Lee Carrier, M.Ed.

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Lee Carrier

Lee Carrier is a native Texan who received a B.A. in 2006 and a MED in 2007 from the University of Houston (UH). Currently, she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Education Leadership and Policy Studies at UH. Carrier taught art education to high school students for 10 years prior to transitioning into her new role as the K-12 visual art curriculum coordinator for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in 2016. Carrier also taught a semester art methods course at Texas Southern University in 2012.

For those who aren’t familiar with your work, can you tell us more about your art, what medium do you work with and how you come up with your concepts & ideas?

I use a combination of art mediums because I enjoy creating layers of materials on a wood panel surface. The wood panel and paper are the foundation of my surface when I start the process of pencil and paint. 

In particular, I use a brown paper bag or craft paper to collage down on the wood surface and then I draw a female portrait using a monochromatic color scheme to connect to the theme of the artwork. I like the durability of the brown paper and using brown skin tones, which reflect the women of color who are the central focus of my work. The female portrait is used as symbolic imagery to represent the tribulations that women of color face throughout their lives. The indigenous or tribal ornaments within the portrait are a collaboration of cultures that are transferred into a modernized and reimaged concept of womanhood, beauty and strength. Additionally, the mixed media materials include rust, ink, acrylic, found paper, and gold leaf, which are used to further illustrate the resilience and diversity found amongst the descendants of people of color.

Are you a full-time artist? If not, what are your side-hustles?

I have been working in public education for the past 15 years. Creating is not a side hustle for me because I care more about the creative process than selling or catering to collectors. I truly enjoy experimenting with mediums and researching my subjects. 

My current side hustle is pursuing an Executive Doctor of Education Degree in K-12 Leadership. My topic of research interest within the program is to conduct a quantitative study on how fine arts programs impact the social and academic development of students in public schools.

What are some of the things that you’re passionate about and how can those things translate into your artwork?

Creating artwork that sparks awareness of social issues is important to me as a woman of color because we, as a group, are not represented as much in the professional setting as other demographics.

Since we’re highlighting Black History Month, what are you excited about this year?

I am grateful for democracy. Because I am a woman, a person of color, and I work in education, I hope that how I am viewed in society and the role I play as an educator in the lives of children is a direct reflection of the faith others have in female leadership and education. I look forward to the positive change as a result of our new presidential leadership.

What moment in black history has strongly impacted your work?

The “Black Lives Matter” movement has influenced my latest work. The death of Sandra Bland has compelled me to create art that addresses reforming our justice system.

It has been rough for cultural art events due to COVID-19. Do you have any of exhibitions this year? What events would you suggest to our viewers for 2021?

In February I am participating in a podcast with “All Real Radio” to be included in a documentary created by Texas Southern University Communications department.

As part of the Black Speculative Art Movement, Houston plays home to this event annually as it welcomes local and international artists to display their Afro Futurist themed offerings at Bisong Art Gallery. Organized by Artivism Community Art and its partners, participants share both community and institutional solutions to the problem of diversified cultural and art-based education. The conference consistently brings together both academic and community leaders that are invested in how Afro Futurism is used practically by artists and teachers to help students reimagine their collective futures politically, socially and artistically.

The art show is a part of the Black Speculative Art Movement (B.S.A.M), in collaboration with Dr. Toniesha Taylor of the Texas Southern University Communications Department. The Black Speculative Art Movement, Houston will produce a short film documenting the work of community art-based education in Houston. This project is filmed at the Bisong Art Gallery on February 4 & 5, 2021. The production engages three interns in the field of entrepreneurship in the arts through a series of cultural art-based learning projects during the 2021 Spring Semester. Register for the event here.


 

Reginald Charles Adams

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Reginald Adams

Reginald C. Adams is a public artist, social entrepreneur, and community developer. He is best known for his award-winning public art projects, which are strategically located in some of Houston’s most historic and under-served neighborhoods. His creativity and approach to his artwork is inspired by travels to more than 40 countries around the globe. Adams fundamentally believes that everyone deserves access and exposure to the arts and strives to engage the public in the design and production of his public art projects.

For those who aren’t familiar with your work, can you tell us more about your art, what medium do you work with and how you come up with your concepts & ideas?

