Introducing the Witness Series (February 2023 Newsletter)

In this issue

The Witness Series

Storyteller: The Making of Akua Fayette

In Memoriam: Carole A. Pinkett

Black History Month Spotlights

African American Studies Summer Institute

Favorite Links

Subscribe to CAC YouTube Channel

COVID-19 Update

The Collective's Gift Shop

Jubilee Quilt Circle

The Collective is now home to

The Witness Series

Exploring Indigenous, African American, Latino

and Asian Connections To Nature and Art

2023 Witness Series

Houston is one of the nation’s most diverse cities. The 4-part Witness Series 2023 will explore the many profound experiences Communities of Color have to the Land and Waters of Southeast Texas and beyond. Co-curated in partnership with artists from the Indigenous, African American, Latino, East Asian and South Asian communities, each Witness experience will bring communities together through the power of nature and art.

The series will provide historically under-served communities with greater access to nature-based opportunities. Attendees will become co-authors, editors and observers as they take part in these participatory public art experiences centered around green spaces and environmental equity.

This year’s Witness Series will be captured by artist April M. Frazier, as she participates in each event. Through her art, we will be able to experience the power of community building and making in green spaces.

The Witness Series was created by Jaime González, a Houston-based conservationist and storyteller, and Kristi Rangel, Houston-based multi-disciplinary artist and education advocate. It is their shared belief that environmental equity is a basic human right.

Interested in attending? Join us!

No pre-registration is required. We'll see you there.

“Storyteller: The Making of Akua Fayette,” opens Saturday, February 18, with a reception beginning at 2 p.m. at the Community Artists’ Collective.

Fayette, a lifelong Houstonian born in the Fifth Ward and educated at Wheatley High School and Texas Southern University, is a poet, artist, art teacher, interior designer, author, storyteller and activist.

Fayette says her work has been described as symbolic art. “I was inspired to paint everyone jet black, no eyes or face, because we could place our face there and feel the inclusiveness of humankind all included in the blackest to the whitest. After 21 years of symbolic art, I am entering my new 21-year time cycle. The people I paint are usually always women and children as my work is to uplift the family and the community, leading to the country and then throughout the world for unity. This is best done by women for we fill the churches, organizations, hospitals and the schools and nurture the children that come through us in birth or by other methods.

“We must work on our own issues and learn to feel the vibrations of energy in ourselves and others…If we could see the energy of each person, it would not matter what we looked like, what sex, what culture or country we came from. Our value or integrity would be found in the positive and loving energy…I love Art because “Art is Life, and Life is Art.”

Fayette also shares her years of experience and wisdom with her audience as host of KCOH—1123 Saturday radio program “The Source, What’s Your Life Changer.” She continues to work on an upcoming book that reflects her journey and community support, as well as her Goose Sense Series stories for children and adults.

An artist talk will be held Saturday, February 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibition continues through March 18.

In Memoriam

The Collective mourns the passing of its dedicated advisory board member, Carole A. Pinkett, who unexpectedly left this earthly realm January 13.

Carole was a long-time volunteer, advisor and dear friend of The Collective. In 2021 she received the Beverly Harmon Service Award from The Collective in recognition of her contributions. Her energy, enthusiasm, commitment and passion with our mission will be greatly missed.

We send love and light to her daughter Patricia Bonnemere and family. Bonnemere will be creating the Carole Pinkett Youth Ascendancy Fund to benefit The Collective and the Ensemble Theatre.

The Collective will be closed Saturday, February 11, in her honor.

Black History Month

The Community Artists' Collectives' mission has been to uplift and maintain history in our community through the arts, but we would not be here without our community. This Black History Month, we will highlight some CAC artists who have paved a way and shown continuous support to our mission.

Spotlight: Leslie Abrams (above), originally from Guyana, relocated to Houston after evacuating from New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina. Since then she has made an impact with her talented crafting and master quilting skills as the Jubilee Quilting Circle coordinator and instructor. These 15+ years of partnership have been a blessing to our community. We commemorate Abrams on her contribution to keep the beauty of quilting alive for generations to come.

Spotlight: April Frazier, born and raised in Houston has strived to document and archive her ancestral roots in Texas through photography. As Photographic Education Coordinator at the Community Artist Collective, April facilitates photography classes at multiple after school programs as well as classes for adults. She has had multiple solo and group exhibitions in Houston, and we are so excited for her upcoming exhibition--Frame of Reference: A Photographic Journey Through Time, A Reflection of Memories and History Within my African American Family in Texas-- which is now headed to Vermont Center for Photography. The exhibition will be on view from March 3- April 30, 2023. Thank you for your diligence and willingness to keep CAC's education program alive. We appreciate you!

Welcome to the new faces at The Collective!

From left: Amir Glover, Administrative Assistant; Tiffany Cade, University of Houston Downtown Intern; Cindy Harrison, UofHD Intern; and Tamirah Collins, Exhibition Coordinator.

Teaching African American Studies Summer Institute

(re)Centering the Narrative: Black Women’s Voices of the 19th and 20th Centuries

July 10–14, 2023

The National Humanities Center is partnering with the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M University to host the second annual Teaching African American Studies Summer Institute.

This week-long institute will explore the voices of Black women as they have documented, inspired, and reflected the Black experience in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Participants will engage with literature and poetry, primary sources, and the historical record to center Black women in the African American identity.

Open to all K–12 educators, this program will provide an immersive, hands-on learning experience to better understand the approaches and the historical perspective required to create and teach African American studies. Each day’s sessions will include readings and viewings, primary source analysis, and expert scholarship from NHC Fellows and other scholars of African American studies.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

February 15, 2023

Favorite links

from our Facebook postings

Shining a light on a dark chapter of American pottery

Artist Opportunity

Dear Community Artists' Collective visitors and supporters,

We continue to play close attention to the news and announcements surrounding the COVID - 19 outbreak.

The Collective asks that you continue to wear masks and practice social distancing when visiting our facility (and elsewhere as well). We also urge you to take advantage of the free vaccinations provided throughout the city for you and your loved ones' protection. We value your support and understanding during these extraordinary times.

Do all that you can to keep yourself and your family and friends safe and healthy by staying informed from a reputable source. Here is the link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov).

We’ve never won an Oscar,

an Emmy, a Tony or a Golden Globe,

but we have some pretty good stories to tell you on YouTube. Check out what we’re doing in the community to increase art education and appreciation and how we support many talented artists and crafts folks. Our videos include workshops, artist interviews and exhibition tours. We invite you to visit our channel and subscribe.

It’s free!