Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce that six new members have joined their board of directors. The team has eagerly welcomed Isabelle Asakura, Porshae’ Brown, Mona Elamin, Mariela Poleo, Priya Ramkisson, and Bob Schwartz.
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HOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT ANNOUNCES 2023 – 2024 RESIDENT ARTISTS
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce its newest class of residents for 2023 – 2024, a group of 11 outstanding local, national, and international artists working in craft media.
For more than 20 years, the Center’s artist residency program has offered time and space for craft artists to focus on their creative work and interact with the public. The program supports emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media, including but not limited to clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and mixed media. Residents are required to have their studios open for at least two days each week, giving visitors the unique opportunity to walk in, ask questions, and watch them work. This deeper level of interaction between artists and visitors allows the public to learn about a range of craft processes and techniques and helps artists to gain exposure, make connections within the Houston community, and educate people of all ages about craft.
HANDMADE INFLATABLE SCULPTURES INVESTIGATE QUEER WORLDBUILDING IN “RIPSTOP”
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present Max Adrian: RIPSTOP, a solo exhibition of patchwork textiles and inflatable sculptures by the Ohio-based fiber artist. Adrian’s volumetric, pneumatic work transports viewers into a realm of artifice, desire, and worldbuilding. Drawing from rich legacies of queer fiber art and theory, including the AIDS memorial quilt and José Esteban Muñoz’s foundational text, Cruising Utopia, the exhibition features monumentally scaled works that physically respond to the presence of viewers by filling with air. “The sculptures’ constant state of performing, or becoming, reflects Adrian’s interests in queerness as an inherently utopian and future-oriented mode of being,” says Sarah Darro, Curator and Exhibitions Director at HCCC.
“TREE OF LIFE” SHOWCASES SCULPTURAL WORKS MADE FROM THE AFRICAN BLACKWOOD TREE
Tree of Life showcases sculptural objects made from the African blackwood tree, also known as mpingo or Dalbergia melanoxylon. Native to Tanzania and the territory surrounding Mt. Kilimanjaro, this tree has a naturally dark, nearly black, colored core and other unique properties that make it a preferred choice of material for ornamental turning, carving, and use in woodwind instruments. This exhibition features figural sculptures carved in the Makonde tradition by Tanzania-based artists, Joseph Singombe and Pius Mtembe; ornamental turning by the late Texas-based artist James Harris; and woodwind instruments that explore the different methods artists are using when approaching this material.
Women In Craft Take Centerstage in Houston — Smokey Memory and The Land of the Flowers Leave Deep Impressions
Two Female Artists Use Unique, Time-Honored Techniques
The color yellow is the star of the show in Gabo Martinez’s “The Land of Flowers” at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (Photo by Katy Anderson)
Craft and ceramics made by female artists are getting a new spotlight. “The Land of the Flowers” from San Marcos-based artist Gabo Martinez at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and “Smokey Memory” from Dallas-based Nadia Rosales at Lone Gallery in Dallas are two special and unique collections of pots and sculptures. Combining heritage, technique and just a bit of luck, these carefully crafted works are something of a must-see. Continue Reading »
“IN RESIDENCE: 16th EDITION” CELEBRATES WORK BY RECENT RESIDENT ARTISTS
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present In Residence: 16th Edition, an annual exhibition celebrating the Center’s Artist Residency Program, which has supported artists working in the field of craft for more than two decades. The show, which will run in a longer term format than previous years, features works in fiber, clay, and wood, as well as raw and recycled materials, by 2022-2023 resident artists Bennie Flores Ansell, Margot Becker, Felicia Francine Dean, Juan Carlos Escobedo, Ian Gerson, Miles Lawton Gracey, Guadalupe Hernandez, Yeonsoo Kim, Shradha Kochhar, Lakea Shepard, and Rebekah Sweda.
In Colorful HCCC Show, Ceramist Gabo Martinez Celebrates Pre-Hispanic Heritage
By Chis Becker
XOCHITLALPAN IS THE Nahuatl word for “The Land of Flowers.” This land is a mythical afterworld of everlasting flowers and joy described in the Aztec/Mexica pre-Hispanic and later-colonial poetic tradition known as In Xochitl In Cuicatl (Flower and Song). It is also the evocative title of San Marcos-based artist Gabo Martinez’s exhibit at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, a colorful, immersive installation in the museum’s front gallery of ceramics and large-scale prints inspired by her indigenous roots, as well as images pulled from the oral tradition of Flower Songs. It’s a show where floor-to-ceiling prints radiate with all the colors of nature on a sunny day, and the pottery simply sings.
Houston Art World Champion Celebrated in River Oaks by Houston Center for Contemporary Craft — Judy Nyquist Gets a Moment
When Craft and Art Come Together
By Caitlin Hsu
Yeonsoo Kim, honoree Judy Nyquist, Jihye Han at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft Spring Luncheon (Photo by Jenny Antill Clifton)
At the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s 2023 Spring Luncheon, legacies and lifetime achievements were honored. Nearly 250 guests gathered at River Oaks Country Club to celebrate a legend in Houston’s art world: Judy Nyquist. Nyquist is not only Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s board president, but she is also an activist and philanthropist who has supported the Bayou City art community for many decades.
As artful attendees feasted on a delicious lunch — River Oaks Country Club salad, basil angel hair pasta with grilled chicken and artichokes, and a dessert of Fancy Dainties gourmet cookies — HCCC board member Dori Boone delivered the welcome remarks. Nyquist, the afternoon’s honoree, then took the stage and introduced HCCC’s incoming executive director Leila Cartier, previously of CraftNOW Philadelphia. Cartier is slated to join the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft team in July.
HCCC NAMES LEILA CARTIER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Board of Directors of Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to announce that Leila Cartier will be the Center’s executive director beginning July 17th. Her appointment follows her role as executive director of CraftNOW Philadelphia, an organization uniting institutions, scholars, and artists to promote the role of the city in the fields of craft and making.
Cartier brings a wealth of strategic and administrative leadership experience to HCCC, as well as a deep understanding of and connections in the world of contemporary craft. During her tenure at CraftNOW, she directed an annual portfolio of activities, featuring Philadelphia’s most renowned arts institutions; formed key partnerships; and developed a series of programs focused on economic opportunity through craft. Her work fortified the organization’s original mission, substantially expanded its range, and positioned it prominently within the city’s and nation’s cultural landscapes. Previously, she served as the director of exhibitions at the William King Museum of Art, located in her hometown of Abingdon, Virginia.
Open Door Interviews with James Pickens – Lakea Shepard
“Open Door Interviews” is an informal interview series developed in collaboration with HCCC and social media intern James Pickens, intended to give insight into our resident artists’ creative process.
This past April, I joined Lakea Shepard in her studio. During our visit, Lakea shared her journey as a textile artist while she worked away on her latest work. We also discussed life in Houston, and her experience here at HCCC.
The conversation that follows has been edited for length and clarity.
James Pickens: How long have you been an artist?
Lakea Shepard: I’ve been an artist my entire life. Even before I started kindergarten, I was making art – it’s basically the only thing that I know.
JP: When did you start working with your chosen medium?
LS: I started working with textiles and fabrics because I’ve always been around them since my mom worked for a textile company. But I really started to focus in on it when I moved to Detroit, like [in] about 2009.
