Inside Houston’s Hidden Ruby Projects — A Haunt For Art World Insiders With True Creative Gems

Creative collaborative hub Ruby Projects, based in a light-filled space in a historic house near Hermann Park, is a haunt of art world insiders. Since forming Ruby Projects three years ago, founder Megan Olivia Ebel has produced and curated 15 exhibitions and programs per year, mining her connections with a range of Houston talents.

Ebel says the gallery’s true gem is its La RucheHTX residency which has hosted six artists and 10 shows following its opening in March.

“My favorite part of every residency round at LaRucheHTX and Ruby Projects opening is seeing how the gallery space transforms,” Megan Olivia Ebel says of edgy domestic space turned into white cube.

One of my own top exhibits of 2024 opened last month at Ruby Projects. It gives everyone the chance to catch hometown talent Preston Douglas Boyer, in from Los Angeles, whose immersive take on soft sculpture and painting walks the line between beauty and seduction in “COUTUME.” Included are his collaborations with interior designers Marissa Reynolds and James Myers, alongside ethereal wedding dress paintings and a cache of early works by Boyer, such as his collectible zipper canvases.

“Preston’s vision of LaRucheHTX as an art home completely shifted the vibe, turning the entire house into a journey through his mind,” Ebel says. “Usually, our exhibitions stick to the front gallery and the back two rooms are reserved as artist studios, but this one expanded into every corner of the house.

“It’s so different from anything we’ve done before. And honestly, anything I’ve seen in Houston galleries as of late.”

Boyer — a buzzy, eagerly watched Mark Flood protege — says one attendee commissioned him to convert their custom Dior couture wedding dress into an artwork after seeing his painting Dearly Beloved in the exhibition. This forthcoming couture transformation is the first of Boyer’s new project of making fabric paintings from clients’ worn wedding gowns.

“These artworks can be a reclamation of one’s tumultuous past relationship or immortalization of the love in a happy marriage, further addressing the emotional weight that objects of beauty can hold, how memory manifests in the physical, and the transformative power of art,” Douglas Boyer tells PaperCity.

Preston Douglas Boyer will take part in a conversation with artist Chino Amobi and Glasstire’s Joseph Staley at the exhibition this Friday, December 20 from 5:30 pm to 6:15 pm. A “COUTUME” closing party after talk will then go until 9 pm.  The exhibition is on view through this Saturday, December 21 with hours running from 11 am to 5 pm Saturday at Ruby Projects, 1705 Ewing Street. Other times are available by appointment. Get more information here.