HOUSTON -- In this city sans zoning, in a residential enclave of cozy bungalows and children's play parks, sits one of the world's finest private art collections open to the public.

Ceremonial masks from Africa and Oceania share spectacular space with paintings by Magritte, Picasso and Tanguy in an angular building designed by Renzo Piano. Across the lane, another Piano-designed pavilion showcases dozens of sculptures, paintings and works on paper by Cy Twombly. Two breezy blocks away stands a pair of chapels, one a contemplative space filled by monochromatic paintings by Mark Rothko, another created to display restored fragments of an ancient Byzantine fresco from Cyprus.

All are part of the Menil Collection, created over the past two decades by the late Houston art enthusiasts John and Dominique de Menil.

To the uninitiated, Houston's untamed sprawl seems an unlikely home for fine art. Yet here it thrives, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Contemporary Arts Museum, Glassell School of Art and galleries across the city. The scene ''is a lot more advanced than you might think from afar,'' says Meredith Long, one of the city's top gallery owners and long-time MFA supporter.

According to a recent study by Americans for the Arts, Houston ranks as the nation's fifth largest arts scene -- just behind Miami -- when measured by nonprofit culture expenditure, and about 14,000 working artists call Houston home. But what sets this city apart from New York, Los Angeles and London, says Houston Arts Alliance CEO Jonathon Glus, is the wide range of arts, from the funky Art Car Parade and Beer Can House to the major museums.

''Everyone interested in the visual arts knows the Menil and knows that there's a big museum called MFA. What people don't know is the larger arts sector here,'' says Glus. ``Here in Houston we have 19 museums in our Museum District. It's really a broad swath. The same people who embrace the Menil embrace the whole funky side of Houston.''

WHY, HOW

Credit oil money, a wild-catting spirit of independence, cheap land and an open approach, say local gallerists.

''We're a little bit different here,'' says Fredericka Hunter, owner of the 37-year-old Texas Gallery, which has hosted shows of works by Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Ruscha and Chuck Close. ``Arts aren't as much of a social badge as a necessary part of life.''

Support by local collectors of Houston museums and the 1980s opening of the Renzo Piano space at the Menil collection sparked the community. But equally important, perhaps, are the creation and expansion of arts education and fellowship programs -- including the 25-year-old Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts -- that have brought emerging artists to town.

''Art here really is accessible,'' says Hiram Butler, whose 24-year-old gallery, Devin Borden Hiram Butler, opens it's doors and gardens regularly for free concerts and events. ``One thing young artists figure out is that every museum curator, director and collector in the city will see their work. In New York, they might see it.''

SO LITTLE TIME

As a visitor, you'll likely run out of time before you've run out of art spaces to see.

If it's the gallery scene that draws you, head for clusters in the Colquitt area, a short taxi ride from the Museum of Fine Arts, and the 4411 Montrose Building, within walking distance of the museum. Other galleries are scattered within taxi distance.

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