Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects have been commissioned to create the design for the two-acre site, adjacent to the Sarofim Campus
HOUSTON—December 23, 2025—The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is expanding its campus, having secured a two-acre parcel of land adjacent to its Glassell School of Art along Montrose Boulevard. While there are as yet no plans for development, the museum purchased the site with the goal of enabling any future expansion. The museum will landscape the parcel as an MFAH greenspace, accessible to the public as a community lawn and for museum events and parking. Landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz have been commissioned to develop a sustainable landscaping plan. Most recently in Houston, the firm is responsible for the design of the Memorial Park Master Plan, the park’s award-winning new landscapes and the new Ismaili Center’s gardens, also in Montrose.
“We are delighted to contribute to Houston’s greenspace access with this new initiative, which will expand the museum’s 14-acre campus to a thoroughly walkable 16 acres,” commented Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH. “While the primary objective for the purchase of this property is to secure land for any potential future expansion of the museum, our priority now is to create a welcoming community lawn. Thoughtfully designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz, one of the leading firms in sustainable landscape practice, the site will serve as public greenspace and provide additional parking for museum visitors.”
“This project represents the opportunity to design a vibrant and beautiful greenspace for the city of Houston—adding another publicly accessible landscape to the campus of the MFAH,” said Thomas Woltz, Senior Principal of NBW.
The land was acquired through the museum’s recent purchase of property at 4911 Montrose Boulevard. The previous owners’ purchase contract required that the building on the site be demolished. That process is slated to begin in spring 2026. The greenspace project is anticipated to be completed within the next two years, with planning and oversight by the museum’s long-range planning committee.
About the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Spanning 14 acres in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, the main campus comprises the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building. Nearby, two house museums—Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, and Rienzi—present collections of American and European decorative arts. The MFAH is also home to the Glassell School of Art, with its Core Residency Program and Junior and Studio schools; and the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA), a leading research institute for 20th-century Latin American and Latino art. www.mfah.org
About Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW) is an internationally recognized landscape architecture firm with studios in New York City and Charlottesville, VA. The firm has been a force in steering landscape architecture towards integrated, ecologically performative design, relying on science-based methodology and collaboration with a wide range of systems experts. The firm has been entrusted with the design of significant public parks and cultural institutions in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, placing 25 years of construction and design innovation in greater service to the public realm. NBW has worked in 30 states and 12 countries, and garnered more than 100 awards over the past 15 years. Current projects include Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and a master plan for Colonial Williamsburg. NBW’s work has been featured in numerous national and international publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The firm’s new monograph, entitled The Land Is Full, was published by Monacelli in November 2024. The book collects 12 major parks and public gardens that illustrate the power of design to create vital public realms at the heart of communities. www.nbwla.com.
Media Contact
Melanie Fahey, Senior Publicist, MFAH
[email protected] | 713-398-1136