54 minute read
COUPS DE CŒUR
SCULPTOR
Michael Sean Kirby
Michael Sean Kirby works with a variety of materials: bronze, stone, fiber, concrete and clay. As both a sculptor and teacher, part of his practice is to question the potential of a line moving through space and creating a form. His current work introduces color and surface into a playful yet methodical working process. www.michaelseankirby.com
ARTIST
Chloe Darke
Chloe Darke is currently an artist in residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. HCCC’s In Residence: 14th Edition features two of the pieces she has made during the course of her residency. The exhibition will run until October 9, 2021. www. chloedarke.com
ARTIST
Sharon Kyle
Sharon Kyle is an American multidisciplinary artist working in assemblage, mixed media, encaustic, painting, works on paper, and sculpture. She often incorporates in her work found “ordinary” objects and industrial materials. www.sharonkyle.art
ARTIST
Bismark Alejandro Rex
“As an artist, one feels the civic duty to the people. Just as early graffiti spoke unspoken truths, as sacred as the ancient texts, to the primitive human cave drawings. I consider my work as a study to beauty in art and respect to past minds that have developed us as a civilization.” https://iuplr.org/artist/bismark-alejandro/
ARTIST
LaMonté French
LaMonté French is a self-taught abstract-expressionist artist born and raised in Houston, Texas. He calls is work a “Simplistic Complexity”. Matching colors to words and layering canvases with raw materials and content. @french_lamonte
CRYPTO V I S I ON
H O W T H E A R T W O R L D I S C A S H I N G I N O N N F T S
BY MORGAN CRONIN
“You ever watch Sci-Fi growing up and you see spaceships?” Edward Zipco, Co-founder and Director of Superchief Gallery NFT asks while sitting across from me on Zoom. “You see these people living on planets that are normal people, how? There’s not like five billionaires with spaceships. It’s like… there’s spaceships and everybodys got them.”
Zipco and I are discussing NFTs, which stands for “nonfungible token,” the blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Buzzwords that seem to permeate mainstream media. In the most basic definition, NFTs can be defined as digital art. When I first heard the term NFT in the early days of the pandemic, I found myself scrolling TikTok and came across influencer and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary Vee, as he is referenced online, is the co-founder of restaurant reservation app Resy. He was also an early investor in Coinbase, Snap, Venmo, and Twitter. Gary Vee garnered a following with his brash, no-nonsense advice urging his followers into crypto, specifically NFTs. “NFTs are going be a big part of [our] lives. I really believe that. I think this is going to be a big market.” He says in one of his TikTok videos. Superchief Gallery NFT is the first NFT Gallery in the world. When I asked Zipco why he wanted to dedicate a gallery solely to NFTs, he replied, “I think it’s important to focus on showing what these things look like when you own them and live with them. I think other locations are doing what they do and then selling you something for your phone. What I want to do with this specific gallery is to focus on what we do as curators, and as people in the community. If there is an opportunity to showcase NFTs at the highest level, that’s what we’re looking to do, and then bring our artists to that focus.” On the surface, I had come to understand NFTs as limited-edition digital art, which is one use-case, but the function of the blockchain allows NFTs to expand exponentially beyond digital art. Jonathan Herman, Sports Marketer, and founder of BallerMR.com, explains NFTs as “a format to limit the duplication of digital content
Above: Superchief Gallery NFT, the first NFT gallery in the world in New York City.
Right page: Every Woman Biennial exhibition
Previous spread: Jake Fried’s exhibition Photos by Kristin Otharsson Courtesy of Superchief Gallery NFT
by using blockchain technology that encrypts digital files. NFTs allow users to verify the authenticity of a limited number of copies produced by the content creator, and therefore create scarcity and value appreciation for [the] collectible items.” One of the most well-known crypto artists Beeple, pseudonym of digital artist Mike Winkelmann, made headlines when Christies auctioned his NFT “The First 5,000 Days” and sold it for a whopping $69.3 million. The piece is a collection of digital work that spans 13 years. Beeple entered the NFT market in October of 2020 when he heard how much money artists (many much less famous than him) were making. He started doing his own drops, including limited-edition sales of his “Everydays” collection, which drew attention from collectors Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran, the founders of Metapurse. When Sundaresan and Venkateswaran caught word of Beeple’s NFT drops, they began collecting the work early and were ultimately the ones to offer the $69.3 million bid. Clive Thompson from The New York Times outlines the collectors’ plans for Beeple’s art saying, “for the first purchase – they bought plots in three online 3-D worlds and hired a team of designers to build virtual museums in each, filling them with Beeple’s art.” Thompson then described his virtual meeting with Sundaresan inside one of the museums where they wandered around as avatars. Thompson continues to relay that museums were only the beginning of their plan. Next, they wanted to turn Beeple’s work into a new cryptocurrency. They took the “Everydays” NFTs they had bought to create a new set of NFT tokens— 10 million in total— and called the new currency B2O. These tokens now represent fractional ownership in Beeple’s work, and Sundaresan and Venkateswaran will continue to pay Beeple royalties anytime his work is traded or resold. “A big part of NFTs is royalties for artists,” says Zipco. “To bring high level artists to this medium is to legitimize the medium. This is the first time that artists have been considered in the commercial application of their art. They are finally able to be considered long-term and taken care of in a more symbiotic relationship.” This digital exploration of virtual museums is a foray into what serious crypto enthusiasts refer to as the metaverse. It’s easy to imagine a future where we are surrounded by digital depictions of everything that we know in the tangible world. “The digital world, the metaverse, the NFT sphere is really exciting right now because it is at minimum a mirror to everything that we know that exists right now,” says Zipco. “The exciting part of it is that we finally don’t have that limitation because that is the bare minimum that can be achieved through this. It really is about what you can do when you escape the limitations of tangible reality- what would you do? What would an artist do?”
Yao Ming NFT Jersey , viewable with Adobe Aero and other augmented reality apps. BallerMR’s 3D-AR NFTs can be made as small as a matchbook or as large as a 20-story building. Photo courtesy of BallerMR.com.
