Now live: The Houston Flood Museum

New online “museum” invites visitors to share their own experiences of Harvey.

Today marks the “opening” of the Houston Flood Museum (HFM), a venue for reflection about our region’s relationship with water.

Not a traditional brick-and-mortar museum, HFM is an online, community-driven platform. It serves as both a collection point for visitors’ memories, stories and images – about Harvey and other flood events – and as the virtual home of multi-media exhibitions of select submitted works.

Current exhibitions include several series of photographs, including a series made from an artist’s damaged family photographs; a documentary by a local filmmaker about a church that expanded its mission after Harvey to aid in recovery work; Houston Public Media’s “Stories from the Storm” audio and video podcast; essays and poems; as well as several pieces of long-form journalism by notable Houston writers.

Houston Endowment initiated and funded HFM based on a concept by Rice University assistant professor and writer Lacy M. Johnson, who serves as the project lead.

“At Houston Endowment, we seek to create opportunities for everyone to engage in diverse and meaningful arts and culture experiences,” said Houston Endowment program officer Long Chu. “Storytelling, especially in the wake of a traumatic experience, helps people makes sense from chaos. It binds us together.”

Johnson noted that the museum isn’t “finished.”

“What’s most important is that we need submissions from the public,” she said. “The museum isn’t comprehensive! We need visitors to share their own experiences of Harvey and other storms.”

Contribute your story at www.houstonfloodmuseum.org