BACKGROUND:
Visitors to Houston's blighted Third Ward will notice multitudes
of weed-strewn lots and one-story frame houses in need of repair.
It's a happy moment indeed to spot a brightly-colored jungle of
plants and junk bursting from all sides of one such abode -- the
home of the Flower Man.
Here resides Cleveland Turner, a local and very active folk
artist, who daily transforms the assemblage of junk and greenery
around his house at 2305 Francis Street into something, well,
different.
A sign out front refers to Cleveland as "a legendary folk
artist" and to his junk house as "an installation that will keep
your eyes wandering." A rooster crows from behind a wall of folk
art assemblages -- mostly bits of toys, painted tools and
appliances, and other people's discarded art. Artificial and
genuine flowers seem to sprout between items. Two orange trees
droop with heavy fruit even during the coldest of winter months
(this is Southeast Texas, after all).
Answering a knock at the door with a friendly hello, Cleveland
steps out, hot mug of coffee in hand, gold-capped teeth glinting in
the cool December sun. He cheerily launches into an amazing
story.
"I had a Smart Vision. This is when I was coming off the skid
row." Cleveland spent 17 years as a homeless bum, "sleeping in old
empty houses and under bridges, eatin' out of Church's Chicken
dumpsters and Popeyes, you know, whenever I feel like eatin'. A
wino like me didn't eat that much, and that's what like to killed
me."
Cleveland was found on the street, "laid out for dead," and
rushed to a hospital where he was treated for alcohol poisoning.
His flotsam and floral epiphany came towards the end of a five
week, wheelchair-bound convalescence.
A few days before they released him from the hospital, says
Cleveland, "I had this vision. It was just junk, you know, like a
whirlwind going around and around, and it was just going up so high
-- pretty, pretty, pretty." He vowed to build the vision as part of
a pact he made with God to help him stay sober.
His artwork formerly graced a rented house a few blocks away,
although he now owns a home and has moved the entire collection to
please his many admirers. He's on friendly terms with everyone,
judging by the frequent greetings shouted from passing cars and
strolling neighbors.
Born in Mississippi in 1935, Cleveland always liked flowers. "My
mother raised flowers. I always thought, whenever I got to be a
man, I'll have my own house full of flowers." He came to Houston in
1961. "I was going to California and I stopped to visit a friend.
We got to drinking and I never did make it to California."
The Flower Man house is decorated with items Cleveland finds in
daily jaunts on his Flowercycle. He looks amazingly fit for his
age, peddling ten or more miles a day to his Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings or scouring the richer Houston neighborhoods in search of
prime junk. His structure is in a state of constant mutation, as
kids and visitors occasionally grab a piece off the house.
Cleveland doesn't mind. "It's just junk. I don't mind if someone
takes something, because it's just junk!"
Visitors also drop by with occasional contributions -- "old toys
and things. But I get the bigger joy out of finding things myself."
He loves to share his vision with anyone who's interested, whether
it's the neighborhood children or a limousine from the airport
"full of people from that country, whatcha call it,
London?"
When asked about a few of the specific objects, Cleveland
becomes vague or forgetful about their origins or purpose in his
overall art environment. He just senses the right spot to stick 'em
-- plastic plants, baby heads, old street signs -- then leaves them
there until they get knocked off.
If you happpen to arrive at the right moment (which varies day
by day), you might catch a glimpse of Cleveland walking his
Flowercycle out the front gate, proudly pointing out its plastic
bloom-festooned baskets, oh-so-handy for hauling choice objets
d'art found abandoned along the way.
THE CACHE:
You'll be visiting the Project Row Houses Dupree
Sculpture Park, adjacent to Cleveland's lot, where you'll have a
great view of the Flower Man's artwork. The gates are unlocked
between 9am and 7pm, so plan your hunt accordingly. You'll be
looking for a pill bottle holding a logscroll. Bring your own pen
to sign the log. And if you happen to see Cleveland or his
roosters, wave and say hello!
 Kid Friendly 
Lunchtime Cache  Restricted hours
 Less than 500 ft. from
car
 Beware of Muggles!
 Bring a pen or pencil
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