Herman and his team are forging a path on the AR trend by creating augmented reality NFTs. “We hire and work with artists to create augmented reality versions of realworld items. Pick your favorite singer and think about the microphone that she used when she did her first concert at Madison Square Garden. What if that microphone was created in augmented reality where the collector can, with these glasses, see it right in front of them? They can stand behind it in their living room and there’s only 20 in the world.” Tech giants Facebook and Apple are already creating augmented reality glasses, and with the pandemic urging people to stay home, it makes sense why people have started curating a space for themselves in the digital world. “We’ve had this shift because of the pandemic with people really staying at home more than going out,” says Herman. “A lot of people are going to be experiencing things sitting on their couch, so whether it’s augmented
reality, or virtual reality, a lot of people will be experiencing museums, and exhibits, and seeing art right from their home without actually going anywhere. This technology allows them to do that.” The technology to which Herman is referring is the blockchain. In simple terms, blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change. It is essentially a digital ledger that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the server. It is also the place where crypto currency and NFTs exist. The uses of the blockchain are ever-expanding. Early adapters and supporters alike believe the technology is the next revolution, drawing many comparisons to the birth of the internet. “The fact that there is a ledger online, on the blockchain, that proves provenance and can be transparent for the collector base, and much more accessible as people want to enter the secondary market to collect and sell, that’s never really been opened to the public to participate until this point,” says Zipco. “With major artists getting into the field, I think it’s how artists are going to use this as a new medium to express themselves and how the mechanism of an NFT will support transparency practices in the traditional art world as well.” Zipco draws parallels between NFTs integration into the mainstream and his early days with the gallery when he wanted to showcase niche artists. “We were part of the underground New York scene when street art and graffiti was really just being allowed into the gallery system and fine art world,” says Zipco. “I watched our community go from not being allowed to participate, to being the darlings of this new type of art. When showing what digital artists from our community were doing, it was a lot of really great stuff, and we thought it was important to show, but we saw it was the same situation where they were being kept out of being taken seriously as something that has value and something that is art. We really had to fight to gain credibility and legitimacy for digital artists. Then NFTs came along, and we saw this as that moment. NFTs act as the mechanism that house digital art, which is arguably the medium of our time.”
A main draw for NFTs and cryptocurrency is the decentralized aspect. Crypto artists, for example, can sell their work directly without the need for a hosting platform. Exchanges are peer-to-peer and logged on the blockchain. There is no way to con, and no way to scam because everything is coded on the digital ledger. What you see, is truly what you get. While the blockchain may seem infallible, climate change activists are concerned with the amount of energy various cryptocurrencies utilize. “The project that’s being rolled out for Ethereum in the next 6-18 months is Ethereum 2.0–Ethereum 2.0 has a 99% reduction in electricity use which deals with that. Also, there are other crypto currencies that use a lot less, but the big deal is that the way energy is being gathered is changing.” Zipco tells me. “We are actually the first NFT marketplace that is carbon negative. When people buy NFTs from us, we’re purchasing verified carbon credits that more than exceed our use and that actively plant trees with satellite imagery. It’s pretty sophisticated. We did the research and the due diligence to do it right.” As for spaceships, Zipco says, “this is how it happens. It’s cryptocurrency, and who gets involved now. It’s those who make the smart choices now. That’s how we get spaceships.”
Calder-Picasso
BY SABRINA BERNHARD
Conceived by the artists’ grandsons, Bernard Ruiz–Picasso and Alexander S. C. Rower, and organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the exhibition explores the artistic synergy between two 20th-century icons and focuses on their exploration of the void, which both artists defined from the figure through to abstraction.
Page 24 from left: Alexander Calder, Aztec Josephine Baker, 1930, wire, Calder Foundation, New York, promised gift of Holton Rower. © 2021 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yor. Pablo Picasso, Figure: Woman in Wire(Figure: femme en fil de fer), 1931, wire, Musée national Picasso-Paris, purchase, 1999. © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / photograph © RMN-Grand Palais, Adrien Didierjean.
Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso, seminal figures of 20th-century art, both ceaselessly challenged orthodox concepts about form, line, and space. The international touring exhibition Calder-Picasso, conceived by the artists’ grandsons Alexander S.C. Rower and Bernard RuizPicasso, presents a fascinating encounter between them. The exhibition explores the artists’ prolific affinities through 80 works, integrating Calder’s paintings, drawings, and revolutionary mobiles and stabiles with Picasso’s radically inventive work in all media. Central to the many resonances is their shared conceptual interrogation of the void, or absence of space.
Calder-Picasso will be on view in Houston from October 31, 2021 through January 30, 2022 following presentations at the de Young museum in San Francisco and the High Museum of Artin Atlanta. Organized in partnership with the Calder Foundation, New York; Musée national Picasso-Paris (MNPP); and Fundación Alminey Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte (FABA), Calder-Picasso premiered at the MNPP in February 2019 before traveling to the Museo Picasso Málaga. “I am enormously pleased to bring this acclaimed exhibition to the U.S., through our partners at the Calder Foundation and FABA and the Picasso museums in Málaga and Paris,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “The exhibition will be especially meaningful in Houston and at the MFAH. From director James Johnson Sweeney to patrons Ima Hogg, Sarah Campbell Blaffer and Caroline Wiess Law, the museum’s early champions of modernism made it possible for significant pieces by both artists to enter the collection in the ‘50s and ‘60s.” “The stunning visual juxtapositions that this exhibition brings together are provocative, unpredictable, and dynamic,” said Ann Dumas, the Museum’s consulting curator of European Art. “They tell us much about the correspondence between these two great artists, as well as what makes them distinctive, allowing us to understand their process and unique innovations in a fresh, new light.” American Alexander Calder (1898–1976) and Spaniard Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) were both born in the late 19thcentury to fathers who were classically trained artists. Both headed for Paris as young artists; Picasso in 1900 and Calder in 1926. Though their lives and work shared many parallels, the two men were not close; known documentation shows them meeting on only four occasions. Their initial encounter happened in April 1931, when Calder presented his first exhibition of non-objective sculptures at Galerie Percier in Paris. Picasso arrived before the opening to introduce himself and spend time with Calder’s radical works. Their paths crossed again in July 1937 at the Spanish Pavilion of the Exposition Internationale in Paris, where Calder’s Mercury Fountain was installed in front ofPicasso’s Guernica. They met again in Antibes in 1952 and Vallauris in 1953, after they had become celebrities and referents for their generation. By then, both had been recognized with retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—Picasso in 1940 and Calder in 1943. Their work was also shown at the 1953 São Paulo Biennial, and both artists undertook commissions for UNESCO in 1958. Calder and Picasso were both engaged by the relationship of volume to space. Calder explored the absence of mass in his sculptures, while Picasso expressed contortions of time in his figurative work. Calder’s genius lies in his total recasting of the notion of sculpture. His figurative wire sculptures—defined by critics in 1929 as “drawings in space”—delineate transparent silhouettes, echoed by the shadows they project. In his abstract mobiles, Calder introduced the fourth dimension of time into traditional three-dimensional space. The mobiles are infinitely variable, blurring the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and choreography as they reset the traditional relationship between volume and void. Picasso personalized his exploration of non-space, focusing on the emotional inner-self and collapsing the interpersonal space between painter and subject. His expressions of the void suggest a creative urgency, highly aware of mortality. Both artists also pursued simplification to arrive at the essence of a subject. As Picasso simplified or purified the solidity of a figure, he gained access to its truth.
to see or not to see
BY JOHN BERNHARD
WHAT IF ART SUDDENLY BECOMES INVISIBLE?
Left page: A photo of Salvatore Garau’s Instagram post about the invisible art, Buddha in Contemplazione, in piazza della Scala, Milano, (Screenshot, Instagram) Below: Salvatore Garau, (Screenshot, Instagram)
– Salvatore Garau
Are we witnessing the gradual disappearance of works? Last May, the invisible sculpture Io sono (I am) by Italian artist Salvatore Garau has been auctioned for $18,000 at the Italian auction house Art-Rite. For the Italian artist, the void is a “place” of reflection. Making an invisible sculpture constitutes “the perfect metaphor for the times we are living in”. In addition, the Sardinian artist gave strict instructions to the purchaser, who remained anonymous: the work must be installed in a private house, in the center of an empty room, and have a space of at least a five-byfive-foot free of obstruction. “I did not sell a ‘nothing’, but a void. It is nothing more than a space full of energy. If we empty it and there is nothing left, according to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle - a concept of quantum mechanics - this vacuum has a weight. It condenses and turns into particles, and thus merges into us.” This is not the first time that Salvatore Garau has presented an intangible work. Another of his invisible sculptures, Buddha In Contemplazione installation – a white square taped onto a cobbled street – has already taken over Piazza della Scala in Milan. ”You don’t see it but it exists; it is made of air and spirit,” he said of the piece. “It is a work that asks you to activate the power of the imagination, a power that anyone has, even those who don’t believe they have it.” “When I decide to ‘exhibit’ an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain amount and density of thoughts at a precise point, creating a sculpture that, from my title, will only take the most varied forms,” Garau explained, adding: “After all, don’t we shape a God we’ve never seen?” Art has often flirted with the invisible. This is not the first time that artists have questioned the notion of emptiness. Already in 1958, the French artist Yves Klein, known for his monochrome paintings of a blue that bears his name (his famous International Klein Blue), produced the so-called “Void” exhibition at Iris Clert’s. The entrance to the gallery was through the hall of the building, visitors had to pass under a blue drapery which framed the door. The gallery windows and a display case inside were clouded blue. Visitors were greatly surprised to discover a series of empty rooms with white painted walls. The void founded on nothing, which never begins and never ends. For Yves Klein it was a question of proposing an immaterialization of blue. Just before dying, Yves Klein confided to a friend: “I am going to enter the largest workshop in the world. And I will only do intangible works there.” Artists have long been known to play with and test the concept of value – in 2019, another Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan had a banana taped to a wall, which sold for $120,000 at Art Basel. And most recently, the boom in NFTs has also forced us to think about the value of intangible artworks. Art, by nature, is considered to be a subjective field, it’s hard to say what does and does not constitute art today. And the future of art definitely will continue to surprise us in so many aspects. The creativity, connection and communication it delivers will never change. But, what is changing is the way in which we connect with and purchase art, regardless of whether or not you can actually see it.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Pirodactyl over New York, 1962. Paint, plaster, and objects on two wood panels, 98 × 122 × 11 in. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Opposite page from top: Niki de Saint Phalle, Lili or Tony, 1965. Painted polyester resin, fabric, wire mesh, and collage, 81 × 51 × 51 in. Dragonfly Collection / Garance Primat. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Photo by Aurélien Mole. Niki de Saint Phalle during a shooting session at Impasse Ronsin, Paris, 1962. Photo by André Morain
The exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s is the first show to focus on the experimental and prolific work of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) during this pivotal decade, featuring numerous works from European collections that will be displayed in the U.S. for the first time. The exhibition explores a transformative ten-year period in Saint Phalle’s work, when she embarked on two significant series: the Tirs, or “shooting paintings,” and the powerful Nanas, lively sculptures of the female form. Affirming the artist’s place in postwar art history, this show highlights these prescient works of performance, participatory, and feminist art, as well as her transatlantic projects and collaborations.
Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s brings together major paintings, assemblages, and sculptures from this chapter in the artist’s career, as well as extensive film and photographic documentation from the Menil Archives. Rebecca Rabinow, director of the Menil Collection, said: “Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s is the latest in a group of exhibitions organized by the Menil Collection that call attention to groundbreaking women artists, including our recent exhibition Virginia Jaramillo: The Curvilinear Paintings, 1969–1974; Roni Horn: When I Breathe, I Draw (2019); Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma (2018); and Lee Bontecou: Drawn Worlds (2014). Our Saint Phalle exhibition will include work that has never before been displayed in the United States, shedding light on the artist’s experimental processes, radical vision, and key role in contemporary art. The show will be accompanied by a scholarly book that is lavishly illustrated with archival photographs from this pivotal decade.”
Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s opens with the artist’s Tirs, which she created using a .22 caliber rifle. Often standing in front of an audience, Saint Phalle and in-
Niki de Saint Phalle, Gorgo in New York, 1962. Paint, plaster, wire, and objects on wood, 95 × 193 × 19 in. The MFAH, Gift of D. and J. de Menil. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation.
vited participants would shoot at white plaster surfaces that concealed imbedded bags of pigment or cans of paint, which would explode spectacularly upon the impact of the bullets. Saint Phalle explained that her intention was “to make a painting bleed.” Her paradoxical method of creating a work through destruction was intended as commentary on the ingrained violence of the culture, as well as a feminist assault the tradition of modern painting. The exhibition continues with Saint Phalle’s explorations of gender identity through figural assemblages representing female archetypes, such as brides, mothers, goddesses, and monsters. Evolving from wall-bound reliefs to colorful and freestanding sculptures, these increasingly monumental, liberated, and curvaceous female forms— with outstretched arms and powerful poses—developed into what Saint Phalle referred to as the Nanas, French slang for “girls.” These sculptures were begun in the mid and late 1960s, heralding the rise of an international feminist movement. Michelle White, Senior Curator at the Menil Collection, said: “During the 1960s, Saint Phalle—the only female member of the French avant-garde group, the Nouveaux Réalistes—also collaborated with innovative American artists of her generation, such as Robert Rauschenberg
and Jasper Johns. Within the male-dominated artistic circles on both sides of the Atlantic, her place in art history has been hard-fought. Her artwork from this time constitutes some of the most advanced work being done around emergent ideas of participatory art and was prophetic of feminist concerns related to the critique of painting and the representation of the body that will drive art in the decades to come.” Jill Dawsey, Curator, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, said: “Saint Phalle’s performances and sculptural work of the 1960s put into circulation strikingly original representations of female agency and volition that resonate strongly in our own moment. With their rambunctious life force, the Nanas became a vehicle for the artist’s exploration of women’s freedom and mobility in the public realm. Saint Phalle continuously experimented with their scale, using her figures to envision how women might, quite literally, take up more space in the world. Her trailblazing work presaged ideas and modes of making that would be elaborated by feminist artists in the in the 1970s and beyond.”
Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s will be on view at the Menil from September 10, 2021–January 23, 2022, and will open April 2022 in San Diego.
I SCULPTURE M O N T H HOUSTON ALTAMIRA F E S T I VA L 2021
BY HALEY BERKMAN KARREN
The SITE Gallery at The Silos at Sawyer Yard is the main exhibition venue for Sculpture Month Houston. Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is the evocative theme of the fall 2021 iteration of Sculpture Month Houston. Altamira refers to the Altamira cave paintings in northern Spain, which are understood to be humanity’s earliest preserved art, representing the origin of art and creativity. Inspired by the Paleolithic cave paintings, and the resemblance of the architecture of the Silos to caves, Volker Eisele, the co-founder and curator of Sculpture Month Houston, asks the exhibiting artists to create art while imagining themselves as contemporary cave artists with access to modern technology. Sculpture Month Houston was originally founded in 2016 by Eisele, Antarctica Black, and Tommy Gregory to increase representation of sculpture and installation art in Houston. They were looking for venues when they found the SITE Gallery of the Silos at Sawyer Yards, the innovative exhibition space formed from industrial grain silos. They knew at once that the strange space would be the
Images from past Sculpture Month Festivals. Clockwise:
Patrick Turk, Shapeshifter, 2019.
David Greber, Your Greenest Stay, 2019.
Margaret Smithers Crump, A question of Balance, 2019.
Photos courtesy of Sculpture Month Houston.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
ARIEL BOWMAN, ROBIN BAKER, CHRISTYN OVERSTAKE, JUSTIN BOYD, ELAINE BRADFORD, EMILY LINK, SUSAN BUDGE, LARRY GRAEBER, SUGURU HIRAIDE, ALLISON HUNTER, KATHY KELLEY, CINDEE KLEMENT, SUE ANNE RISCHE, JOHN RUNNELS, SHAWN SMITH, ANTHONY SUBER, DAMON THOMAS, AND NESTOR TOPCHY
Altamira 2021 selected artist Cindee Klement in her studio welding Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, a site-specific sculpture of a bison. Photography by Nash Baker
perfect venue to build a case for installation art. Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is the fifth iteration of this festival, which besides the main exhibition space at the Silos also includes other venues curated by Sculpture Month Houston as well as various participating art spaces, commercial galleries, and non-profit institutions. This dynamic festival is a celebration of sculpture and installation art across the city. According to Eisele, “Sculpture Month Houston showcases installation art in Houston in much the same way we see installation art on a global scale at the Venice Biennale or documenta. Artists are excited to be able to mold space and get away from the white box atmosphere of the gallery and museum.” Eisele truly believes that participatory art and exhibitions invite a deeper level of connection and engagement with art. Artists are eager for the opportunity to create artwork for the Silos, the main exhibition venue of Sculpture Month Houston. Cindee Klement is the only artist that has been selected twice. She exhibited her work in the 2019 festival, Outta Space, but when she heard the theme of Altamira, she knew that a piece she had conceptualized for many years would be a perfect fit. In her artistic practice, Klement explores issues of land conservation. For Altamira, she created Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, a site-specific sculpture of a bison made from welded steel armature and covered in topsoil and dried native grasses, which considers the environmental interrelationship between bison and grass. She seeks to convey the historical significance of bison – they were famously depicted in the cave art of Altamira and continued to roam the North American continent until recently – and how they are integral to regenerative agricultural practices today. The dark, cavernous space of the Silos pushed Susan Budge to create an intriguing installation that would only be possible in this unique space. Using her artistic language of ceramic sculpture, Budge placed an elevated abstract totemic sculpture in the center of the space, with numerous stars – some with eyes – suspended from the ceiling and the walls. She wanted to activate the space above the viewer, just like stars in the sky activate the space above the viewer when we are outside, encouraging internal investigation and appreciation for the mysteries of nature. Anthony Suber expands upon the theme of Altamira through his work, which he sees as a dialogue between the past, present, and future that emphasizes human connection through shared memory and experiences. His Afrofuturistic, multi-sensory installation consists of mixed-media figures with vestments and masks which respond to the viewer’s presence and activate though LED lights, motion detectors, and processing units. Films created with photographer and filmmaker Brian Ellison featuring choreography with the masks are projected into the installation, further activating the space. Other artists featured in the exhibition are Suguru Hirade, who created a tall kinetic sculpture, and John Runnels, who installed libraries along the cylindrical walls of the Silos, a monument to the significance of printed books throughout civilization. Damon Thomas utilizes the cavelike nature of the Silos for his piece, Contact, a figurative tableau representing primordial man’s first meeting with the primordial wolf. With this fall festival, Sculpture Month Houston has continued to accomplish its mission to promote sculpture and installation art in Houston. Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is truly not to be missed! Opening reception: Saturday, October 9, 2021, from 6 pm to 9 pm at the SITE Gallery Houston, 1502 Sawyer St., Suite 400, Houston TX 77007. The exhibit runs through December 4, 2021.
