NOW ON VIEW throughout the Houston Theater District, on the sidewalks surrounding the recently opened Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts, and in front of such beloved institutions as Jones Hall and the Alley Theatre, is the multi-site installation Harmonies. It’s a series (or “symphony”) of 10 interactive, large-scale music boxes created by LeMonde Studio.
These unique wind-up sculptures include a giant, brightly painted Nutcracker, an electric guitar, a cleverly constructed guitar slide, a stack of old school boomboxes and vintage stereo equipment, a banjo, a violin, a music note, a theater mask, a microphone, and an elegant harp. None of the eco-friendly sculptures require electricity to operate; each sculpture illuminates its surroundings and plays its own unique holiday soundtrack with the simple turn of a crank.
Presented by the Houston Theater District in collaboration with Lynn Wyatt Square, Market Square Park, and Trebly Park, Harmonies is the first activation in a series of initiatives by Houston Theater District — a diverse group of businesses, policy leaders, and arts organizations who perform in the District — to create public spaces for social interaction, cultural exchange, and (let’s be real) selfies and Instagram reels.
Beginning in 2024, the music boxes will shift from playing holiday tunes to music from local arts organizations and artists. Before then, make the trip Downtown and give each one a spin.
Itai and Lin Ben Eli