Houstonist ventured downtown on Saturday afternoon to enjoy the dazzling artistic talent on display at Via Colori, along with what seemed like half of the city. Benefiting the Center for Hearing and Speech, the third annual Via Colori showcased the amazing talents of local artists while raising money to help teach Houston-area hearing-impaired children learn to speak instead of relying solely upon sign language. Photo courtesy of Flickr user mockbird. Photo courtesy of Flickr user......

This weekend finds a new collection of Hurricane Ike photos to share with you, courtesy of the generous contributions to the Houstonist Flickr group. Next week we'll to return to our regularly-scheduled Houstonist Photo of the Day (PotD) feature, so keep those submissions coming! A grateful Houstonian picks up two cases of water at a FEMA point of distribution (POD) on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Flickr user finna dat. Brennan's is a charred shell of......

Houstonist will continue to feature more of your Ike photos for the rest of the week, as long as you keep 'em coming. Today's batch reveals sides of Hurricane Ike that we haven't seen yet, as more and more of you post your photos to our Flickr group. All that's left of the Mermaid Pier off Galveston's seawall is a small, lopsided structure and some lonely piers. Photo courtesy of Flickr user mozziemark. The Houston......

We asked you to share more of your Hurricane Ike photos with us and you did! Below are more of your amazing pictures of the Houston area before, during and after the hurricane. An American flag and a sign mark the makeshift entrance to Stephen J. Schecter's law office in Seabrook, which was washed away by Ike's tremendous storm surge. Photo courtesy of Flickr user slight clutter. An airplane refuels a search and rescue helicopter......

Houstonist has been scouring the interwebs, looking for informative, interesting or just plain weird photos from during and after Hurricane Ike. Below are some of our favorites so far: Metal blinds blown out of a downtown building wrapped themselves around a sign during the storm. Courtesy of Flickr user Bake Them Pie. Dark, empty windows in the St. Germain Lofts downtown. Courtesy of Flickr user Photo Mojo. Sugar Land residents donate blood to replenish area......

The 2008-2009 DiverseWorks season opens on September 19 with Understanding Poverty, a multimedia exhibition by Houston-based photojournalist Ben Tecumseh DeSoto. The exhibition will feature DeSoto's 20-year investigation into Houston's homeless and working poor, with field reporting contributed by Ann Walton Sieber and a special light installation by Sarah Whatley Ayers. DeSoto began documenting life on the streets in Houston after meeting two homeless Houstonians, Ben White and Judy Pruitt. Over the past two decades......

Wherever you may be headed tonight, make sure to at least do a fly-by at the Contemporary Arts Museum so you don't kick yourself later for missing Steel Lounge Underground. Held on the last Friday of every month, Steel Lounge Underground is a mad tonic of music and art featuring local DJs and musicians performing alongside the latest exhibit in the Contemporary Arts Museum's Zilkha Gallery. This month features Houston-based DJs Jessica Lozano and Cee......

If you're anything like Houstonist, you loved Mad Libs as a kid (noun...snot! adjective...stupid! verb...fart! and so on). And if you're not too cool to admit it, you probably still love them now (although, hopefully your vocabulary has expanded somewhat since your playground days). DiverseWorks and the Houston Center for Photography are giving you a forum to flex not only your Mad Lib skills but also your photography skills, whether amateur or professional. This Friday,......

The sun rose on a beautiful, windy day on Sunday. In the whispers of the wind, you could almost hear the encouragement, and smell the impending victory. Your valiant Houstonist staff would soon convene to take on the Houston Arts & Media Houston History Road Rally (HAMHHRR) for the sake of honor, historical preservation, and cheap beer. The starting point for this whole affair was the Czech fraternal hall in the west end of the......

::The Houston Center for Photography´s 2008 Print Auction:: These are some pretty gorgeous photographs and who'd believe they're all up for sale to benefit one of the coolest organizations in all Houston? Houstonist (a fan of photography, as you well know) was drooling over this one, and this one and this one too. The photographs are on exhibition right now at the HCP galleries until Wednesday, February 13th, and the auction is this Friday......

::Dominic Walsh Dance: Celebrating Moving Bodies - Moving Minds:: Dominic Walsh wows again with this excellent lineup celebrating the fifth anniversary of the company's premiere performance. The centerpiece of the program will be Double You by with Jiri Kylian, one of the most renowned contemporary choreographers in the world today. Also on the program is the world premier of Walsh's Amadeus and a pas de deux from his full-length Orfeo ed Euridice, created for......

::FOTOSYNTHESIS: Photos by Pr!mo and Hermano:: The brothers Luster, Alex and Michael, show off their combined photographic talents tonight at Bohemeo's Cafe. This photo show opening represents the brother's solo work which includes landscapes, architecture, portraiture, local cultural events and much more. The title of the show, FOTOSYNTHESIS is a play on traditional definitions of photographing a subject and controlling ambient light. Entertainment will be provided by Erol Kushchu and Latintron Date: Tuesday January......

• A Fort Bend County student has been accused of bringing a 9mm gun to school. The student was immediately expelled. • Two teens have been arrested after carjacking a family from their Cadillac Escalade at First Colony Mall. • Authorities are looking for a man claiming to be a police officer who attacked a 15 year old girl at a park in the 6400 block of Rustling Elms Drive back on November 18th.......

