Emerging artists Sapphire Williams, Gisette Padilla and Nancy Douthey will each recieve $1,000 Liz Alexander Visual Art Awards from the Houston Arts Alliance, to be used for a specific artistic project. The one-time award is in memory of past HAA grants coordinator Liz Alexander, who died in 2010.
Sapphire Williams will research the role of women in the Land Art Movement of the eastern U.S. during the 1960’s. A website and body of work will be produced as a result of the research. Printmaker Gisette Padilla will be producing contemporary art that explores the idea of memory and seeks to expand the awareness and perception of Latin American art. Nancy Douthey will be creating a Pop Up Movie Theatre Project.
Liz Alexander’s twelve-year tenure at HAA that began in 1998 as an intern in the Civic Art + Design department. She later shifted to the Grants Department as Grants Coordinator. “All three women exemplify in their work risk taking and bold points of view – characteristics which Liz so appreciated in the artists she helped support over the years through HAA,” said Fleurette Fernando, current HAA Director of Grants.
