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Painted Steel on the Green: Uh SyStem'S "Color Field" design daze at the houston design Center O ne of the most positive art stories arriving in our inbox during COVID-19 involves buoyant sculptures dialoguing with Mother Nature, all spun around the democratic concept "Exclusively for everyone." The venue for this much-anticipated outdoor A s people spend more time in their homes, the interior design business is big news. The Houston Design Center heeds the call with Fall Design Week market, with de rigueur COVID protective protocols in place. The market is Tuesday – Friday, October 6 – 9, with Houston design talent, book signings, CEUs, and shopping, with a limit of 25 people per event. Highlights include designer Marie Flanigan on Wednesday, October 7, 11:30 am, speaking and signing her new book, The Beauty of Home: Redefining Traditional Interiors (Gibbs Smith), moderated by Jennifer Cope with Modern Luxury Interiors. Friday, October 9, 10 am, designers Sandra Lucas and Sarah Eilers, Lucas/Eilers Design Associates, dish on their book, Expressive Interiors: Designing an Inviting Home (Rizzoli), moderated by the Houston Chronicle's sculptural exhibition — the University of Houston — is perhaps no surprise, as the ongoing Public Art Program at the University of Houston System is one of the most acclaimed and long- standing in the nation, marking a half-century last fall. This month, the traveling exhibition "Color Field" unveils, arriving at the UH campus from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is akin to a Guggenheim of the South. With a bow to the American "Color Field" masters of the 1960s — Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Mark Rothko, Sam Gilliam, and Alma Thomas — the exhibition taps seven contemporary artists and stages their expansive works informed by color in the great outdoors. Contemporary talents participating are six sculptors and a composer, to craft an immersive art encounter. Propelling the viewer to think about color and its properties will be Sarah Braman, Jeffie Brewer, Sam Falls, Spencer Finch, Odili Donald Odita, and TYPOE — artists spanning generations and approaches. A commissioned auditory experience by composer/ sound artist Amos Cochran provides a multisensory backdrop for the artworks. The project transforms the area around the Ezekiel W. Cullen Building, Butler Plaza, and Lynn Eusan Park, near University Drive, and extends to the campus' Arts District along Cullen Boulevard. Planned months before COVID-19, the exhibition offers a prescient response to the pandemic, as social distancing and being in an open-air environment are givens for its viewing. "Color Field," at the University of Houston, October 2020 through May 2021, publicartuhs.org. Catherine D. Anspon Diane Cowen, followed by a signing and lunch. That same morning, Ben Johnston, Benjamin Johnston Design, and Brian Thompson, Thompson C u s t o m H o m e s , d i s c u s s ultra-luxury h o m e s . All above events are at James Craig Furnishings Showroom, with books for sale at each event. Round it out with shopping at MAI Fall Market, with trunk shows and pop-ups. Schedule and tickets ($10 each event), fallaccessdesign.eventbrite. com; info@houstondesignevents.com. At The Houston Design Center, 7026 Old Katy Road. Above left: Sarah Eilers, Sandra Lucas Sarah Braman's Here, 2019, at the University of Houston Jeffie Brewer's Cloud, 2019, at the University of Houston Marie Flanigan all color field images courtesy the artists and crystal Bridges museum of american art, Bentonville, arkansas 16