Announcing the establishment of The Graffiti and Street Art Museum of Texas

A museum organization that focuses on the preservation of graffiti and street art history.

Founded by Aerosol Warfare's GONZO247, The Graffiti and Street Art Museum of Texas (GASAM Texas) is dedicated to the exploration of graffiti and street art history and plans on opening its temporary location in Houston, Texas January 1, 2016 until a more permanent home can be acquired. In the mean-time the museum will conduct pop-up community engagements and events that fall in line with its mission.

The GASAM Texas is established as a 501(c)(3) corporation that is committed to providing the public, artists and scholars of the creative arts with a visual showcase and destination for graffiti and street art not only providing permanent and visiting exhibitions but also providing a forum for the public to explore their own artistic talents with on-site lectures and interactive workshops. The museum will strive to preserve street art history by authenticating historical time lines of the graffiti and street art movements, while also promoting the art forms of today’s creative artistic community.

For the last 25 years The GASAM Texas’ co-founder, Mario Figueroa, Jr., has exhibited and promoted graffiti and street art of his own and others showcasing it as an art form. At an early time in his career, around 1990 he made the decision to step out from the shadows to advocate on behalf of the urban art culture and art form with the hopes of graffiti and street art would gain the recognition it deserved. The museum was spawned from this continued mission and his experiences at his studio / gallery, Aerosol Warfare, a Houston icon in itself. In the most recent years, visitors to Houston would ask Figueroa if the Aerosol Warfare “museum” was open, assuming it to be more of a ticketed tourist attraction. This pointed to the vision of a museum, The GASAM Texas. The aim of The GASAM Texas is to build a home that showcases historical timelines for these typically ephemeral art forms through art exhibitions, film collection installations and programming. “I cannot claim that this is the first graffiti and street art museum, because the art forms have been making the streets their museum for decades, but I am proud to announce that this will be a first of its kind and hope it adds to the lure of visiting Houston.”