The David B. Warren Houston Antiques Symposium
American Roots: Genealogy in the Decorative Arts
Friday & Saturday, February 5 & 6, 2027
Established by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to honor Bayou Bend’s founding director emeritus, the David B. Warren Symposium has been presented biennially since 2007. The 2027 David B. Warren Houston Antiques Symposium, "American Roots: Genealogy in the Decorative Arts,” seeks to address the significant impact of modern genealogical research developments on the field of American decorative arts.
Tickets
Admission includes access to all presentations, a welcome reception with light bites and beverages on Friday, coffee and pastries and a boxed lunch on Saturday, and a reception with heavy bites and champagne at Bayou Bend on Saturday evening.
- $225 General Admission
- $175 MFAH Members
- $50 Students (Limited Quantity)
Unable to attend in person?
Talks and presentations are live-streamed via Zoom. Learn more and register
Agenda
Friday, February 5
Friday’s Reception & Keynote will take place in the Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Main Campus.
- Daytime | Workshops from 10 am to 3 pm (see below for more information about workshops)
- Evening
- 4:45 pm | Registration and check-in open
- 5:00 pm | Welcome reception with full bar and light bites
- 6:30 pm | Keynote with Martha Willoughby—free and open to the public; first come, first served, as space allows
Saturday, February 6
Saturday’s Lectures and Reception will take place at the Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor & Education Center and Bayou Bend Collection & Gardens historic property.
- 8:00 am | Doors open at the Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor & Education Center for registration and check-in. Light breakfast pastries and coffee.
- 9:00 | Welcome and introduction
- 9:15–Noon | Morning Lectures
- Noon–1:30 pm | Lunch. Boxed lunches served, with guests invited to enjoy their lunch on the historic property in the gardens or the Lora Jean Kilroy Education & Visitor Center.
- 1:30–4:00 pm | Afternoon Lectures
- 4:00 pm | Evening Reception at Bayou Bend Collection & Gardens
► Would you like to receive news alerts about the 2027 David B. Warren Houston Antiques Symposium? Contact Joey Milillo, Bayou Bend programs manager, at [email protected]
History of the David B. Warren Symposium
The David B. Warren Symposium is named in honor of David B. Warren, the founding director emeritus of Bayou Bend.
The inaugural symposium, “American Material Culture and the Texas Experience,” was presented by Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on February 9 & 10, 2007. David B. Warren delivered the keynote address, “A Gift of Love: Miss Ima Hogg’s Quest to Bring Americana to Texas.” The second symposium, “American Material Culture and the Texas Experience, Part 2” was presented October 30 & 31, 2009. The first two symposia placed the pre-1900 material culture of Texas, the lower South, and the Southwest within a national and international context, establishing a tradition that future symposia would follow.
The third biennial David B. Warren Symposium, “The Civil War and the Material Culture of Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest,” was held October 28–30, 2011, and commemorated the sesquicentennial of the start of the American Civil War. The fourth symposium, “Itinerant and Immigrant Artists and Artisans in 19th-Century Texas,” took place October 25–27, 2013, and acknowledged the contributions of foreign-born craftsmen, photographers, and artists to the material culture of the Lone Star State. The fifth symposium, October 23–25, 2015, focused on “Creators and Consumers: Women and Material Culture and Visual Art in 19th-Century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest.”
In 2017, the symposium moved the presentation of papers from October to February 24 & 25 with the sixth installment, “Traditions in Transition: Change and Material Culture in 19th-Century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest.” The seventh symposium, “A Diverse History: Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest before 1900,” February 22 & 23, 2019, sought to examine the diversity of cultures influencing 19th-century art in Texas and the South. The eighth symposium, “The Power of Place,” presented February 26–28, 2021, featured seven scholars examining how place helped to influence and define material culture in Texas. The 2023 symposium revolved around the topic “Image and Identity: Representing Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest before 1900,” and the 2025 edition, “David B. Warren Houston Antiques Symposium: American Legacies,” explored the lasting impact that Ima Hogg (in Houston) and her collecting friends (across the country) had on the study of American art and antiques.