Houston’s Long-Awaited Rothko Chapel Expansion Breaks Ground

A $42 million expansion project aimed at adding new buildings, landscaping, and accessibility to the site of the iconic Rothko Chapel recently broke ground in Houston, Texas.

Over the next two years, there will be construction of an administration and archives building, a new program center, a guest bungalow for visiting speakers and fellows, a plaza for events, as well as a meditation garden named after Kathleen and Chuck Mullenweg. Work onsite began on April 17.

These additions follow a $30 million renovation which finished in 2021, and are expected to be completed by 2026.

“The Chapel has never had the room that we need to fulfill our dual mission,” executive director David Leslie said in a statement. “The Opening Spaces project is not only about creating spaces that enable us to welcome more visitors, but also facilitating more enriching experiences of the art, deeper contemplation, and the social justice-focused community engagement embedded in our founders’ vision, which brings people together in dialogue and reflection across the many boundaries that separate us.”

Abstract expressionist Mark Rothko was commissioned by collectors John and Dominique de Menil for the project in 1964. The laborious process for the 14 large, abstract murals and the original construction on the site took seven years, “a procession of architects” and a large crane, which lowered the momentous murals into the building. Rothko also did not live to see his vision completed on February 26, 1971; he committed suicide in his Manhattan studio almost exactly one year prior to its opening.

More than 50 years later, Rothko’s vision remains a strong draw for art fans with the chapel’s website reporting that more than 100,000 people visit each year.