Sears Houston, 2020
Houston photographer Molly Block has spent years documenting what most people drive past: the neon pylons, ghost signs and hand-lettered façades that mark the city’s commercial past. “Signs of the City: Framing Houston’s Roadside Landmarks” brings together 30 photographs she has made since 2011: theater marquees, coffee shop towers, donut stands and painted walls, the everyday landmarks that give Houston’s commercial streets their character, photographed with the same attention usually reserved for buildings.
The photographs are installed at Preservation Houston’s newly expanded Midtown offices as the first in a new series of presentations highlighting the city’s architecture, history and visual culture.
Shipley Do-Nuts (Texas Favorite, Study 2), 2016
Some of the signs Block documented remain beloved neighborhood fixtures; others were threatened but ultimately saved — among them portions of the Granada Theater’s exterior signage and the Art Moderne Sears sign on North Shepherd Drive, both preserved through advocacy by Preservation Houston and community partners.
Join us to hear Block discuss her work and its connection to Preservation Houston’s advocacy at a reception and artist talk from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, at Preservation Houston’s offices, 3907 Main Street. RSVP now →
“Signs of the City” is presented in partnership with Catherine Couturier Gallery, which represents Block and will handle print sales. Ten percent of sales will benefit Preservation Houston, courtesy of the artist and the gallery. The photographs are on view at 3907 Main Street through June 30, 2026.
Parking
Free street parking is available in the 1000 block of Truxillo and Isabella between Main and Fannin. Additional free parking is available in the South Main Baptist Church lot in the 3900 block of Main, directly across from our office. There's a pedestrian crosswalk at Truxillo.
“Signs of the City: Framing Houston’s Roadside Landmarks” is the first in a new series Preservation Houston plans to present, each exploring Houston's architecture, history and culture through creative interpretation.