MFAH Thursdays: Free Permanent Collections and Turrell's Tunnel

Thursday is the day the MFAH opens its permanent collections to anyone who walks in, free, 11 am to 9 pm, courtesy of Shell USA. The free admission covers the permanent collections only. Special exhibitions sit outside it and still need a ticket — the museum sells them at a discounted All Access rate.

Optional first stop, if the gate is open: the PNC Roof Garden, which carries the Brown Foundation plaza up the walkable, sloped roof of the Glassell School of Art — sculptures, a fountain, benches, and the Houston skyline in front of you. The museum lists it as free and open to the public, but it sets its own hours, posted on site and subject to change on the day; they do not necessarily run to the museum's 9 pm close. Check the gate before you go up, and treat the roof as a bonus rather than a fixed first act.

Then go down and under. James Turrell's The Light Inside (1999) fills the Wilson Tunnel, the underground passage between the Caroline Wiess Law Building and the Audrey Jones Beck Building. Step in from either building and the concealed neon shifts slowly from blue through crimson to magenta while the raised black walkway carries you across — the museum notes it is a darkened passage, so let your eyes adjust.

The main door is 1001 Bissonnet St, the Law Building on the Sarofim Campus; you can also enter through the Beck Building at 5601 Main St, the other end of the tunnel. METRORail's Red Line stops at Museum District, about 330 m and five minutes on foot, and METRO's 56 on Montrose and 65 on Bissonnet stop at Bissonnet and Montrose.

Take a phone and leave the tripod. Phones and handheld cameras are welcome inside and out; flash, tripods, selfie sticks, standing lights and drones are not allowed anywhere on campus. Bags and collapsible umbrellas stay under 11 by 6 by 15 inches.