Preserve and promote our rich history

The Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center was founded in 2021 to establish a cultural and performing arts center in Houston, Texas.

The museum will preserve and promote the rich origins, rituals, oral traditions, and history of Gospel Music through concerts, exhibitions, collections, educational programming, and special events. As a 501(c) (3) entity, the museum's purpose is to foster an appreciation for African-American Gospel Music from which to share this unique art form with the world.

The Story of Gospel Music The story of Gospel Music in the city of Houston traces the lives of sojourners and extends beyond the boundaries of a genre into the realm of sonorous testimonies. It is a story that continues to be told and deserves documentation. The Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center will be a refuge whose purpose is to tell that story. Documentation for historical and educational purposes interleaved with the offering of sanctuary for cultural purposes fills the dream of the museum’s completion with anticipatory glee for the community, it will serve through perpetuating the legacies of those who laid its cornerstone. The story of Gospel Music in the city of Houston and beyond traces the lives of sojourners and extends beyond the boundaries of a genre into the realm of sonorous testimonies. It is a story that continues to be told and deserves documentation.

Plan and Purpose The Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center will be a refuge whose purpose is to tell that story. Documentation for historical and educational purposes interleaved with the offering of sanctuary for cultural purposes fills the dream of the museum’s completion with anticipatory glee for the community it will serve through perpetuating the legacies of those who laid its cornerstone. Some of its intended purposes are for it to be: 

A cultural tourist attraction for the city of Houston.

A place to call “home” for the Houston Gospel Music and Arts Community to gather.

A place to “Tell Our Story” and make new memories.

A place to house, archive, preserve, and exhibit Gospel music memorabilia representative of rich legacy produced in Houston and beyond, both statewide and national.

A place to film and document its history through visual, written, and oral renderings. 

A place to teach, train, and pass on traditions necessary for a healthy continued life in the cultural arts. 

A place to perform Gospel Music as it is now, and re-visit it as it was then. 

A place to expose and educate the community to other styles and expressions of music influenced by Gospel Music.

A place to experience all Gospel Music influenced styles in order to educate and promote the value and importance of Gospel Music.

A place for community events (banquets, weddings, etc.). 

Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center reach will be inclusive of local, state, national, and international history and renderings. Houston’s Gospel Music community has a rich history which has touched, connected, and influenced a vast number of national and international Gospel Music artists and contributors. Gospel Music in Houston has been the foundation for some of our nation’s notable non-Gospel Music artists and still serves as a gateway to other forms of artistic musical styles and genres. 

Gospel Music Cultural Arts CenterLocation (To Be Determined) 
Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center Targeted date for Completion (To be determined) 
Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center Steering Committee Members 

• Reggie Van Lee, Chair
• V. Michael McKay
• Yolanda Adams 
• Rod Thompson
• Michael Harris, Esq. 
• Fritz Colinet
• Gaynell Drexler 
• Derrick Lee 
• Earnestine Johnson 
• Michael Pickett 
• David Goldstein
• Kevin Patton

Gospel Music Cultural Arts Center Endorsements  

• Mayor Sylvester Turner
• The Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee