"Hope is a Discipline" opens June 12

Leading Change Through the Arts!

“Hope is a Discipline” opens Friday, June 12, at The Collective with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m.

Works by Li(sa E.) Harris, Lovie Olivia, Josie Pickens, Tay Butler, Mich Stevenson and Zsavon Butler trace the realities of Black life shaped by surveillance, control and abandonment. Co-curators Josie Pickens and Tay Butler have outlined care, resistance and imagination as ways to move toward liberation, connection and becoming freer and more whole.

The exhibition takes its title from the work of visionary abolitionist organizer Mariame Kaba, who reminds us that hope is not passive; it’s something we choose and build together, especially in the face of ongoing harm.

“Hope is work,” says curator Josie Pickens.

“It’s something we build in the middle of injustice, not after it. The artists in this exhibition are already living that out—creating ways to care for each other, to stay in relationships and to imagine beyond the systems built for our demise.”

Additional sessions and performances will be scheduled throughout the exhibition, which continues through July 17.

Artwork by Kaima Marie Akarue

Celebrate Black Music Month with CAC and CMCH at the Eldorado Ballroom

Visual and musical artists will celebrate Black Music Month Sunday, June 7, at the Eldorado Ballroom, 2310 Elgin.

The Community Artists’ Collective and the Community Music Center of Houston are collaborating with an exhibit entitled “Music Is My Sanctuary,” in the Dupree Room and a concert honoring Dr. Anne Lundy, the late Dr. Ruth Stewart, Ina Zellars and Dr. Gloria Quinlan, four women whose work reminds us that music is not only performed; it is taught, carried, remembered and passed on.

Artists featured in the exhibition, which is open from 2 to 4 p.m., include Catherine Martinez, Kaima Marie Akarue, Corey DeJuan Sherrad, Jr., Israel McCloud, Robert Hodge and Jazz Historian Tierney Malone, who curated the exhibition with Michelle Barnes, founder and executive director of The Collective.

“The title “Music Is My Sanctuary” is taken from the song and album by saxophonist Gary Bartz,” Malone said.

“The song lyrics reflect the power of music,” he explained, “and the artists in the exhibition are expressing their connection to Black music as catalyst and inspiration in their lives and artistic practice.”

The art exhibition is from 2 to 4 p.m. and will be on display through June 27. The Legacy Honoree Celebration and Concert, featuring a performance by the Firey String Sisters, is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m in the ballroom.

The Firey String Sisters of New York City, who are making their Texas debut, consist of three women who infuse Jazz with world music, global funk and soul to create a unique sound for violin, cello, bass, piano, vocals and percussion.

Attendance to the art exhibition is free, and the concert is a pay-what-you-can event.

Learn the basics of relief block printing with this beginner-friendly linocut workshop led by Paloma Mayorga of Milpa Press.

Participants are invited to bring a 4x6” drawing or use one of our pre-made designs to carve, ink, and print their own postcards.

No printmaking experience is necessary, all supplies are included. Open to participants 16 years or older. Space is limited to 15 participants.

About the Instructor: Paloma Mayorga is an interdisciplinary botanical artist working across photography, video, performance, installation, painting and printmaking. Her practice explores ancestral uses of plants while drawing on ecological stories, sensory experiences and the memory held in landscapes to reflect how reconnecting with plants can help us become mindful in our connections to others, as well as more responsible stewards of the land.

In 2025, Mayorga founded Milpa Press, a mobile print shop homegrown in Austin, Texas. Currently, Paloma acts as the Curator and Exhibitions Coordinator for Coronado printstudio, and she serves on the Board of PrintAustin and DORF.