This weekend, Houston will celebrate Black History Month and African American art at the same time.
Black Art Houston is a weekend of exhibitions, programs and open studios in celebration of contemporary Black art throughout the city of Houston.
The event is a collaboration the following museums and organizations: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and community partners, including the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, the Glassell School of Art at the MFAH, the Holocaust Museum Houston, Art is Bond, Sanman Studios, and The Reading Room HTX, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, The Houston Sun Foundation, Community Arts Collective, Houston Museum of African American Culture, Free Black Women’s Library HTX, The Anderson Center for the Arts, WONDERLIKEWANDER, and Project Row Houses.
The weekend also coincides with the opening of "Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage," a new exhibition at the MFAH.
Throughout the weekend, guests will have access to a range of venues across the Houston area. Programming includes writing workshops presented by The Free Black Women’s Library HTX, wellness programs with the Black Man Project + Black Woman Project, panel discussions at the Glassell School of Art, 9th City Wide Annual African American History Parade & Symposium with The Houston Sun Foundation, and gallery tours.
Catch "THIS WAY: A Houston Group Show" at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.Photo via Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Several exhibitions will also be on view during the weekend. At CAMH, "Six Scenes from Our Future" and "THIS WAY: A Houston Group Show." The Houston Museum of African American Culture, will be showcasing three exhibitions: "Pervs, Peppers, and the High Chaparral: Michael Abramson’s Chicago South Side Photographs"; "Bert Long, Jr. Gallery Spring Survey Exhibition"; and "One Nation, One Groove: African American Music as the Story of American History."
"The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection" will showcase the pioneering exhibit.
Image courtesy of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection
Holocaust Museum Houston will have its featured exhibition "The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection," on view in HMH’s Josef and Edith Mincberg Gallery. Considered one of the most comprehensive surveys of African American history and culture outside the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition of the same name features the shared treasures amassed by Shirley and Bernard Kinsey during their five decades of marriage.
The collection includes masterful paintings and sculpture, photographs, rare books, letters, manuscripts and more that offer a well-rounded look at the African American experience and provide new perspectives on the nation’s history and culture. On Sunday afternoon, Khambrel Marshall, whose painting Ancestor’s Torch is featured in the collection, will be in conversation with Houston artist Ava Cosey.
Community Arts Collective will have "Here and Now - Cultural Expressions" on view, featuring works by artists Earlie Hudnall, Ann Johnson, Delita Pinchback Martin, and more. Participants can also view "Microcosm by NEGRASSO" at Art is Bond and “Everything in Color” by NELXART at Sanman Studios.
On view at the MFAH will be "Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence" and "Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage," which opens to the public Sunday, February 18.
Beyond the multiple exhibitions on view, several artists are hosting open studios, including, Will Maxen, Randy WROSIV, Tay Butler, Billion Tekleab, Anthony Suber, Christopher Paul, Phillip Pyle II, and more.
For the full programming and open studio schedule, which includes addresses and hours, please visit the Black Art Houston website. Venues are free of charge, except where noted on the schedule.
