What Houston has long needed is a world class art fair to put the city’s significant creative scene back in the national cultural conversation. After two previous competing art fairs came and went, Houston was left with an art void, and the Bayou City collecting community seemed to plateau. Now — with the increased footprint of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston acquiring more land; the Orange Show energized with artist Jack Massing as director; and the upcoming $2 billion expansion of George R. Brown Convention Center with plans for an adjoining 30-acre downtown park; plus a slate of new gallerists — Houston seems poised for visual liftoff. But about that art fair. . .
Enter Untitled Art, Houston, a much-anticipated edition of the respected and buzzy Untitled Art, Miami Beach, held every December to align with Art Basel fair time in Florida. For the new Houston art fair — Untitled’s only fair outside of Miami — expect 50 to 60 galleries, from Texas dealers to internationals, showcased in a four-day fair. It all will unfurl next year with a VIP preview on Thursday, September 18, followed by fair days Friday, September 19 through Sunday, September 21 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
A prominent architect, yet to be revealed, will be commissioned to design the boutique fair experience, and culinary activations at the George R. Brown with food and drinks from noted Houston chefs set to add local flavor.
Meet the Creative Leads
The driving forces are Untitled founder Jeffrey Lawson and fair director Michael Slenske. Lawson, a collector and entrepreneur, started the Miami Beach Untitled fair 12 years ago. His vision reimagined rigid booth layouts, incorporated cool programming including podcasts (which is set to happen in Houston too), and created an avant-garde VIP lounge with a side of performance art. Slenske, a Los Angeles based writer and curator, is conversant with Houston’s cultural scene. He’s been coming to Houston for 15 years, thanks to assignments for W and Architectural Digest.
The pair are on the ground planning the inaugural editions of Untitled Art, Houston.
“We’ve been working on this project for two years now, and the further we get, the more we realize that Houston — which many predict will be the third largest city in the country by the end of the decade — is just firing on all cylinders,” Lawson tells PaperCity. “So the timing seems perfect for this type of event, and with the support of our host committee and cultural partners, we really have a unique opportunity to do something great.”
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“It’s a blank-canvas moment in a world-class arts community that you don’t find too often these days,” Slenske says of Untitled Art’s coming to Houston.
International Art Abounds
“Houston spends the most money in Texas on the arts per year (more than $1 billion), and you’ve got all these recent or ongoing museum expansions. . . not to mention real growth in the local gallery scene and artist communities,” Slenske says. “Add to that a very robust collector community and no fairs to compete with, and we thought it was a good time to make this happen.” Untitled has connections to galleries in Latin America, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Europe and Asia.
“Untitled is a very international fair representing 34 nations, so that is in our DNA,” Lawson says of the Miami art fair.
Confirmed exhibitors for this new Houston art fair so far are Texas dealers Seven Sisters (Houston) and 12.26 (Dallas), joined by nationals Jessica Silverman Gallery (San Francisco), Various Small Fires (Los Angeles, Seoul, Dallas), Megan Mulrooney (Los Angeles), and Half Gallery (New York City, Los Angeles), with Seven Sisters, 12.26 and Megan Mulrooney appearing in the Nest section for emerging galleries. Untitled has tapped PaperCity as the new fair’s media sponsor.
To learn much more about Houston’s new art fair, check out PaperCity’s full interview with Jeffrey Lawson and Michael Slenske:
Untitled Art, Miami Beach, Fair Founder Jeffrey Lawson:
Catherine Anspon: When did you first start thinking about presenting Untitled in Houston?
Jeffrey Lawson: As a potential fair destination, Untitled Art began thinking about Houston in 2014. I have family from Houston and it’s always been an attractive city for a fair, but we decided to expand to San Francisco in 2017 and stayed there until the pandemic. I’ve been friends with Michael Slenske for 20 years and we’ve always talked about working together so when he came to me with this idea of doing something in Houston two years ago it just clicked.
CA: Why Houston?