Once Upon a Ballet Dancer: Lauren BY JT MORSE Anderson in Three Acts Act I
Act I: Scene I Centerstage is a little girl named Lauren; she’s an incredibly athletic child who loves to ride bikes and Act I skateboards and who can run faster than all the boys in her neighborhood. One day, Lauren takes her first ballet class. Initially, she isn’t so sure about this whole ballet thing. Her feet don’t naturally move into the turned-out positions properly, the teacher has a funny accent and carries an intimidating walking stick, and little Lauren feels stupid for not knowing the foreign words and obscure rules of this bizarre ballet game. But by the end of her first class, Lauren realizes she has a superpower; she can jump higher than all the other girls in her class. Skipping and leaping across the floor, Lauren truly shines. From that day forward, she makes it her mission to soar higher than Eric, the lone boy in the class. And soar higher she does.
The lights come up on a young, black dancer attending a ballet performance with her mother.
Nine-year-old Lauren is incredibly excited to see what production the dancers will be performing.
The show turns out to be Firebird—a ballet the girl will come to cherish later in life. But, on that day, even more exciting to her than the choreography, the costuming, or the story are the dancers themselves.
Sitting on the edge of her seat, little Lauren watches as one black dancer flits across the stage then another and another and another. The astonished child turns to her mother and says, “Look, Mommy, there’s a whole stage of them. Dancers that look like me.”
The company turns out to be the illustrious Dance Theatre of Harlem and during that show, a dream of a dancing seed is planted; a future firebird begins to sing.
Act I: Scene III
On the apron of the stage, sits a weary dancer who—at the mere and tender age of ten—has lost her love of ballet. The spark of joy in Lauren’s dancing heart has begun to flicker and fade.
Unexpectedly, however, a torchbearer—with a British accent and a kind soul—pops onto the scene and reignites the flame in the tiny ballerina’s heart. His name is Ben Stevenson, and he makes ballet classes fun and challenging. Mr. Stevenson allows young Lauren to compete with the boys, but also demands that she figure out how to refine her style and her skills.
“You can’t look like a flying armchair,” he says to her during class. “You must jump as high as the boys while still looking like a lady.”
Lauren boldly accepts his challenge and works extra hard to strike a balletic balance between being an athlete and being a lady of the stage.
Act II: Scene I The curtain rises on a thirteen-year-old dancer whose father asks the director of the ballet school “ AT THIRTEEN, THE ROLE OF ALICE TAUGHT ME THE ART OF ACTING IN DANCE. I HAD TO BE A SWEET, LITTLE GIRL—WHICH I WAS, SORT OF. I NEEDED TO LEARN HOW TO ACT WITHIN THE DANCE. IT WAS THE PERFECT LESSON, FOR ME, AT THE TIME. ”Act II she attends whether or not his daughter will ever be a professional ballerina. In young, impressionable Lauren’s presence, Mr. Stevenson replies, “Well, actually, no. She will probably not be a professional ballerina. However, she has a good singing voice and a great personality. Broadway would probably be the best path for her.” Lauren flees the room in tears, vowing to quit ballet forever. However, her father steps in and says, “No, you’re not quitting in the middle of the year. You’ll finish until summer then we can make a decision about your future in ballet.” All goes dark, but when the stage lights come back up, the spring production postings are going up. The show is Alice in Wonderland. As she runs to the casting board, Lauren’s heart races. Scanning the list, the only Anderson she sees is printed next to the title role of Alice. Lauren
assumes the school is bringing in another dancer with the surname of Anderson and that she, herself, has not been given a role, which doesn’t bother her too much—or so she tells herself—because she’s leaving at the end of the year anyway. However, feeling somewhat slighted, the precocious dancer storms into Mr. Stevenson’s office and demands an explanation.
To which, Mr. Stevenson replies, “Why darling, you’re Alice. That Anderson is you.”
Lauren pauses, considering this absurd idea for a moment before coming to the obvious conclusion that she can’t be Alice. Alice is white, tall, and beautiful with long, blonde hair and a lovely heart-shaped face. Mr. Stevenson turns to the disgruntled and confused young dancer and says, “You’ll be perfect, darling. You’re a dancer, and a dancer dances. The only color in art is on a canvas.”
Act II: Scene II
Fourteen-year-old Lauren is auditioning for the School of American Ballet, known as New York City’s premier ballet academy. Although the young—but quite already accomplished—ballerina makes it through the end of the auditions, she soon receives a letter of rejection from the prestigious school.
This letter, this rejection, bruises her. But it does not break her.
Her dancing spirit cannot be broken. And she knows it.
Act II: Scene III
Post high school graduation, Lauren feels ready to audition for her hometown’s ballet company. The director of the company only accepts four dancers as apprentices each year. Those special, chosen dancers must work through the summer intensive program to prove their worthiness.
The summer when Lauren is seventeen, she is chosen as one such apprentice.
Upon the conclusion of the summer program, Mr. Stevenson gathers the four apprentices into his office and in a quite serious tone says, “By all accounts, you have not done very well this summer. The teachers are disappointed in you. So, we’ve decided to offer you all contracts with the company.”
Having, just two years prior, decided her plan would be to flee to New York and become a dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as soon as she turns eighteen, the astonished Anderson throws that plan out the nearest window and squeals in delight as she calls her father to tell him she is now a fullfledged, professional dancer with the Houston Ballet Company.
Act III: Scene I The year is 1987, and Lauren Anderson has achieved the title of soloist with the Houston Ballet “ AS OF AUGUST 2022, I’LL HAVE BEEN AN EMPLOYEE OF THE HOUSTON BALLET FOR FORTY YEARS. I’VE BEEN A PART OF THIS SCHOOL AND COMPANY FOR FIFTY YEARS. THAT’S INSANE! ” Act III Company. One afternoon, Ben Stevenson comes to her and says, “By all accounts, you’re going to teach in our school this summer.” To which Lauren replies, “But I’m not a teacher. I don’t know how to teach ballet.” To which Mr. Stevenson asks, “How many classes have you taken?” To which Lauren replies, “Millions.” To which Mr. Stevenson says, “Great. Just do what you know how to do.”
Ms. Anderson accepts Mr. Stevenson’s challenge and quickly falls in love with teaching. But she never really feels she has achieved greatness as a teacher until she retires from dancing herself. Why? Because only then does she stop performing for the students in her classes and starts really teaching. Seeing the lightbulb of recognition in her student’s eyes—after they learn a new skill or term—becomes her utter joy, rivalling even that of her long-time love of performing.
Act III: Scene II
A few years later, the accomplished and stunning Ms. Anderson is promoted to principal dancer with the Houston Ballet.
Flashing forward a few more years later, Ms. Anderson asks a well-respected fellow dance professional, “What makes a prima ballerina?” The seasoned and thoughtful response comes, “You. You are a prima ballerina because you have danced all the leading roles possible for a dancer to dance.”
