Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1439514
T he New Year brings a global dialogue to town — and it's a conversation that couldn't be more topical. Spanning nearly a week in January, The Future is Unwritten – Healing Arts Houston, co-founded by John Blaffer Royall, aligns with Houston's prime roles in healthcare and visual and performing arts. Our metropolis joins world cities including London and New York as an activation point for a wellness conference under the auspices of the United Nations Decade of Action, in collaboration with the World Health Organization Arts and Health Program. Talk about a prescient think tank. The McGovern College of the Arts and the College of Medicine at the University of Houston take the lead, enlisting more than a dozen key entities including the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Methodist, Menninger, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Art League Houston, Houston Grand Opera, Inprint, Institute for Spirituality and Health, The Mitchell Center, Rice University, Rothko Chapel, and Museum THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN, INDEED HEALING ARTS HEADS TO HOUSTON T he world-premiere of "Ramses the Great and the Gold of the P h a r a o h s " a t t h e Houston Museum of Natural Science (through June 19) segues beautifully into the museum's completely reimagined Hall of Ancient Egypt, which opened in conjunction with the exhibition in late November. The rare presentation of 181 stunningly preserved artifacts from the pharaoh's reign was made possible through a partnership between HMNS and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. The exhibition is a journey through the world of Ramses II, where ornate sarcophagi, animal mummies, magnificent jewelry and royal masks, amulets, and ornate golden treasures were part of daily life and death. On Monday, January 10, HMNS partners with the Society for the Performing Arts to present notable Egyptologist and former Egyptian minister of antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass, who will lecture at the museum about the exhibition. hmns.org. Shelby Hodge RAMSES THE GREAT of Fine Arts, Houston. Thought leaders tapped as featured presenters include six Houstonians: Project Row Houses founder/UH professor Rick Lowe; interdisciplinary artist Lisa E. Harris; Houston Methodist's Todd Frazier; Rice University's Kirsten Ostherr; doctor of public health Siddiqui Aisha; and Baylor College of Medicine's Peter Hotez, joined by Geneva-based Christopher Bailey of WHO. Just in: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston kicks off the action with a dialogue on Healing the (Art) World, Wednesday, January 19, featuring CAMH director Hesse McGraw, Healing Arts co-founder Stephen Stapleton of CultuRunners, and gallerist Barbara Davis. Tickets, program lineup, culturunners.com/ healing-arts-houston. Catherine D. Anspon OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND BARBARA DAVIS GALLERY Anton Ginzburg's VIEW_5A_02, 2019, at the Fresh Arts Gala auction COURTESY THE ARTIST AND BLAFFER ART MUSEUM Virginia Lee Montgomery's Water Witching, 2018, and Head Stone, 2016, at Blaffer Art Museum in "Cared For," during Healing Arts Houston Ramses in VR Ramses reigns at HMNS 12