::HCP Print Auction Preview Party:: Houston Center for Photography announces its largest annual fundraiser, the 26th Anniversary Print Auction. The auction preview and exhibition open on Thursday night, January 17 from 6-8pm and continue through February 13. The auction will take place on Friday, February 15 from 5:30-10pm at the Junior League of Houston, with world-renowned photography specialist Rick Wester as guest auctioneer. Cocktails and silent auction, as well as a live auction preview are......

The Country Houses of John F. Staub Stephen Fox Color Photography by Richard Cheek Texas A&M University Press Houston Texas – 1930’s. By the first quarter of the 20th century, Houston had made a dramatic evolution from the dusty southern outpost of the late 19th century into (basically) the city we know today. Industry was in full swing and there was a growing class of socialites moving into town, the Weiss’s, Farish’s, and Dow’s......

IMG_1465.jpg by Notsuoh Photography ________________________________________________________________ If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 470 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here.......

IMG_1272.jpg by Notsuoh Photography ________________________________________________________________ If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 470 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here.......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: Movie night!! MFAH (1001 Bissonnet St.) continues their $7 'Movies Houstonians Love' series with a pick by Dr. John H. Lienhard (the dude from NPR's Engines of Our Ingenuity) - No Highway in the Sky. Afterwards, steak night at Baba Yega (2607 Grant......

The thought may have crossed your mind once some balmy spring day in early March, pre-heat, as the flowers start to bloom but the mosquitoes haven't yet returned. Or perhaps you realized it some fall evening as you relaxed on a patio having drinks while people in the northern half of the country listened to their radiators clank like a death knell. "Houston's not so bad, in fact, despite the [_____], it's worth it." Okay,......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Myel Photography. This gorgeous sunset was taken from the south facing deck at UH Downtown. Higher education pays off yet again. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 430 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here. For more great photography......

There's absolutely no question in our minds that Houstonist readers have amazing skills when it comes to ye olde shutter box. And although we'd love to hoard your talent under our beds and keep it for ourselves for a rainy day (which will be, um, tomorrow), we know your talent deserves more exposure than that. But you can't blame us for trying. That's why we want to be sure that you know to enter the......

Thanks to those of you who have submitted photos to our Flickr Photo Group of our opening. If you have photos, please upload them to our group so we can use them on Houstonist. Here's our First Look post that we posted in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Look for a full recap of this event tomorrow. Here's a video clip of the event. Here are some more photos! and even more photos can......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Notsuoh Photography. This is a photo of the historic Nash House in the Westmoreland Historic District in The Montrose. The following information is from a brochure from The Westmoreland Civic Association. 215 Westmoreland (1907). The Nash house is a grand Colonial Revival house that resembles the Connecticut State Building designed for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The house, designed by......

The best part about a 3 day weekend: A 4 day work week. Bonus! So happy Tuesday. The weekend's just around the corner. After visiting the HCP last week for the SPIN Party, we realized just how little we visit this art space, considering all the great programs they offer. Like First Tuesday! Yes, we are THAT excited it's Tuesday. First Tuesday provides an opportunity for local photographers and media-based artists to share their work......

This wonderfully dark and brooding photo of the statue of Sam Houston in Hermann Park comes to us from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Notsuoh Photography. We love the moodiness of the clouds and colors. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 360 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here. For more......

Happy Hump Day, Houston! A reader's twitter reminded us that today is the two year anniversary of when that bitch Katrina rolled into the swamps of NOLA, giving us lots of new neighbors. If you are reading this as an Katrina evacuee, we are curious as to how you are finding our little town. Hopefully, Houstonist is helping to navagate you through all there is to do. Like this great event tonight. How about......

Triple Threat Edition So we couldn't decide on one event for tonight, so we're giving you three. We are so damn generous some times. Besides, this week has been so long we figured you needed an extra long Friday to make up for it. Well, of course there's the Txt Me L8r SPIN Party at HCP that we'll all be at. Two of your favorite Houstonist contributors (wait, you have favorites, right?) will be participating......

"Creative Crowdsourcing Through Mobile Technolgy" We couldn't have said it better ourselves, and you'll have to see this to believe the awesomeness of it. This has been on our radar for quite some time and we are so excited it's finally here. The Houston Center for Photography and Aurora Picture Show band together this summer to present the 3rd annual summer SPIN Party and Exhibition Txt Me L8r on August 24 from 8-11pm. On July......

Yes, we know it's not "new" news, however, we did promise an update - even if an admittedly late one. Landry's Seafood Restaurants cut a deal with its bondholders which buys them two more years of financing for a 2% rate increase. The cost of money goes up from 7.5% to 9.5% - or, approximately $15mil/year. That's a lot of clams, but it does beat the alternative. Photo courtesy of flickr user B&M Photography......

Unless you've been hiding under a rock out in the suburbs (no judgment!) you probably have already heard about this Saturday's 11th Annual Museum District Day. If you haven't, well look at us telling you something you don't know about! Yep, folks, that's what we're here for. Here's your chance to view gallery upon gallery of Houston's finest art, all for the low, low price of FREE. Saturday, August 18th, from 10am-5pm, 14 Houston museums......