Ms. Anderson flashes back to the age of seven, dancing her first role in The Nutcracker ballet. She is a mouse with whiskers and all. Looking through the set’s stairwell railing, young Lauren stares in awe at the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Years later, she finds herself dancing that very role then going on to fulfill that role for twenty years more, helping mold future generations of tiny Sugar Plum Fairies and fierce Firebirds-to-be.
Act III: Scene III
The spotlight shines on this once-upon-a-time-ballet-student-turned-soloist-turned-principal dancer, who now works in the education and community engagement department for the Houston Ballet. Each day is different as Ms. Anderson engages with students primarily from economically disadvantaged schools—offering free programming, lectures, and master classes to children who otherwise might not have such opportunities to engage with the arts.
As the stage lights dim, the audience is left to wonder who knew that so many of Lauren’s dancing dreams would come true? Who knew that she would grow up to become a beacon for young dancers of color—opening doors to the possibility that they too might become prima ballerinas some day? Who knew?
Ben Stevenson and Lauren’s father stand in the wings, just outside of the fading light, enraptured as they watch Lauren leap higher than anyone else ever thought she could.
The End.
Former Houston Ballet Principal Lauren Anderson as Kitri in Ben Stevenson’s Don Quixote. (1997) Photo by Geoff Winnigham. Courtesy of Houston Ballet
Left: Verny Sanchez Harmony connection 5 , 2020 Oil on canvas 58 x 58 in.
Right: Tina Hernandez La Cempacihuatl, 2020 Photo ink-jet print in a vintage frame, 31 x 26 ½ x 3 in.
Withstand:
Latinx Art in Times of Conflict
BY AMANDA ANDRADE
THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON OPENED its first juried exhibition in its newly expanded building in April 2021. The temporary exhibition, Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict examines themes of social justice and human rights through the art of the local Houston Latinx community. The multi-media exhibition includes one hundred artworks handpicked by two incredibly knowledgeable curators: Gabriela Magana and Rosa Ana Orlando. Born and raised in Mexico, Gabriela Magana is a young artist and curator currently pursuing a MA in Arts Leadership here in Houston. Her co-curator, Rosa Ana Orlando, is a museum specialist with more than fifteen years of experience in art collection management, exhibition planning and design.
Together, the curators selected one hundred artworks through an open call process, in which they invited local Houston artists to submit their art. Curator Magana says they wanted to hear directly from the Latinx community on “what impacts them, what they want to talk about, the images they are grappling with.” The exhibition would serve as a space to discuss difficult subjects, whatever
they might be. Houston Latinx artists jumped at the opportunity, and the museum was soon overwhelmed with an abundance of submissions. The CEO of the Holocaust Museum, Dr Kelly J. Zúñiga, said in a statement, “we knew Houston’s vibrant art community would show up in force … and are delighted to feature the artwork of such talented artists.”
The selection process involved three aspects. Artists were asked to share their ties with the Latinx community, and as well as an artist statement explaining the connection between the piece and the theme of Resistance & Conflict. The quality execution of the art was the third and final consideration. With over two hundred submissions, the curators had the tough task of narrowing it down to the final one hundred.
It was important to the curators and Holocaust Museum Houston that the exhibition be a space of social change. Believing in the power of art to be transformative, they set out to create a physical space that can change minds and amplify voices.
The art featured in the exhibition fits the general theme of Resistance & Conflict, but participating artists interpreted the topic differently, discussing a broad range of subjects from border relations to gender roles. Standouts include artist Angela Corson, who explores social issues like domestic violence and the criminal justice system. Other artists, like Angel Castelán and Koomah focus on the local Queer Experience. These Latinx artists share their profound stories, statements and artworks. The curators hope that the exhibition will be a platform to examine any and all issues that impact the community, to foster conversations, and ultimately, to empower social change.
Gabriela Magana hopes visitors see their own lives reflected in the art. She says, “I hope this empowers people, makes them feel seen, and raises awareness on the subjects being discussed.” The themes explored in Withstand are translatable to different backgrounds and communities. Latinx audiences will feel seen, but so will different communities. Ultimately, the art is about the human experience. Importantly, the physical location within the Holocaust Museum allows for a unique juxtaposition between the lessons of the Holocaust, and the issues brought up by the Latinx art.
The entire exhibition was planned with the modern digital age in mind. As a visitor walks through the space, they can use their smartphones to scan QR codes to learn more about each piece. Online, there is also a virtual walkthrough of the in-person gallery. This virtual tool aids those who are unable to visit in person, greatly expanding the audience of the show. Curator Magana says she hopes the virtual walkthrough will be used in classrooms. Additionally, there is also a virtual expansion of the exhibition, which includes new content and art not seen at the museum. The virtual expansion serves to develop on the same conversations and themes happening on-site, with new voices and artists.
Curator Rosado says ‘we hope that people outside of Houston would visit the virtual walkthrough, thus transcending the borders of our city. We also hope to have visitors from Houston exploring the virtual exhibition, and through it, expand on what they took away from the on-site.’
Guest juror Susana Monteverde, an art activator specializing in contemporary art, selected three artists from Withstand to win cash prizes for their work. The Holocaust Museum hoped the prize would encourage artists to participate, as well as serve to highlight the skill of the winning artists. “Selecting only three winners out of this multifaceted exhibition was one of the most challenging tasks in which I have engaged in a very long time” said juror Monteverde. “In selecting the prizes, I chose works that resonated long after I stepped away from viewing them.”
Wood Fancher Anthony The People of Mexico, 2017 Oil on canvas 48 x 60 inches
First place and a cash reward of $2,000 was awarded to Jessica Carolina González for her piece, The Respondent, an inkjet print from her series Es Una Lucha. The series is a visual study of the effects the bureaucracy behind deportation and legalization proceedings on the family. Gonzalez superimposes the legal archive on archived family images, thus merging the intimate with the removed.
Second place, which came with a cash reward of $1,500, was awarded to Angel Lartigue for his piece, Forensic Burial Map of Cadaver After Exhumation #2 and third place, with its $1,000 prize, went to Clinton Millsap for his piece Could Be King.
DR KELLY J. ZÚÑIGA
To visit the exhibition yourself, visit the Museum’s Mincberg Gallery and Spira Central Gallery before October 17, 2021. Sculptures are located in the adjacent Lester and Sue Smith Human Rights Gallery. Admission is free for those under 18, active military and their families, and museum members.
In Residence
HIGHLIGHTS INNOVATION SKILL & SPIRIT OF HCCC’S RESIDENT ARTISTS
BY ARTHUR DEMICHELI
HOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY
CRAFT (HCCC) presents In Residence: 14th Edition, an annual exhibition of work by its 2020 - 2021 resident artists, curated by HCCC Curatorial Fellow, María-Elisa Heg. This exhibition features work in paper, metal, clay, fiber, and stone by Chloe Darke, Abbie Preston Edmonson, Hong Hong, Hillerbrand + Magsamen, Stephanie Robison, Michael Velliquette, and Kirstin Willders. HCCC Curatorial Fellow MaríaElisa Heg notes, “The innovation, skill, and spirit of these artists embody what makes HCCC’s artist residency program so unique. This edition opens just before HCCC’s 20th anniversary, a milestone that marks the resiliency and vibrancy of this program.” The contemplative works of Hong Hong and Michael Velliquette harness the versatility of paper in each artist’s distinctive approach to this ancient medium. Hong embraces the ephemerality of paper and the physical act of pouring pulp, creating large-scale pieces that change as they dry in the open air. Velliquette carefully researches and chooses paper stock that will hold up to his meticulous process of building mandala-like, architectural sculptures that draw the viewer into a meditative state. Ceramicists Abbie Preston Edmonson and Kirstin Willders express personal and societal experiences through their own visual vocabularies. For Edmonson, processing grief and trauma has led her to explore a metaphorical approach to material, using clay and paper as vessels holding deep wells of emotions that are often difficult to express. Willders encodes a ritual language into her ceramics to create a dialogue between queer identity and the historical use of reliquaries, adorning her vessels with talismanic arrangements of hair, metal chains, and sprigs of herbs. Chloe Darke and Stephanie Robison explore the capacity of human perception with incongruent combinations of materials, ranging from quarried stone to cultivated bacteria, that invite curiosity, amusement, or even disgust. Darke fashions tools for an imagined arcane laboratory that seeks out and hides knowledge, inviting viewers to draw their own conclusions. Robison’s work combines the softness and malleability of felt with the rigidity of stone, undermining the expectations of each material, with hard sculptures that seem to melt and ooze and soft forms that feel capable of bearing weight. Hillerbrand + Magsamen, the inaugural recipients of the new Interdisciplinary Craft + Photography Residency (presented in collaboration with Houston Center for Photography), use photography as both a starting point and a step in their craft process. Moving fluidly among photography, sculpture, and embroidery, their practice also encompasses filmmaking and set building to provoke inquiry, play, and experimentation. On view until October 9, 2021.
Stephanie Robison, Pandemic, 2020. Marble, wool. 6” x 8” x 5”. Photo by John Janca
Hillerbrand + Magsamen, Alchemy for Thought, 2021. Archival inkjet print and thread. 24”x24”. Courtesy of the artists.
ESIGN D RT + A
best kept secret, Reeves Art + Design
has been providing a quality selection
of rare fine art and furniture for over
fifty years. Second-generation owner
Matt Reeves has kept up with
ever-gentrifying Montrose,
transitioning what was a designer-loved,
curiosity-filled antiques shop into
a thriving market focusing
on fine art and custom furnishings.
BY JO HN BERNHARD JOHN BERNHARD: There’s definitely a lot of change in how galleries are operating. You have been successfully open in Houston for the last 50 years with a unique approach and a very different concept. Can you tell us how everything started and how you evolved?
EEVES MATT REEVES: We have found that the key to this business is to be open and willing to evolve as the market continues to change. When my father, Paul, started this business in 1969 R there was a significant demand for more traditional antique furnishings so he would take a truck to New York
Matt Reeves behind a painting from Ida Kohlmeyer in his gallery in Montrose. Photo by Hannah Rees.
to get the highest quality pieces as they were being shipped into the country. As time went on and trends changed, we evolved with it, focusing more on fine art and design. While we still have a wide selection of these types of pieces today, we are in the processes of transitioning yet again and looking towards the future of design and art.
JB: You have an impressive selection of modern artwork. It must be difficult keeping track. Can you give a bit of inside information on how you operate? we continue to take in and send out pieces almost daily, it can be an overwhelming job to keep track of an inventory of over 5,000 artworks. Luckily, we have a fantastic team that manages this ebb and flow of inventory. From intake, to processing, to hanging, they diligently work to keep everything as organized as possible. We have even designed custom metal racks to display 100’s of works at a time!
JB: With over 5,000 eclectic mix of arts from the 17th century to the present; where do you find the work? array of local artists and collectors. As our collection grows and we have more inventory online, that also helps to generate more people contacting us about their pieces. We are always happy to look at any artworks someone has available.
JB: You also have an extensive collection of premier Texas artists from Dorothy Hood to Richard Stout. You obviously develop close relationship with artists. Can you share the story of your first purchase – a painting from Richard Stout.
Hundred’s of work of art are displayed in custom designed rack. Photo courtesy of Reeves Art + Design.
across an early example of Richard Stout’s plein-air paintings. I absolutely fell in love with the piece, but it was in rough shape and needed some work. I was able to reach out to Richard Stout himself and he was gracious enough to restore it for me. Richard was a wonderful man to work with and I was lucky enough to work with him many more times throughout his career. Through that experience I fell in love with early Texas art and was inspired to base our business around the preservation of this work.
JB: Since you acquire so many works in a month, I was wondering if you are taking art on consignment? JB: Reeves Art + Design do represent artists. What does a typical relationship with artists look like?
MR: Yes, we do work with several local artists as well as artists from around the country. We are always excited to discover work from up-andcoming artists and give them a platform to share their work. From selling their art on our online platforms to offering them our new gallery space for a show, we are always happy to encourage and support the artist community.
MR: While it depends on the situation, we are always willing to work with a client who has work available. Consignment or direct purchase are both great options that we offer. We are also always interested in acquiring artists’ estates as well and work to help preserve their legacy.
JB: Do you partner or collaborate with auction houses?
MR: No, we don’t really collaborate with auction houses currently. As we continue to shift towards more custom furniture and design, we have found that selling in our showroom and online works the best for us.
Hundred’s of work of art are displayed in custom designed rack. Photo courtesy of Reeves Art + Design.
