Five Things to Enjoy as Black History Month Continues
We highlight artists of color who bring a diversity of aesthetic vibrance to the theatres, galleries, and other venues of our city
By Wayne Alan Brenner, Fri., Feb. 25, 2022
While acknowledging that a month would have to be as long as a millennium to even start encompassing the achievements of African Americans, we're continuing to grab this theme as the week's curatorial focus, glad for a federally recognized opportunity to highlight artists of color who bring a diversity of vigor and aesthetic vibrance to the theatres, galleries, and other venues of our rapidly expanding city.
Women & Their Work: A Welcoming Place
Ariel René Jackson's show is a film-based exhibition that contemplates what it might look like to forecast the welcoming status of a place. The work on display weaves interviews, research, images, videos, animations, and sculpture to deliver a poetic visualization of shared knowledge about East Austin. "The craft in Jackson's exhibition lies in the generations of skilled observation within Black and Brown communities, warning each other when sociological danger is near, especially when it isn't entirely visible." Through March 3. 1311 E. Cesar Chavez, 512/477-1064. womenandtheirwork.org
Shannon Stott: This Is (Y)our Story
Shannon Stott and Improv On and Off the Stage present a collaborative narrative between skilled improvisers and the night's audience, using science and improv to create an experience where the performers and those in attendance (that's you, citizen) build a world together – right there in that Downtown powerhouse of comedy, the Fallout Theatre. "Be prepared to share yourself, interact with strangers, and see how a bit of improv can create a universe in which you are seen, heard, and loved." Sat., Feb. 26, 7pm. 616 Lavaca, 616/676-7209. $10-12. falloutcomedy.com
Black Pearl Books
This Austin-based, Afrocentric indie bookstore – opened as a pop-up by owner Katrina Brooks in 2019 and recently moved into a newer, more spacious venue on Burnet – promotes diversity, inclusion, equality, and community through literature. Tue.-Sat., 11am-6pm. 7112 Burnet Rd., 512/902-9717. blackpearlbookstore.com
RichesArt Gallery: American History
Promoted by its owner, painter and former pro footballer Richard Samuel, as "the only Black-owned art gallery in town," RichesArt currently features an interactive exhibit curated to amplify the work of local Black artists, with work by DeLoné Osby, Xavier Alvarado, Lakeem Wilson, Chris Tobar, and more. Through Feb. 28. 2511-A E. Sixth, 512/484-2448. richesart.com
The Blanton Museum: Assembly
The title of the Blanton's new installation of work by Black artists embraces heterogeneity – "refusing generalization, essentialization, and definitive interpretation" – in a show that includes creations by Emma Amos, Kevin Beasley, Genevieve Gaignard, James "Yaya" Hough, Arie Pettway, Sally Pettway Mixon, Robert Pruitt, Noah Purifoy, Deborah Roberts, Lorna Simpson, Cauleen Smith, and Nari Ward. Through May 8. 200 E. MLK, 512/471-5482. blantonmuseum.org
