an mfah first

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston unveils first-of-its-kind digital space for Latin American art

MFAH Sybil Venegas, “Conditions for Producing Chicana Art,” Chismearte, 1977

Pieces such as Sybil Venegas' Conditions for Producing Chicana Art are now available via the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on the arts community’s ability to reach audiences via traditional methods, museums are forced to take their programming to the digital arena. Perfect timing, then, for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to release what is considered the first and only digital humanities initiative in the fields of Latin American and Latino art.

The MFAH and its research institute, the International Center for the Arts of the Americas, launched a redesigned and enhanced website and database for the Documents of Latin American and Latino Art Digital Archive project.

The project, available here, offers free access to source materials critical to the study and understanding of these major fields of 20th-and 21st-century art, per the MFAH. The digital archive is fully bilingual and provides English and Spanish-speaking students, scholars, researchers, collectors and art enthusiasts full access to more than 8,200 letters, manifestos, newspaper and journal articles, exhibition reviews, and other key theoretical, critical and art-historical texts.

Art enthusiasts will find a wealth of information covering evidence of how artists, writers, and intellectuals sought to define or challenge notions of a national art and how Latin American and Latinx artists contributed major theoretical insights to the early stages of global avant-garde movements and initiated novel tendencies.

Significant archival documents include:

• The most significant collection of documents related to Brazilian Constructive Art from the archives of São Paulo collector Adolpho Leirner.
• The most complete collection of documents related to one of the most significant site-specific works of Venezuelan artist Gego (Gertrude Goldschmidt), her 1969 Gran Reticularea.
• Manuscripts, notebooks, and diary entries by artists including Carlos Mérida, Abraham Palatnik, León Ferrari, Antonio Berni, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Beatriz González, and Tucumán Arde.
• Correspondence and seminal articles from Latinx artists’ collectives, including La raza, Chicago Artist’s Coalition, and MARCH (Movimiento Artístico Chicano).
• Articles and correspondence by Latinx artists Lorenzo Homar, Antonio Martorell, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and Raphael Montañez Ortiz.

In order to make the entire project fully functional and actually usable, the MFAH has allowed users to browse by “author,” “title,” “date,” and “topic,” and then download, print, save their results. Information can also be shared with friends on social-media outlets.

museums

on the bright side

'First-of-its kind' Houston park reveals 6 murals by local artists

Houston artist Ade Odunfa stands in front of his mural "Salt Marsh" at the Hill at Sims.

Photo by Scott Julian, courtesy of Houston Parks Board

"Birth From the Sea" by Ade Odunfa

One of Houston's most innovative green spaces, the Hill at Sims, is edging toward completion as artists put the finishing touches on a series of six beautiful murals. They should be ready when the park has its grand opening on Saturday, May 23.

The project is being led by Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis and the Houston Parks Board. Located in Sunnyside along Sims Bayou, it combines a flooding retention pond with walkways and other infrastructure to create a unique multi-use community space. Adding a series of environmentally-themed murals highlights the project's dedication to empowering nature around Sunnyside.

“When we bring art, resilience, and opportunity together in one place, we create something that can serve and inspire future generations for decades to come," said Ellis in an emailed statement. "The Hill at Sims is a community-oriented, first-of-its-kind green space in the neighborhood I grew up in. These murals honor Sunnyside, celebrate the natural world, and help turn public space into something people feel proud to protect.”

The murals include “Impression of Nature” by Emily Ding, “Step Into the Wild” by Carlos Alberto, “Birth from the Sea," a reproduction of a John Biggers’ mural by Ade Odunfa, "The Heron and the Fish” by Ana Marietta, “Rêverie” by Amy Sol inspired by Claude Debussy’s 1890 solo piano piece, and “Salt Marsh”, another Biggers reproduction by Bimbo Adenugba.

Houston is a major mural and street art city, with an increasing number of spaces using murals to showcase local talent as well as bring a sense of identity to locations like the Hill at Sims. The green space offers both a massive natural setting in a neighborhood that has traditionally been underserved in park acreage with an elevated point to view the whole city, a rare treat in a place as flat as Houston. Thanks to the Bayou Greenways Project, a 150-mile series of trails that connects parks across Houston, people can walk or bike to the Hills at Sims if they choose to.

"Our goal is for every person who visits this park to feel that Hill at Sims truly represents the Sunnyside community. Public art is a powerful and joyful way to evoke feelings of connection and stewardship in public settings,” said Justin Schultz, President and CEO, Houston Parks Board, in an emailed statement. “Houston Parks Board is proud to support Commissioner Ellis to bring Sunnyside residents a transformative, multi-benefit greenspace that captures the spirit of Houston: turning our climate challenges into vibrant community assets.”

The total cost of Hill at Sims is $28.3 million. Funding comes from Precinct One ($18.8 million), The Brown Foundation ($7.5 million), with an additional $2 million from public federal and state funds secured by State Representative Alma Allen and Congressman Al Green. When complete, it will feature a 1.6 mile basin loop trail, water access pier, a parking lot, a 2,000-square-foot open air pavilion with restrooms, flexible lawn space for active programming, and picnic pavilions.

parks visual-art hills at sims anderson