Historic Houston theater’s pandemic rescue a public good

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — After a historic Houston theater seemingly closed for good last year due to the pandemic, its supporters, including film lovers, preservationists and directors Richard Linklater and Wes Anderson, tried to revive it. But they also grappled with whether they should be doing this amid a worldwide crisis in which people were dying or suffering economically. But Kyle Vaughan, one of those working to save the theater, says the pandemic wasn’t just about basic survival, but also about trying to preserve artistic and cultural touchstones that were also being lost. A report released last month by UNESCO, the U.N.’s culture agency, says the pandemic has shown that during a crisis, culture and the arts are a major resource for resilience and recovery.