In a place as big as Texas, it can be hard for museums, artist, curators, and art viewers to know the full breadth of what’s happening art-wise throughout the state. In response, Texas Talks Art is a new statewide virtual conversation series highlighting Texas’ well-known and far-flung contemporary art spaces and the artists they work with.
The series’ expansive focus is in part because it’s organized by a diverse group of curators from spaces across the state: Vivian Li of the Dallas Museum of Art; Rebecca Matalon from the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; Daisy Nam, Ballroom Marfa’s new hire; Veronica Roberts, longtime curator of the Blanton Museum of Art, UT Austin; and MacKenzie Stevens of UT Austin’s Visual Arts Center.
The 30-minute noontime talks will begin in January of 2021 and will run weekly, with each conversation highlighting a different institution and artist. In order to be accessible to anyone interested (and also because of the pandemic), all of the talks will happen virtually and will be recorded and archived.
Of the format for Texas Talks Art, the organizers say that the program “emerged out of informal conversations among Texas museum curators about how [they] might collaborate and support one another and artists during and beyond the pandemic.” They continue, “…the 30-minute lunchtime format was conceived in true Texas fashion to offer casual and intimate introductions to some of the most creative producers in our state.”
Texas Talks Art will ultimately feature 50 Texas artists and artist collectives in conversation with 50 Texas curators” throughout 2021. Glasstire is the Media Sponsor of the series. You can see a list of participating institutions and participating artists below. Both lists are still in formation.
For a current schedule of upcoming conversations, please visit the Texas Talks Art website.
Participating Institutions
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth
Artpace San Antonio
Art Galleries at Black Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
The Art Galleries at TCU, Fort Worth
Art League Houston
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
Aurora Picture Show, Houston
Ballroom Marfa
Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin
Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio
Chinati Foundation, Marfa
Cliff Gallery, Mountain View College, Dallas
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
The Contemporary Austin
Dallas Contemporary
Dallas Museum of Art
DiverseWorks, Houston
FotoFest, Houston
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
The Gallery at UTA, The University of Texas at Arlington
Galveston Artist Residency
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Lawndale Art Center, Houston
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio
Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
The Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas
Old Jail Art Center, Albany
Project Row Houses, Houston
Rockport Center for the Arts
Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, The University of Texas at El Paso
Ruby City, San Antonio
San Antonio Museum of Art
SMU Pollock Gallery, Dallas
South Dallas Cultural Center
Texas State Galleries, Texas State University, San Marcos
UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum, Austin
University Museum at Texas Southern University, Houston
Visual Arts Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Participating Artists
Sterling Allen (Austin)
Dawolu Jabari Anderson (Houston)
Rabea Ballin (Houston)
Taylor Barnes (Austin)
Christie Blizard (San Antonio)
Sebastien Boncy (Houston)
Natasha Bowdoin (Houston)
JooYoung Choi (Houston)
Jennifer Ling Datchuk (San Antonio)
Gabriel Dawe (Dallas)
Jenelle Esparza (San Antonio)
Michael Anthony Garcia (Austin)
Ja’Tovia Gary (Dallas)
Li(sa E.) Harris (Houston)
Robert Hodge (Houston)
Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler (Austin)
Las Imaginistas — Christina Patino Sukhgian Houle and Ruben Garza (Rio Grande Valley)
Ariel René Jackson (Austin)
Zoe Leonard (Marfa)
Leslie Martinez (Dallas)
Celia Álvarez Muñoz (Arlington)
Nopalistxs — Angela Faz and Nora Soto (Dallas)
Lovie Olivia and Preetika Rajgariah (Houston)
Zeke Peña (El Paso)
Phillip Pyle II (Houston)
Deborah Roberts (Austin)
Tammie Rubin (Austin)
Kara Springer (Houston)
Vincent Valdez (Houston)
James C. Watkins (Lubbock)
