The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA), a nonprofit visual and performing art space in Lubbock, has recently appointed Taylor Ernst as Curator of Art.
Formerly as the Collections Manager for the Art Division in the Museum of Texas Tech University (TTU), she worked with Peter Briggs in the Artist Printmaker/ Photographer Research Collection. Ms. Ernst told Glasstire that she “is so grateful for that experience. I’m forever indebted to him for all I learned about curating and caring for artworks.”
Ms. Ernst grew up on the South Plains and is an avid fan of Texas artists. She has a background in the arts, education, and museum sciences, and holds a BFA in Visual Studies and an MA in Heritage and Museum Sciences, both from TTU. Prior to her work at TTU, Ms. Ernst taught art at Guadalupe Elementary School and Dunbar College Preparatory Academy, both in Lubbock. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Guadalupe-Parkway Somerville Neighborhood Centers.
In her role at LHUCA, Ms. Ernst curates the galleries and oversees programming such as gallery talks, artist workshops, and Un(wine)d with the Arts, a monthly program that pairs a gallery tour with wine.
When asked about LHUCA’s exhibition history, Ms. Ernst says she “admires the long history of bringing in diversity of artists and [art] mediums that you might not expect to see in West Texas. It is something that I plan on continuing in the coming years— I want to challenge people’s ideas of what ‘art’ is. I value going to see [or] meet artists that I was unaware of.”
On the culture at LHUCA, Ms. Ernst elaborates: “Everyone is supportive of each other and we all work towards the common goal of engaging with the Lubbock/West Texas community.”
Ms. Ernst began her position at LHUCA last month.