“You name it, we’ve got it!” says Stephanie Todd-Wong, Vice President of Communications and External Affairs for Asia Society Texas. “Yoga classes one day, three days later you can attend a night market, and the next day there’s a Japanese/American business lecture.”

Asia Society Texas, one of the largest Asia Society centers in the world, sits in Museum Park and sports a gallery, a performing arts theater, lecture and educational rooms, beautiful gardens, and even a café called Sunday Press featuring fresh and flavorful bites like the brunch banh mi with scrambled eggs.

“We think of ourselves as an educational institution that celebrates culture and business,” says Todd-Wong, but the center is also a community center, a rental facility, a hub for its 3,000 members, as well as a must-see spot for tourists.

John D. Rockefeller 3^rd, back in 1956, founded the nonprofit in New York City as a way of explaining aspects about Asia to Americans. As the organization grew, centers opened in D.C., Los Angeles and around the world in Hong Kong, Seol, and Sidney, among other cities. In 1979 former First Lady Barbara Bush and former Ambassador Roy M. Huffington established the Texas center here in Houston offering events and classes at rented facilities. But it wasn’t until 2012 when Asia Society Texas opened the 40,000-square-foot Yoshio Taniguchi-designed building that the center became a focal point for diverse educational and cultural programs.

The two-story building of Jura limestone is a marriage of East and West sensibilities, with a water garden hallway, performing arts theater, gallery for contemporary and traditional art — for both touring and permanent exhibits, an education center, and a stunning sculpture garden.

Night Market 2024 presented by American First National Bank on Friday, November 1, 2024, at Asia Society Texas. Photo by Chris Dunn.

One of the most popular events is the annual Night Market, which brings between five and ten thousand visitors who celebrate the food, shopping, live music, and dance at this festival.

“Then there’s the Lunar New Year festival,” says Todd-Wong. “This year we had a record breaking 5,000 attendees to celebrate the year of the snake.” Also popular, is the Lunar New Year’s children’s opera “The Big Swim,” co-produced with the Houston Grand Opera. It is a weekend of sold-out shows retelling the Chinese fable of the Jade Emperor.

Culture Camp: Manga Pop! on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at Asia Society Texas. Photo by Chris Dunn.

Speaking of children, the society offers an expanse of educational programs for youngsters including the annual Spring Break camp. This year it’s Journey to the Moon for Spring Break followed by the summer camp youth program with events for students 6 to 14 and Young Leadership sessions for high school students. Both programs fill up fast, so you want to sign up your children early.

The whole family will enjoy the permanent exhibit Explore Asia, an immersive and interactive journey through five Asian countries that includes a virtual bullet train ride, a drumming experience, and a food lesson in Asian treats (and where to find them in Houston).

So, whether you’re looking for a tranquil garden for meditating, a fast-paced live performance, a mindful yoga class, want to learn to speak Korean, or delve into the socioeconomic relationship between East and West, you’ll find it at Asia Society Texas.

by Marene Gustin

photos credit: Asia Society of Texas