
Houston Arts Journal continues to follow the impact of the omicron-related COVID-19 surge on local arts groups, including closures, cancelations, and rescheduling of events.
This week, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft announced that it will be closed (as of January 19) through January 28:
This temporary closure affects one current exhibition, Limitless: The 2021 Recipients of Clay Houston’s Award for Texas BIPOC Ceramic Artists, which had recently opened on January 15. It will now resume on January 29 and run through March 5. In the meantime, a virtual tour of Limitless, along with a conversation with the artists, can be found on the center’s Facebook page.

Upcoming exhibitions are still on schedule, including Rings! 1968- 2021 (January 29 – March 12), which explores avant-garde notions of contemporary jewelry through the form of the ring, and Nothing Goes to Waste (February 5 – May 7), a survey of artists who use salvaged materials.
The center’s COVID safety protocol and visitor guidelines can be found here.
This week, the chamber ensemble ROCO also announced the cancelation of its next two concerts:
Now postponed to next season, ROCO Connections: A House of My Own (originally planned for January 22) was a salon concert featuring World Premiere songs by Grammy-nominated composer Derek Bermel and American Book Award-winning author Sandra Cisneros. A conversation with Bermel and Cisneros remains available on ROCO’s Facebook page.
ROCO Unchambered: Ties That Bind (originally planned for February 5), an intimate and interactive program about the violin, was impacted by COVID travel restrictions and will also be rescheduled for next season.

The rest of ROCO’s season currently remains in place.
The season resumes with Pictures at an Exhibition: A ROCO Musical Promenade, a free concert on February 17 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Pianist Mei Rui will perform experts from Mussorgsky’s original piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition, paired with artworks from the MFAH.
Also coming up next month is ROCO In Concert: Canvasing the Earth on February 26 at the Church of St. John the Divine, in-person and live-streamed. That concert will feature conductor Sarah Hicks, tenor Nicholas Phan, and the orchestra in World Premieres by Aaron Jay Kernis, Leanna Primiani, and Jonathan Leshnoff.
ROCO’s health and safety protocols can be found here.