The Art Bench Project

Benches by The Woodlands Arts Council along the Waterway, at Hughes Landing, Northshore Park and Rob Fleming Park

The Woodlands Arts Council began the Art Bench Project in 2014, when eight benches went in along The Woodlands Waterway and near The Woodlands Mall for the community’s 40th anniversary. New benches have been added every couple of years since, at Waterway Square, Town Green Park, Riva Row and Hughes Landing, and in December 2024 the project reached Northshore Park and Rob Fleming Park for the first time.

Each bench has an underwriter, usually a local family or business. Artists from across the country and abroad answer the Arts Council’s call for entries, a panel narrows the field, and the underwriter picks the design. The Woodlands Township installs the finished benches and looks after them. All of them work as seats, but a few take liberties: Why Sit When You Can Play doubles as a xylophone.

There are now more than 30 benches, grouped below by area. A few of the earliest are no longer in place, and their cards say so. For the rest of the community’s outdoor art, see Public Art in The Woodlands. Memorial benches have their own page: Memorial Benches and Trees.

Waterway Square and the upper Waterway

  • Angel Wings Art Bench Woodlands Waterway

Angel Wings

The Angel Wings Art Bench is adjacent to Waterway Square, near the Westin Hotel, on the Waterway.

Artist: Jim Weitzel, from Forest City, North Carolina
Underwriters: Frank and Maria Holmes, in memory of their son Yancey M. Holmes

  • Caetano's Peace Art Bench The Woodlands Waterway

Caetano’s Peace

“Caetano’s Peace” Art Bench is located on the waterway, just outside of waterway square.

Artist: Rollin Karg, from Kechi, Kansas
Underwriter: Benchmark Hospitality International

  • Crete Bench Rest art bench, Waterway Square, The Woodlands

Crete Bench Rest

Crete Bench Rest is located at Waterway Square Park, at waterway sidewalk level.

Artist: Victoria Goldstein, from Houston, Texas
Underwriter: The Woodlands Arts Council

  • Discovery Art Bench at CWMP

Discovery

Discovery sits on the south lawn of The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, facing the Waterway.

Artists: Michelle Old, Kevin Giuseppetti, Stacy Moore and Derek Giuseppetti, from The Woodlands, Texas
Underwriters: James, Janet, Sarah and Maggie Stilwell

  • Family Tree Art Bench The Woodlands

Family Tree

Family Tree is on the upper Waterway, between Waterway Square and The Pavilion.

Artist: Don Lawler, from Stephensport, Kentucky
Underwriter: Highland Woods Health

  • Light Balls art bench, Waterway Square, The Woodlands

Light Balls

Light Balls sits at Waterway Square Park, a good spot to watch the water wall.

Artist: Manfred Kielnhofer, from Linz, Austria
Underwriter: The Howard Hughes Corporation.

  • Mipenipa Art Bench The Woodlands Waterway

Mipenipa

Mipenipa is on the Waterway near the Marriott hotel.

Artist: Chris Miller, from Calais, Vermont
Underwriters: Mitchell, Peggy, Nicholas and Patrick Hausman

  • Ode to Joy Art Bench at The Woodlands Pavilion

Ode to Joy

Ode to Joy stood on The Pavilion’s south lawn.

Artist: Dan Skaggs, from Laguna Beach, California
Underwriter: The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

No longer in place, per The Woodlands Township’s records (2026).

  • State of Texas art bench, The Woodlands

State of Texas

The State of Texas bench is on the Waterway near The Pavilion.

Artist: Carolina Gonzalez, from Houston, Texas
Underwriters: Bruce and Diana Tough

  • Texas Dawn Water Lily art bench, The Woodlands Waterway

Texas Dawn Water Lily

Texas Dawn Water Lily is on the south side of the Waterway, across from The Pavilion.

Artist: Kyle Thornley, from Revelstoke, British Columbia
Underwriters: Heather, Shin and Seth Dickens

  • Why sit when you can play interactive musical bench The Woodlands Waterway

Why Sit When You Can Play

Why Sit When You Can Play is on the Waterway at Waterway Square Park, in Town Center.

Artist: The Urban Conga, a design firm founded by Ryan Swanson, from Tampa, Florida
Underwriters: The Alex and Sharon Sutton Family

The Woodlands Mall

  • Family Art Bench at The Woodlands Mall

Family

The Family Art Bench is located at The Woodlands Mall, looking south over the waterway.

Artist: Terrell Powell, from Austin, Texas
Underwriters: Gordy and Michelle Bunch

  • Foot Rest Art Bench, The Woodlands Mall

Foot Rest

Foot Rest stood outside The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s at The Woodlands Mall.

Artist: Rod Flower, from The Woodlands, Texas
Underwriters: Robert and Renee Neville

No longer in place, per The Woodlands Township’s records (2026).

Town Green Park and Riva Row

  • Amber Art Bench Town Green Park The Woodlands

Amber

Amber stood at Town Green Park. It weighs more than 100 pounds and is made of wood, corten steel and amber, with fossilized leaves set inside the amber.

Artist: Luis Pavon, from Malaga, Spain
Underwriter: Woodforest National Bank

No longer in place, per The Woodlands Township’s records (2026).

  • Bean art bench, Town Green Park, The Woodlands

Bean

The Bean Bench is located along the upper level of Town Green Park.

