Houston Endowment (HEI), a private foundation that supports the city’s arts, public parks, civic engagement, and pre-K through 12th-grade public education needs, has announced the 2024 recipients of its Jones Artist Award.
Named in honor of HEI founders Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones, the award was established in 2023 to recognize local emerging artists whose work is representative of the diverse stories of the Greater Houston area. Weingarten Art Group, a local art advisory firm, has worked with HEI on both acquiring artworks for its permanent collection and managing the Jones Artist Award. Recipients of the award receive funding and support to create work for an exhibition hosted at the HEI headquarters.
Krista Leigh Steinke. Photo: Nicki Evans Photo, courtesy of Weingarten Art Group and Houston Endowment
This year’s awardees are Krista Leigh Steinke, Tiffany Heng-Hui Lee, Venessa Monokian, Christopher Blay, Guadalupe Hernandez, Kim Le, Kaima Akarue, Jean Shon, and Stanley Bermudez. The 2024 Jones Artist Award open call sought artists working within the themes of time and memory, as it relates to the area’s histories, cultures, current events, infrastructure, technology, or natural environment. Nearly 100 submissions were received.
The selected artists will debut their work in two group exhibitions and one solo show, learn more about these below, via descriptions provided by HEI.
Tiffany Heng-Hui Lee. Photo: Nicki Evans Photo, courtesy of Weingarten Art Group and Houston Endowment
Nature’s Imprints
April 9 – July 8, 2024
Featuring: Krista Leigh Steinke, Tiffany Heng-Hui Lee, Venessa Monokian, and Christopher Blay
This exhibition reflects a collective ecological consciousness about how intertwined we are with our environment.
Con Cariño – Solo Exhibition
July 16 – October 14, 2024
Featuring: Guadalupe Hernandez
Con Cariño translates to “with love” or “with care,” and is an homage to his parents, who abandoned their homeland in search of a brighter future for their family.
Traces of Being
October 22, 2024 – January 20, 2025
Featuring: Kim Le, Kaima Akarue, Jean Shon, Stanley Bermudez
The exhibition chronicles how traces of us morph as time passes. It’s a reflection on time and memory through the lens of family and lineage, with artists re-examining “hand-me-downs” as a vehicle for self-discovery.
Read more about the Jones Artist ward via the HEI website.
Disclosure: Glasstire is a grantee of Houston Endowment.
