Wender·Vista
Lakewood Church
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in Houston, in the old Compaq Center

Lakewood Church

— — a stadium that learned to sing.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A basketball arena in southwest Houston, repurposed for Sunday morning. The Rockets played here for sixteen seasons; the building still holds that scale. Now about 45,000 people pass through each weekend, and a globe spins above the platform where the centre court used to be. A room built for one kind of noise, taught another.

from the studio
Lakewood Church
— bring it home

Lakewood Church, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Lakewood Church

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Lakewood Church meets in the former Compaq Center at 3700 Southwest Freeway in Houston, Texas. The building seats about 16,800 and was the home of the Houston Rockets from 1975 to 2003. Lakewood signed a long-term lease with the City of Houston in 2003 and completed a roughly $95 million renovation before opening for services in July 2005. The congregation, led by senior pastor Joel Osteen since 1999, is the largest weekly-attendance Protestant church in the United States, with around 45,000 attenders across its weekend services.

— the stone

The arena's exterior is a low, curved concrete-and-glass envelope from the early 1970s, designed by Kenneth Bentsen as the Summit. Inside, the bowl seating was retained and the centre court replaced by a wide stage carrying a slowly rotating globe sculpture, flanked by two waterfall installations and a curved video wall. The original concourses, restrooms and concessions were rebuilt for Sunday-morning flow rather than game-night flow. From the freeway, the building still reads as an arena; from the inside, the proportions are unmistakably a sanctuary.

— the visit

Lakewood holds three weekend services, typically Saturday evening and Sunday morning and midday, with a separate Spanish-language service. Doors open about an hour before each service; parking is in the garages and lots around the building, off the Southwest Freeway (US-59) near the Edloe exit. There is no admission fee and no ticketed seating. Visitors are welcome to attend without registering. The campus is roughly fifteen minutes by car from downtown Houston and ten minutes from the Galleria. Streaming is available worldwide for those who cannot make the room itself.

— where
United States · Houston, Texas
— position
29.7320° N · 95.4314° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
5 km W
Galleria
shopping district
9 km NE
Downtown Houston
city centre
4 km E
Rice University
university campus
N
Lakewood Church
Galleria
Downtown Houston
Rice University
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Lakewood Church — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Lakewood Church is at 3700 Southwest Freeway in Houston, Texas, in the building formerly known as the Compaq Center. It sits along US-59 between the Galleria and downtown Houston.

It was a basketball arena. The Summit opened in 1975 and was renamed the Compaq Center in 1998. The Houston Rockets played there until 2003, when Lakewood took over the lease.

Weekend attendance is around 45,000 across multiple services, making Lakewood the largest weekly-attendance Protestant congregation in the United States. The building itself seats about 16,800 per service.

Joel Osteen has served as senior pastor since 1999, succeeding his father John Osteen, who founded Lakewood in 1959. Victoria Osteen serves as co-pastor alongside Joel.

Lakewood signed a long-term lease with the City of Houston in 2003 and held its first service in the renovated building in July 2005, after a roughly $95 million interior reconstruction.

Yes. Services are free, open to the public, and unticketed. Doors open about an hour before each service. Parking is available in the garages and lots around the building off the Southwest Freeway.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for many of our customers with ties to the congregation. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well for a home office, a study, or beside a Bible on a shelf.

The warm interior tones and stained-glass treatment sit well in transitional, contemporary Southern, and warm-modern rooms. It also reads cleanly against linen-white walls, walnut shelving, and brushed-brass fixtures.

Yes. The amber and indigo palette pairs naturally with the current warm-neutral and earth-tone direction in Southern transitional design, alongside oak floors, cream upholstery, and unlacquered brass.

A single Large reads from across the room above a standard console table. Above a sofa, a 4-tile or 9-tile Mural fills the wall more proportionally. The Medium suits a study or a reading corner.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface, so steam and splash will not affect it. The Glossy finish is best for framed wall art away from direct water.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original work from our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nothing is licensed in or out. Reid Wender chooses each place and signs off on each finished tile.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.