I fundamentally believe that everyone deserves access and exposure to the arts, and I strive to engage the public in the design and production of my public art projects. Over the past 20 years I have facilitated the design, coordination, and production of over 350 public art projects and sacred spaces across the Houston area and abroad. These projects have been co-created with the involvement of over 50,000 area youth volunteers, hundreds of artists and thousands of community stakeholders. The designs, motifs, and imagery captured in my work is a direct reflection of the communities and public spaces that the work is designed to serve. This expands the style, social context, and technique for the execution of my work into broad and diverse territory. Each project is unique unto the community itself. By placing the public in public art, I work to represent the culture, heritage, history and social context of communities and shared public spaces. My intention is to transform these environments into cultural and artistic destinations.

Are you a full-time artist? If not, what are your side-hustles?

Yes, I am a full-time artist. However, I own and manage three creativity-based companies.

  • Reginald C. Adams LLC, a public art & design firm
  • Sacred Sites Quest, a boutique educational travel immersion company
  • Creatia, an artist’s management and consulting firm

Since we’re highlighting Black History Month, what are you excited about this year?

The project that I am most excited about this year is the Juneteenth mural project we are designing and producing for the city of Galveston, Texas.

What moment in black history has strongly impacted your work?

Witnessing Barack Obama becoming America’s first African-American president was a pivotal moment in my life as it was a moment that many thought would never happen, and I was able to see firsthand the impact that his presidency had on my own son who could see someone who looked like him become the leader of the Free World.

It has been rough for cultural art events due to COVID. Do you have any of exhibitions this year? What events would you suggest to our viewers for 2021?

Yes, we hosted an art exhibition in Oct 2020. As of 2021, I have not been invited or planned any art exhibitions however our public art studio has a full year worth of major public art commissions. I would invite viewers to stay tuned for:
• The completion and dedication of a mural we are painting for a new Foot Locker store in Houston, TX
• The dedication of our Juneteenth mural in Galveston on June 19, 2021
• The dedication of a new mosaic mural for the University of Houston Graduate College of Social work
• A collaborative mural project for the University of Houston - Sugarland
• A mural dedication in Dallas, Texas for a mural we finished at the end of 2020.

To pay it forward, give a shout out to a few fellow black artists that you would like to gain recognition through the community.

I would like to offer the name of fellow creative, Dantrel Bonae Boone. Dantrel is an amazing artist and overall good person and he is very worthy of additional recognition.


 

Robert Hodge

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Robert Hodge

For those who aren’t familiar with your work, can you tell us more about your art, what medium do you work with and how you come up with your concepts & ideas?
My work is based around history, music, and ideas based identity and knowledge of self. I come up with ideas from books, magazines, podcasts and all types of TV programs. I also love hearing great stories and then narrating rare or untold stories. Also my work is very collaborative because my art practice leans into music, installation, film and whatever vehicle needed to translate the intended message. 

Are you a full-time artist? If not, what are your side-hustles? 
I am a full time artist, but who doesn’t have side hustles during a pandemic in 2021? I am also a public art coordinator, record producer, and a designer regarding fashion. 

Since we’re highlighting Black History Month, what are you excited about this year?
I’m excited about artists still creating during this pandemic. Also the forward movement in our black community especially our people owning businesses and becoming CEOs and a lot of progression that we’re doing to better ourselves.

What moment in black history has strongly impacted your work?
A strong moment that impacted my work was the riots after MLK was assassinated in Boston and the story of how James brown through music stopped Boston from burning. 

It has been rough for cultural art events due to COVID. Do you have any of exhibitions this year? What events would you suggest to our viewers for 2021? 
I actually have a large group show I curated called “Collect if for the Culture III” with my partner India Lovejoy that exhibits emerging, mid career and established artist that have a real impact in the art world. The exhibition I curated “Collect it for the Culture III” opens January 29th and runs through February 28, 2021. It’s the third installment, and we are excited to be in the old “Forever 21 “ transforming the space to highlight a diverse group of emerging, mid career and established artists. I think it’s something that hasn’t happened in Houston on this level created by two black creatives. I also have another opening at the Blaffer Museum, which consists of a great group of artists I’m honored to show with. That opens January 27th and runs through March 15th, 2021. Lastly I have a experimental lab happening at David Shelton gallery where the audience can engage with the work in a really personal way through video, podcast, live performance and all type of cool programming while building a body of work or exhibition slated for April 2021.