Time I drive by that place (which is extremely often) I want to go in. Now I REALLY, want to check it out.
(totally loving these museum posts)
I want to go back and spend more time in the library/bookstore.