Artist: Valerie Theberge, from Washington, D.C.
Underwriters: Gayle and Todd Kuoni

  • Mystical Senses art bench, The Woodlands

Mystical Senses

Mystical Senses overlooks the lower Waterway at Riva Row.

Artist: Gaston Carrio, from Houston, Texas
Underwriters: Amy Cope-Gibbs and Jon Gibbs

  • On the Bayou art bench, The Woodlands Waterway

On the Bayou

On The Bayou Art Bench is located along the lower waterway near Riva Row Boathouse.

Artist: John V. Weber, from Galveston, Texas
Underwriter: Amy Cope-Gibbs and Jon Gibbs

  • Penstemon Art Bench - The Waterway

Penstemon

Penstemon Art Bench is located along the Waterway, across from Riva Row Condominiums.

Artist: Daniel Hornung, from Tucson, Arizona
Underwriters: Beth and Doug Grijalva

  • Proud Souls Art Bench near Town Green Park

Proud Souls

Proud Souls sits at the foot of the Waterway’s water wall near Riva Row Boat House, a short walk from Town Green Park.

Artist: Gaston Carrio, from Houston, Texas
Underwriter: Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center

  • Seated with Santiago Art Bench

Seated with Santiago

Seated with Santiago overlooks Town Green Park from the Waterway. Six other art benches are in view from its seat.

Artist: Michael O’ Brien, from San Antonio, Texas
Underwriters: Tom and Patricia Pursley, dedicated to veterans

  • Stardust Art Bench The Woodlands Waterway

Stardust

Stardust Art Bench is placed along the south side of the waterway, within view of Town Green Park.

Artist: Elizabeth Akamatsu, from Nacogdoches, Texas
Underwriters: David and Brenda Gottlieb

  • Umbrella Tree Art Bench at The Woodlands Riva Row

Umbrella Tree

The “Umbrella Tree” Art Bench is located close to Riva Row Boathouse and serves a metaphor for the “universal pleasure of sitting under the shade of a tree.

Artist: Dan Skaggs, from Laguna Beach, California
Underwriter: The Shedden Family

Windswept Oak

Windswept Oak is made from found and recycled materials and sits at Town Green Park, overlooking the Waterway.

Artist: Jonathon Chandler
Underwriters: Rob and Cindy Hardin

  • You Are Loved Art Bench The Woodlands Town Green Park

You Are Loved

The “You Are Loved” Art Bench is located near the Waterway, at Town Green Park, in Town Center.

Artists: Michelle Old, Stacy Moore and Kevin Giuseppetti, from The Woodlands, Texas
Underwriters: Debbie and Sparky Gullo

Hughes Landing

  • Free Spirit Art Bench Waterway in Town Center

Free Spirit

The Free Spirit Art Bench is located at Hughes Landing on Lake Woodlands, not far from the Kayak Rental house.

Artist: Paul Reimer, from Cranbrook, British Columbia
Underwriter: Margarita Sesma de Tricio, in memory of Martin Tricio Montaña

  • Quercus Art Bench Hughes Landing

Quercus

Quercus Art Bench is located at Hughes Landing within view of the bandstand.

Artist: Owen Dixon, from Peterborough, Ontario
Underwriters: Jeff and Deborah Coburn

  • Resolute art bench, Hughes Landing, The Woodlands

Resolute

Resolute overlooks Lake Woodlands at Hughes Landing.

Artist: Paul Reimer, from Cranbrook, British Columbia
Underwriter: The Dorman Family, in memory of Matt Dorman

  • Sound of Healing Art Bench Hughes Landing alongside Lake Woodlands

Sound of Healing

The Sound of Healing Art Bench is located on the eastern shore of Panther Branch, near the Rock the Row stage at Hughes Landing.

Artists: Michelle Old, Kevin Giuseppetti, Stacy Moore and Derek Giuseppetti, from The Woodlands, Texas
Underwriter: Canopy, with Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center

  • Unmasked Symbiosis Art Bench Hughes Landing at Lake Woodlands

Unmasked Symbiosis

Unmasked Symbiosis Art Bench is located at Hughes Landing in Town Center.

Artist: Gaston Carrio, from Houston, Texas
Underwriter: Strike

  • Wind O Art Bench Hughes Landing at Lake Woodlands

The Woodlands Wind-O

The Woodlands Wind-O Art Bench is positioned near Lake Woodlands, at Hughes Landing.

Artist: Stereotank, a design studio founded by Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente, from Miami, Florida
Underwriters: Michael and Vicki Richmond

Northshore Park

Critter Creature

Critter Creature is at Northshore Park on Lake Woodlands.

Artists: Jake Heffington, Emily Fielder and Liz Braaksma
Underwriter: Young Learner’s Academy, for its 15th year in The Woodlands

Flight to the Sun

Flight to the Sun shows a jet climbing skyward, at Northshore Park.

Artist: Jonathon Chandler
Underwriter: Tawna Kingsley, in memory of Jon D. Kingsley Sr.

Rob Fleming Park

Brow Ridge

Brow Ridge is welded steel shaped like a pair of closed eyes, beside a pond in Rob Fleming Park.

Artist: Aaron Early
Underwriters: Amy Cope-Gibbs and Jon Gibbs

Where to find them

The Woodlands Arts Council’s public art maps show every bench, with printable maps of the Waterway, Northshore Park and Hughes Landing, and Rob Fleming Park.

Secret Link