Presented by The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation
April 18 - June 7, 2026
H-E-B Gallery
Reception Saturday, May 9th | 5-7PM
Janvi Mahmtura Folmsbee - Interdisciplinary Installation Artist
Indian born and raised contemporary artist, Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, is known around the globe for her artwork dedicated to marine conservation. Mahimtura Folmsbee wants to live in a world where we can hear the ocean’s voice through euphoric works of artwork that she creates. As an interdisciplinary artist, she works in various media to create a sustainable studio practice featuring Neo Rococo artwork and interactive public art installations that are both educational and up-lifting. She firmly believes art can be used to heal our oceans and to help scientists communicate their important work. She has been named a 2023 Creative Revolutionary by Codaworx, one of the top art and design leaders changing the world and was also honored with the organization’s 2023 “People’s Choice” award. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India overlooking the magical biodiverse Arabian sea. She is a 2009 graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (S.A.I.C). Mahimtura Folmsbee currently lives and works in Houston, Texas. She has shown her work in Mumbai, Beijing, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dubai, and the United States. Her works have been featured in international fairs, including Kunst Rai, Art Rotterdam, The Indian Contemporary Art Fair, Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Arte Dubai; in print media, including Harper’s Bazaar (Malaysia edition), The Times of India, The Houston Chronicle, Houston Modern Luxury, and Verve (India); and in television interviews on ABC News and KRPC Houston. Her work has been featured in several international global and national magazines such as the Indian Review of World Furniture and Design, The Gulf Coast Journal, River Oaks Living and more.
Mahimtura Folmsbee has created large fine art murals throughout Houston, which can be found on Google Earth. Her public works also include an important commission from the Red Cross Society in Mumbai, India. Through the design and execution of fine art installations, she has shown innovation, artistic ability, and strong leadership skills. She is the first South Asian female Indian woman artist in the Houston Airports art collection with a 240-foot-long permanent art immersive art tunnel installation. Two recent airport projects which showcase her skills as a public artist can be seen at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The Aquarius Art Tunnel, an expansive, immersive art installation in a connector tunnel was completed in 2022 and has since been endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for its scientific and educational importance towards ocean conservation, the installation won the international People’s Choice Award for best Public Art Project in 2023 by Codaworx. The 2nd monumental airport project called, Water Wisps, Sanctuary Bubbles, was completed in 2024. The architectural intervention is comprised of nineteen, 90-inch diameter windows, a permanent installation, spanning 321 feet in the Terminal D Connector of the Mickey Leiland International Terminal.
Mahimtura Folmsbee collaborates and works with marine organizations like the Galveston Bay Foundation, Correa Lab, Maar Alliance, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (N.O.A.A), and the Coral Restoration Foundation to help preserve our oceans. She has created artwork used in scientific papers published in the Global Change Journal. The papers are used for research worldwide. She also is invited by the marine Scientific community for her voice and outlook on Ocean Advocacy by being a storyteller for internal Symposiums such as the NOAA Climate Program Office/Sanctuaries Task Force Virtual Symposium.
Her art practice appeals to broad audiences and educates them about the marine world through story telling of her oceanic adventures. She also engages the public through her official artwork for the 2019 Houston Chevron Marathon, the 2017 Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Mahimtura Folmsbee served as a voting member on the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, appointed by N.O.A.A. from January 2020 to December 2024. She serves on boards of non-profits such as, FOTOFEST, where she has also Co- Chaired their Fine Print Auction Gala. She is passionate about helping others in the community.
Find out more about her work by visiting her Janavi’s website at www.janavimfolmsbee.com.
Artist Statemant:
Having moved between countries and cities to find my own space in this world, I felt a need to hunt for a universal connection among us that brought me tranquility. By crossing continents, this pursuit propelled me to search in an element that physically connects us all – water. I started scuba diving in 2007. When I dive, I am one with my breath invited into a world of pure beauty where I am not judged but just encouraged to view and experience. My art is all about recreating that meditative spiritual understanding for the viewer.
I scuba dive all over the world and get inspired from my diving expeditions. My focus is marine life and a lot of the work I do and create stems from the concept – “Water is for all of us.” I create ethereal, intricate forms and visual imagery that functions in a way of storytelling which initiates the public into this world and takes the viewer into the moment from which they were inspired. My artwork and installations transform a space and immerse one into beauty through abstraction and realism. The symbolism represented in the work creates a weave that allows the viewer to relate to the stories of the marine ecosystems I present. These often out of sight marine habitats reveal treasures that are presented even to those who don’t have the ability to scuba dive. The world of color I create is often drawn from my memory association to these moments of tranquil beauty and my nostalgic synesthetic visions from my cultural background and time in Mumbai, India.
I am actively involved in the marine community by working with conservation organizations like the Galveston Bay Foundation (G.B.F), Correa Lab of Rice University, National and International marine Sanctuaries, by focusing on marine conservation and storytelling. I bring science and art to make work that is crucial to understanding the importance of marine biodiversity and a thriving humming reef system. By collaborating with marine labs, scientists, and innovators, I maintain a scientifically informed Neo Rococo style art practice. The work I create is uplifting, educational, color driven and extremely immersive. I believe that with art, awareness, and beauty, we as humans can do so much for our oceans and world. It is also an important time to catalogue the current thriving marine world to understand how we can reverse anthropogenic changes.
Magic Water, by Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, an art exhibition taking place between 04/18/2026 and 07/06/2026 at the Rockport Center for the Arts, is an endorsed Ocean Decade Activity as part of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030).
Magic Water, by Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, an art exhibition taking place between 04/18/2026 and 07/06/2026 at the Rockport Center for the Arts, is an official Participating Space of the 2026 FotoFest Biennial. The exhibition’s lenticular and image-based works expand contemporary photographic practice into immersive and interdisciplinary forms, aligning with the Biennial’s focus on lens-driven visual culture.