Blackland Prairies

From the Visual Arts Center:

“Artists: Adrian Aguilera, Adraint Bereal, Nathaniel Donnett, Cindy Elizabeth, Riley Holloway, Aryel René Jackson, Ann Johnson, Daniel Llanes, Betelhem Makonnen, Tammie Rubin, and Victor Torres.

Blackland Prairies borrows its title from the name given to the fertile ecoregion that stretches from the northeastern edge of Texas to the center of the state, encompassing historically Black and Brown regions of Austin. The ecological qualities of this area—its access to fresh water from the Colorado River and rich clay soil—served as a site for generations of Black Texans to build homes, establish churches and schools, and maintain communities. Since the formation of Austin’s freedom communities in the late 1860s, the efforts of segregationist city planners, urban developers, and profit-motivated investors have made this landscape unrecognizable to the Black communities who called this area home for over 150 years. Blackland Prairies examines this historical transformation through the radical lens of Black presence. By juxtaposing archival materials sourced from local collections with works by artists both born and currently based in Texas, the exhibition demonstrates how Black histories, memories, and everyday life are permanently inscribed in the city.

Blackland Prairies assembles a presentation of archival documents and photographs of Austin’s historically Black communities created by city residents, government officials, and local news media from the 19th century to the present day. These materials are surrounded by visual art that references personal and community histories in Austin and throughout Texas, as well as artworks that reflect on the relationships between Black communities and space on a more expansive scale. Together, the archives and artworks evoke the many tangible and intangible layers of Austin’s histories, complicating reductive narratives about who and what Austin is.

Principle support for Blackland Prairies is provided by the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Black Diaspora Archive at the University of Texas at Austin.

This program is supported by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. ”