Molly Block: Signs of the City at Preservation Houston

Molly Block, Granada Theater Detail, 2020

 

Opening reception at Preservation Houston:
 Tuesday, March 24, 6 - 8 pm

Exhibition on view:
Now - June 30, 2026

 

Some of Houston’s most distinctive landmarks are also the most familiar — the ones we pass every day. Photographer Molly Block has spent years documenting the neon pylons, ghost signs and hand-lettered façades that mark the city’s commercial past. Now 30 of her images are on view in Signs of the City: Framing Houston’s Roadside Landmarks, a new presentation at Preservation Houston’s Midtown offices.

Join us to hear Block discuss her work and its connection to Preservation Houston’s advocacy at an opening reception and artist talk from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, at Preservation Houston’s offices, 3907 Main Street. RSVP here>>

Block’s images, ranging from theater marquees and coffee shop towers to neon donuts and hand-painted walls, capture the everyday landmarks that give Houston’s streets their character. Each one is photographed with the same attention usually reserved for buildings.

Some of the signs Block pictures are beloved neighborhood fixtures. Others were threatened but ultimately saved, among them portions of the Granada Theater’s exterior signage and the Art Moderne Sears sign on North Shepherd Drive, both preserved through advocacy by Preservation Houston and its community partners. These images make the case that landmarks don’t need a historic designation to be worth saving — and invite us to reconsider what we value as the city changes.

Ten percent of sales will benefit Preservation Houston, courtesy of the artist and Catherine Couturier Gallery. The photographs are on view at Preservation Houston, located at 3907 Main Street, through June 30, 2026.

All works are available as inkjet prints on archival metallic photo paper.

To inquire on works, please contact us at gallery@catherinecouturier.com.

 

 

Shipley's Do-Nuts (Texas Favorite, Study 2), Houston, TX, 2016
edition 20 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $600
15 x 15 inches: $1,200
26 x 26 inches: $2,000

 

 

Alabama Theater, Houston, TX, 2016
edition 7 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Heights Theater, Houston, TX, 2017
edition 10 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Granada Theater (Outdoor Seating), Houston, TX, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Granada Theater Detail, Houston, TX, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Oak Forest Shoe Shop, Houston, TX, 2016
edition 7 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Pasadena Neon (Now Gone), Pasadena, TX, 2013
edition 9 of 45
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

River Oaks Theatre, Houston, TX, 2017
edition 5 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Admiral Motel in Houston, 2019
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Dot Coffee Shop, Houston, TX
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Sears Houston 2, 2011
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Sears Houston 1, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Granada Theater, Houston, TX, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

 

Pasadena Theater, Pasadena, TX, 2013
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Antonio's Flying Pizza, Houston, TX, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Brochsteins, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Ghost Signs, Congress St., Houston, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Smith Construction/Railroad 1, Houston, TX, 2016
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Harmony Wedding Chapel, 2017
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Felix Mexican Restaurant, 2011
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

 

Blue Building, Congress St., Houston, 2013
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Admiral Motel 2, 2019
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Alamo Plaza Motor Hotel, Houston, TX, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Alamo Plaza 2, Houston, TX, 2018
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Dean's Credit Clothing, Houston, TX, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston, TX, 2020
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500 

 

Smith Construction/Railroad 2, Houston, TX, 2019
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900
26 x 26 inches: $1,500

 

 

Tower Theater, Houston, TX, 2015
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Wolf's Pawn Shop 1, Houston, TX, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Wolf's Pawn Shop 2, Houston, TX, 2014
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

Yale Street Grill, Houston, TX, 2012
edition 1 of 25
8 x 8 inches: $400
15 x 15 inches: $900

 

 To inquire on works, please contact us at gallery@catherinecouturier.com