JL: Well, for starters, Houston doesn’t have a fair. So we have a blank canvas. Beyond that, Houston spends the most money in Texas on the arts per year (more than $1 billion),
And you’ve got all these recent or ongoing museum expansions with the MFAH, the Menil Drawing Insitute and CAMH, not to mention real growth in the local gallery scene and artist communities. Add to that a very robust collector community and no fairs to compete with, and we thought it was a good time to make this happen.
CA: What for you is the most unique or singular aspect of Houston’s cultural landscape?
JL: The no-zoning is very interesting. One visit we stumbled upon a custom bootmaker next to an upstart gallery, which is next to the studio of one of our favorite artists. It creates all these unexpected collisions and moments for diversity that you don’t have in many cities.
You also have spaces like the Buffalo Bayou Cistern and POST HTX, which are also unexpected, if art-minded, retrofits of iconic, and architecturally significant public spaces. Houston is a city that is also at the top of the medical, energy and aerospace industries, so to discover the depth of cultural offerings here is just refreshing.
CA: And why now, at this particular time, bring Untitled to Houston?
JL: We could have done a fair in Houston in 2017 and I’m sure it would have been great, but the city is really firing on all cylinders right now. Plus, with the $2 billion expansion plan for the George R. Brown convention center and the public parks that will neighbor it, we felt we were walking into space that can expand with us.
CA: Do you have art world friends that live here in terms of museum directors/curators, gallerists, collectors?
JL: A number of the galleries we work with in Miami have (business or family) ties to Houston and I’ve been friends with Kerry Inman for years. It’s exciting to finally work with them on their home turf.
CA: Which cities/regions are you looking to draw from in terms of collector attendance for Houston fair?
JL: Well, we just had a VIP Weekend in Austin and will be doing outreach in Dallas, San Antonio, Round Top and across the South. We are very well aware of Houston’s connections to New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta and Oklahoma City and Tulsa and we plan to have outreach to all those cities and more.
CA: Besides the U.S., which international cities are you focused upon in terms of attracting galleries?
JL: We have outreach to galleries in Latin America, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Europe and Asia. In Miami, Untitled is a very international fair representing 34 nations, so that is in our DNA.
Untitled Art, Houston, Fair Director Michael Slenske
Catherine Anspon: What for you stands out about Houston culturally that prompted you to step forward as director of Untitled Art coming to town?
Michael Slenske: I have been coming to Houston for 15 years and written about the city for various publications (including W and Architectural Digest) over the years and was preparing to embark on a city-wide public project with public art in public/private spaces just before the pandemic arrived. While that project got shelved, the work I’d done on it led me to thinking about what other types of larger projects were possible in the city and I asked Jeff Lawson if he’d ever thought of doing a fair in Houston.
We have been friends going on 20 years and always wanted to work together so when I brought this idea to him it was something he gravitated toward almost immediately because he had actually considered expanding the fair to Houston a decade ago before he made an expansion into San Francisco in 2017.
We’ve been working on this project for two years now and the further we get the more we realize that the city, which many predict will be the third largest in the country by the end of the decade, is just firing on all cylinders.
From the museum and gallery expansions to its inclusion as the first Spotlight city at the ADAA fair in October, it’s really on fire. So the timing just seems perfect for this type of event and with the support of our host committee and cultural partners we really have a unique opportunity to do something great. It’s a blank canvas moment in a world class arts community that you don’t find too often these days.
CA: How do you see the fair impacting the city and developing cultural legs as a bigger idea
MS: It is our hope that this leads to a city-wide Houston Art Week. We want to activate and instigate activations across as many parts of the city as possible next September.
CA: Parting thought.
MS: I think the cultural infrastructure in Houston runs so deep and is so rich and so well supported that the opportunities, especially for something like a Houston Art Week, are limitless.
Scroll through the photo slide show above this story to see confirmed dealers and artists they represent already committed to the inaugural edition of Untitled Art, Houston, coming to H-Town September 18, 2025 through September 21, 2025 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Find out more info here.