MR: As we continue to grow, the biggest challenge we can foresee is the logistics of getting these pieces around the country when we are competing with the shipping times of larger companies like Amazon. When most people are used to 2-day shipping, it can be difficult to balance putting in the time and effort into caring for the pieces that we know they need with getting the items there as fast as possible. Since each piece that we sell comes with its own transport concerns, we take the utmost care in preparing and packing every element. While this can mean slightly longer shipping times, you can be sure that your unique purchase is in good hands.
JB: So, what’s next? What’s in the pipeline? Apparently you have a very hush-hush project under way.
MR: We are pleased to announce that we now have an official gallery space to display art and rent to artists in the front section of our showroom. We are combining the best of the traditional white-wall gallery space with the eclectic mix of art that we are known for. These front rooms are a blank canvas for any artist or designer to bring their vision to life. There is also a hush-hush project underway that we are very excited about! We just don’t want to let the “cattle” out of the bag too early!
Artpower Transcending through Art the ability of students and teachers to Be the Peace and the Hope they wish to see in their school community.
BY KARINE PARKER AND CHRISTIAN PERKINS
In December of 2020, the Felix Cook Elementary school (FCE), Texan-French Alliance for the Arts (TFAA), Be the Peace – Be the Hope (BTPBTH), Arts Connect Houston, and Artique Gallery teams joined forces to empower 200 Felix Cook students to develop and teach social and emotional skills through comprehensive workshops and integrated Fine and Performing Arts experiences. For five months, 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students experienced a toolkit of Social and Emotional Skills that helped them: - Discover and celebrate their values, positive beliefs, strengths, talents, and dreams, - Understand their emotions through the cycle of an emotion, and befriend their brain, - Strengthen their self-confidence, resilience, and communication, be kind and compassionate, and practice solidarity. With this toolkit and Art reflections, FCE students improved their well-being and built a safer, more hopeful, peaceful, supportive, and loving school community! On May 21-23, 2021, ARTIQUE Gallery showcased their beautiful artistic reflective work. This outstanding art show resulted from a 5-month collaborative and reflective work led by Chris Perkins, Felix Cook’s Arts Magnet Coordinator/ Administrator, and Karine Parker, TFAA/BTPBTH’s Executive & Program Director, with the support of their teams: Ms. Megan Klimitchek, Ms. Katrina Woods, and Mr. Eddie Gates for Felix Cook; Cynthia Ouedraogo and Shana Parker for TFAA/BTPBTH. The Social and emotional
ARTHOUSTON‘‘Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace. learning techniques combined with Fine and Performing Arts instruction and experiences were the catalyst for the students to express their sense of identity, unique emotions, empowering beliefs, need for resilience and connection, and hopes for the future. Christian Perkins shared: “Through serendipity, an unexpected synergy formed between my vision for my fine arts program and the mission of Be The Peace, Be The Hope. Their commitment to improving and positively impacting the lives of children to develop the whole-child addresses both the hierarchy 58 of needs and the creative process. It is not limited to endproduct or focused solely on culminating events. During the sessions, I’ve had 4th graders open up about emotions and 3rd graders emboldened enough to sing and share their values and dreams. Be the Peace, Be the Hope encapsulates this in deed and word. As an administrator for Felix Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet, I speak for my school when I say, I am proud to have Be the Peace, Be the Hope.” The visual part of the show, beautifully curated by Yvonamor Palix, an internationally renowned art historian, left visitors uplifted and inspired by the students’ use of color, creativity, positive messages, and thought processes. Yvonamor Palix shared: “I was honored and heart-struck to host “Be the Peace Be the Hope” through the art exhibition by students of the Felix Cook Elementary School. These children, their parents, their teachers, their school principal are all together in harmony for the well-being of the children. This has been the seed planted by a beautiful project initiated by Karine Parker.” The show also included fantastic performances of dance and music students that inspired the audience. Karine Parker shared: “One of our missions at TFAA/BTPBTH is to foster solid and positive relationships and meaningful interactions among students through Arts, and between students and the community so that we can build a more resilient and hopeful future together. When we do that and create through collaborations, we model for the students what a truly collaborative experience is. My hope comes from witnessing the students’ growth and deeper wisdom.”
‘‘ The words shared by Felix Cook’s teachers confirmed that reality, whether it was Katrina Woods, the dynamic Dance Teacher who shared: “A wonderful opportunity for our youth to be involved in something so necessary for our world today;” or Mrs. Megan Klimitchek, 4th-grade Teacher: “Be the Peace Be the Hope reflective in partnership and practice have executed their vision and inspired so many students to be empowered creatively,” or Eddie Gates, FCE Music Teacher: “During this time of Covid, it is reassuring to know we can still put on outstanding quality performances as a fine arts school. To Be the Peace Be the Hope, we are grateful for this partnership.” Principal Shundra Harris-Mosley also shared: “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace. The Be the Peace, Be the Hope group brought all these things to my young scholars.” What Principal Harris-Mosley said was echoed by many students, like Elisa, a 3rd-grade student, who shared: “I learned during the program that even if I break myself, I am still good and amazing, and I will never give up on myself.” Or “I can put my feelings in art, and I love being hopeful,” or “I wanna be my dreams,” as Jayden shared. “In the “Love Yourself” by Miranda Gonzalez-Candelas’ painting, included in the mosaic featured, here the empowering belief of self-love is on full display. Love Yourself features a girl’s figure with a sea of different colors making up her torso, which drip in a rainbow from her to the space below. The beautiful colors inside of the girl make up her empowering beliefs of love, which become her potential to then go forth and spread that love to the rest of the world, perhaps even aiding in developing empowering beliefs in others. By simply choosing to focus on loving herself, she can empower herself and those around her!” - Jordan Wolfman. When we nurture Peace and Hope through Arts, anything is possible, including the opportunity and ability for each of us to become the peace and the hope we wish to see in the world. Heartfelt thanks to John Bernhard and ArtHouston for supporting our much-needed work. www.bepeacebehope.org
HOW TO HELP CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN RIGHT NOW
Escalating conflict in Afghanistan poses a dire threat for children. Save the Children is gravely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of children in Afghanistan. As violence sweeps through the country, children are being killed, injured and forced to flee their homes. We have been a leading charity in Afghanistan since 1976, reaching over 1.6 million Afghans in 2020. We will not abandon our work, staff, or the communities we’ve served. Our commitment to protecting children remains unchanged.
Your urgent support is needed now more than ever.
Checks/money orders should be mailed to: Save the Children, PO Box 97132, Washington DC, 20090-7132. Please contact us at our Supporter Experience Center at supportercare@savechildren.org or 1-800-728-3843
