The Orange Show sits on a quiet, residential Houston street, a monument
to art in a sea of people and buildings. This is more than a collection of an
industrial society’s discarded parts that have been welded together, painted
bright colors, and arranged in a maze of cement passages. This is fun art. Art
you can climb on, laugh at, think about, and enjoy.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, Jeff McKissack delivered the mail in downtown
Houston. He often picked up discarded items from trash bins and construction
sites. In 1956, McKissack was issued a building permit for a beauty parlor on
the lot next to his house. Some time later he added to the bottom of the permit
the words, “Beauty parlors going out of style – have better idea – The Orange
Show.”
McKissack dreamed of a little amusement/health park where visitors would have
fun and learn about nutrition and the orange. Over a 25-year period, he built a
maze-like monument to his favorite fruit, good health, and hard work. When the
park opened in May 1979, he expected hundreds of thousands of visitors to pack
the residential lot east of down-town. The Orange Show Foundation kept the show
open after McKissack’s death the following January.
From the street, the Orange Show looks like a backyard patio project on
steroids. Metal umbrellas sprout like large flowers from the top of the
building, which is surrounded by a white cement fence decorated with colorful
tiles; wrought iron railings lead in all directions.
The inside of the Orange Show presents an equal attack on the visual senses.
Standing behind the factory, made of pipes and canisters assembled to explain
how oranges work in the body, the young tour guide tells us about McKissack,
collects our dollar (children under 12 are admitted free), then leaves us alone
to explore the narrow passages. He had chores to attend to.
The Orange Show may look like a random placement of strange objects, but
McKissack placed everything in a certain order to illustrate a point about
nutrition, hard work, or oranges. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to
understand what McKissack meant by a sculpture even after he explained it, said
Susanne Theis, one of the foundation’s three staff members.
McKissack grew up in Gainesville, Georgia, earned a college degree, and went
to work at a Wall Street bank until the Depression. Back in Georgia, he bought
fruit in Atlanta and sold it in surrounding small towns until he learned
welding during World War II. He worked for the Post Office from the 1940s until
his retirement in the 1960s. The Orange Show is his personal history museum.
Marilyn Oshman, of the sporting goods family, met Jeff before he died. As a
collector with an appreciation for self-taught artists, Oshman made the Show a
personal project. In 15 years, the foundation has grown to offer art classes
for children, including a low-rider bicycle workshop.
Houston is “eccentric central,” says Theis. The foundation has documented four
other important folk art sites in Houston: The Flower Man, The Beer Can House,
The Fan Man, and The Eagle’s Nest. Floresville, southeast of San Antonio, has
an important yard art site. The foundation has one project in South Austin, The
Cathedral. The Orange Show is the foundation’s only project which is not still
a private residence.
The Art Car Parade, held during Houston’s International Festival the last week
of every April, is the foundation’s greatest effort to promote folk art. Last
year, over 250 artists drove their art down the city streets. Some cars
traveled from Oregon and California to be in the parade. The foundation also
hosts lectures and tours of unique art sites. The next Eyeopener Tour, August
5, focuses on eccentric collections.
The Orange Show is open weekends and holidays from noon-5pm and weekdays from
9am-1pm (between Memorial Day and Labor Day). Admission is $1 for adults and
free for children 12 and under. The Orange Show is one block off the frontage
road of I-45 South at the Telephone Road exit. Call 713/926-6368 for directions
or more information.
Coming up…
Frontier Days has moved to Old Settlers Park east of Round Rock on US79
for a weekend of fun, July 7-8. 512/255-2501.
Spring Ho Festival in Lampasas brings the carnival, street music, and
horse shows to town, July 7-9. 512/556-5301.
The Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview attracts pilots from around
the country to Gregg County Airport for races and a fair, July 14-16.
903/237-4000. – Gerald E. McLeod
This article appears in July 7 • 1995 and July 7 • 1995 (Cover).