Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Houston Botanical Garden Pixabay Public Domain
Welcome to Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, the 14-acre art and garden facility located at the Museum of Fine Arts. With an emphasis on American decorative arts, Bayou Bend holds one of the finest collections of American furnishings, silver, ceramics, and paintings in the entire world.
You will see several personal paintings collected by Ima Hogg, whose home this once was. Thousands of visitors come through to see the Hogg family collection and other art collected after their passing. Head to the Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center to start, walk around the collections, head to the Kitty King Powell Library, spend some time in the manicured gardens, then shop at the Bayou Bend gift shop.
The manicured gardens outside were first planted in 1927 by Ima Hogg and feature native plants and woodland ravines. Hogg wanted to capture her love for 'beauty, flowers, natural woodlands, and history' within the garden, something she did very well, in our opinion.
School groups will have interactive tour options (for FREE), in which small group discussions and historical thinking skills are used. Choose either Nation of Innovation, a study on technology, textiles, light heat and cleanliness in America, or Collectively American, a study of what makes America America. You can also simply customize a collection tour to fit your group's needs.
