HMAAC is closed for installation, Aug. 20th-28th. We will reopen on August 29th
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HMAAC is closed for installation, Aug. 20th-28th. We will reopen on August 29th 〰️
Museum Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11AM - 6PM
General Admission: always Free, Donations accepted
Support the Houston Museum of African American Culture
Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Your support will help ensure the museum sustainability. Text “HMAAC” to 44-321 to donate!
SEEKING MAVIS BEACON
Saturday, August 23 at 12 pm
The most recognizable woman in technology lives in our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the software’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY detectives search for the model while posing questions about identity and artificial intelligence
Danny simmons
"The Journey To Everything"
Chayse sampy
“Who Feels It Knows It”
“Beyond The Walls”
Danielle Finnerman
In 2023, the Houston Museum of African American Culture partnered with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Women’s Empowerment Center to launch an arts program for incarcerated women, inspired by California Lawyers for the Arts’ Arts in Corrections initiative. Beginning with a mural installation by Danielle Finnerman and Zsavon Butler, the program expanded to writing and visual arts classes in collaboration with Inprint, continuing through 2024 and 2025. Participants have explored diverse mediums—drawing, clay, watercolor, charcoal, collage, acrylics, and landscape painting—creating works that embody memory, longing, and hope. More than artistic instruction, the program restores agency, dignity, and imagination, offering peace and transformation in the face of incarceration’s challenges. Testimonies from participants highlight its healing impact, while future plans include an internship program modeled after Designing Creative Futures and the creation of a 200-foot mural at the Women’s Empowerment Center. With a curated selection of works, the gallery affirms these women as vital members of society whose voices and creativity reflect resilience, renewal, and the power of self-expression.
"Beyond The Walls" exhibition opens August 29.
to schedule A TOUR OF CURRENT EXHIBITIONS, click below.
Hmaac’s exhibition-in-the-community sold out!
The "Re-Storying The Story of Fifth Ward" at the historic DeLUXE Theater for untold (and retold) tales of the Fifth Ward in Houston, TX has sold out! Stay tuned for more information.
“A CEO’s Story - Dr. John Guess, Jr.”
This video is the "Pride of Sunnyside" story featuring Dr. John Guess, Jr., CEO of the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), at the "Re-Storying The Story of Sunnyside" storytelling event (July 2, 2025).
Visit the Culture Shoppe at HMAAC for all your local artists and vendors merchandise!
exhibition archive
Visit our most recent exhibitions via our virtual 3D portal. Click anywhere to begin. For more of our other exhibitions, please scroll below.
Latinx Museum of Art in Houston?, curated by Benito Huerta. A glimpse of what a gallery exhibition in a Latinx museum might look like when accompanied by programs defined completely by Latinx voices.
Permanent Exhibitions
The Houston Museum of African American Culture dedicated its Stairwell of Memory on February 19, 2022 with the addition of the portrait of Houstonian Robbie Tolan, “The Survivor.” On December 11, 2021, HMAAC dedicated a portrait of Tolan by artist Cedric Ingram that was added to the ones of Bland and Floyd. The three of them represent our area’s most prominent symbols of police brutality. America is indeed lucky and blessed that one of them survived; a living reminder that justice for black victims of police brutality is so rare as to essentially be non-existent, and that good citizens of all races must be diligent to change our current culture to one of fairness and equity.
The Jazz Church of Houston
“The Jazz Church of Houston is an endeavor by artist Tierney Malone to create a temporary institution dedicated to collecting and sharing the story of Houston's musical tribe. While there are museums in Texas dedicated to music, a space does not exist that chronicles the jazz history of Houston. The name “Jazz Church” drew its inspiration from the Church of John Coltrane in San Francisco. Established in 1970, the church uses John Coltrane’s music as an expression of worship. The Jazz Church of Houston is a secular temple that will serve as a communal gathering place for like-minded people to listen, learn and celebrate jazz music and culture in Houston.
The Jazz Church of Houston’s patron saint is Texas tenor legend, Arnett Cobb. He is the standard bearer for all those who came after him. He made Houston his base of operation instead of New York or LA, as many of his contemporaries have done. He mentored the next generation of jazz musicians who followed in his footsteps to New York. He is the model of rugged individualism that often characterizes Texans. He survived many physical challenges to pursue his passion of making music. He was hospitalized for a year from a car accident, and used crutches for the rest of his life. He never let his physical challenges prevent him from playing for audiences around the world.”-Tierney Malone, via jazzchurchhouston.org
Open Your Eyes
Houston Museum of African American Culture
OUR MISSION
The mission of HMAAC is to collect, conserve, explore, interpret, and exhibit the material and intellectual culture of Africans and African Americans in Houston, the state of Texas, the southwest and the African Diaspora for current and future generations. In fulfilling its mission, HMAAC seeks to invite and engage visitors of every race and background and to inspire children of all ages through discovery-driven learning. HMAAC is to be a museum for all people.
OUR VISION
HMAAC seeks to be a cultural portal through which people share and converge histories and contemporary experiences that acknowledge and expand the African American experience, and from such interactions come together to build a common future.
