Smither Park

Smither Park — half an acre made entirely of broken things

Three hundred artists, thousands of donated plates, mugs, mirrors, marbles and unidentifiable found objects, and a memory wall running some four hundred feet. Smither Park is a folk-art park in Houston’s East End, built beside the Orange Show monument as a memorial that refuses to be solemn. Nothing here is subtle and nothing is standardized: every bench, wall, swing and column carries the hand of someone who came out on a Saturday and set tile into mortar. It is free, it is open dawn to dusk, and it is one of the few places in any American city where an entire public space was made by amateurs and is better for it.

Highlights

• The Memory Wall — a mosaic wall running roughly four hundred feet, made panel by panel from donated and salvaged material by hundreds of contributors, and the single most photographed thing in the park.
• The Lindley Fish Amphitheater — a small performance space built into the park’s fabric and mosaicked like everything else, used for music and community events.
• The Vinson & Elkins Pavilion — the covered structure that anchors the park and provides its shade, essential in a Houston summer.
• The kinetic sculpture tower — an elaborate tower carrying moving work by the Houston artist Smitty Regula, the park’s vertical accent.
• The Marilyn Oshman Meditation Garden — a deliberately quieter corner within a park that is otherwise visually overwhelming.
• The swings — mosaicked swing seats that turn out to be the most-used object in the park, by adults as much as by children.

What you’ll find

The park occupies about half an acre, which sounds tiny and is not, because the density of detail means you can spend an hour on a single wall. Everything is outdoors, everything is touchable, and nothing is behind glass.

• The Memory Wall, in continuous panels, each by a different artist or group.
• The pavilion, amphitheater and covered seating.
• Mosaicked benches, swings, columns and paving across the whole site.
• The kinetic sculpture tower and other moving elements.
• The meditation garden and planted areas.
• The Orange Show monument standing immediately adjacent, currently closed to the public for restoration but visible from outside.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Photographers — an entire site of saturated color, texture and reflective surface, and no admission barrier of any kind.
• Families — children treat the whole park as a climbing and touching object, which is exactly the intent.
• Art visitors — the best introduction to Houston’s self-taught and visionary art tradition, of which the Orange Show next door is the founding monument.
• Makers and mosaic artists — on Saturdays, weather permitting, artists are frequently on site working on new panels and are usually happy to talk.
• Anyone with an hour to spare — half an acre, no ticket, no booking, and more visual information per square meter than most museums.
• Wedding and portrait shoots — the backdrop is unmatched, and the park is used constantly for exactly this.

Getting there & practical

The park is in Houston’s East End, on the same small campus as the Orange Show monument, in a residential pocket just off the freeway corridor. METRO bus route 40 runs along Telephone Road nearby and connects the area with the city center; most visitors drive, and there is parking on site and along the surrounding blocks. Admission is free, always, and the park is open from dawn to dusk with no ticketing and no reservation required. Note one thing before you plan: the Orange Show monument itself, the folk-art landmark next door built by Jeff McKissack, is closed to the public while it undergoes restoration supported by a Save America’s Treasures grant, and can currently only be viewed from the outside. Smither Park is unaffected and remains open. Allow an hour, longer on a Saturday when artists are working.

When to visit

Spring is the ideal season — warm enough for the park to be busy with makers, cool enough to stand in the open sun reading mosaic panels for an hour. Summer is punishing in the middle of the day; come in the first hours after sunrise or the last before sunset, when the low light rakes across the tile and the pavilion gives the only reliable shade. Autumn returns the good weather and is the best time for photography, with softer light and the Saturday mosaic sessions in full swing. Winter is mild by any northern standard and remarkably quiet, and the reflective surfaces still work on an overcast day — arguably better, since flat light shows the color without the glare.

Good to know

The park is a memorial. Stephanie Smither built it in memory of her husband, John H. Smither; the two were long-standing collectors of self-taught art and board members of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, the Houston organization that preserves the Orange Show monument, the Beer Can House and other folk-art landmarks. She worked with Dan Phillips, the Huntsville builder known for constructing houses almost entirely from salvaged material, who designed the park’s structures. Ground was broken in 2011, and the surfacing has been an open, collaborative process ever since: more than three hundred artists from across the country have set permanent mosaic work using donated materials — broken dishes, mugs, glass, mirror, trinkets and found objects of every kind. Named elements include the Lindley Fish Amphitheater, the Vinson & Elkins Pavilion, the Burguires, Hinton and Mathre Swings, the Marilyn Oshman Meditation Garden and a tower carrying kinetic sculpture by the Houston artist Smitty Regula. Stephanie Smither did not live to see the project fully mature, and the work has continued without her. A current note: the neighboring Orange Show monument, built by the postal worker Jeff McKissack over more than two decades from the 1950s, is closed for restoration with support from a Save America’s Treasures grant.

Visitor tips

• Come on a Saturday if you can. Artists are often at work on new panels, and watching the mosaic being set changes how you read the finished wall.
• Go early or late in summer. There is limited shade, the surfaces are reflective, and the middle of a Houston afternoon is genuinely unpleasant here.
• Check the status of the Orange Show monument before combining the two. It is next door but currently closed for restoration and viewable only from outside.

Questions & answers

Is Smither Park free? Yes, always. There is no admission and no booking; the park is open from dawn to dusk.

Who built it? Stephanie Smither conceived it in memory of her husband John H. Smither and worked with the builder Dan Phillips on the design. More than three hundred artists have made the mosaic surfaces.

What is it made of? Donated and salvaged material — broken plates, mugs, glass, mirror, tile, trinkets and found objects — set as permanent mosaic across walls, benches, columns and paving.

How big is it? About half an acre. The scale is small and the detail density is extreme, so it takes far longer to see than the size suggests.

Can I visit the Orange Show next door? Not inside, at present. The monument is closed for restoration supported by a Save America’s Treasures grant and can only be viewed from the outside. Smither Park remains open.

Can I watch artists working? Often, yes — Saturdays are the usual working day, weather permitting, and artists are generally happy to explain what they are doing.

Is it suitable for children? Very. The park is designed to be touched, climbed on and swung from, and children respond to it immediately.

How long should I allow? An hour for a proper look, more if you photograph or if the artists are at work.