Summer Studios residents with PRH staff and panel members Top, left to right: Karen Bertonaschi, Amiri Boykin, Kaneem Smith Middle: Robert Riojas Ryan N. Dennis, Kevin Chen, Huidi Xiang, Caroline Ryan Bottom: Rachel Even and Devon Grigsby Photo by Michael McFadden
Project Row Houses Presents Summer Studios 2016 Residency and Exhibition
Residency | July 4 – August 19, 2016
Artist Talk | August 18, 2016 | 6pm
Opening + Community Market | August 20, 2016 | 4-7pm
Houston, TX – July 27, 2016 – Project Row Houses (PRH) is excited to present Summer Studios 2016. Summer Studios is a 6-week residency program developed for emerging artists and art students from local universities. In 2015, PRH brought in artist william cordova to act as a mentor to the residents and, after seeing how beneficial this relationship was, decided to make the mentor artist a staple of the program. For the 2016 iteration of Summer Studios, the mentor artist is Kaneem Smith, a Houston-based artist and daughter of PRH founding artist George Smith.
“The desire to engage with the history of what Project Row Houses represents while incorporating the active Third Ward community from their personal points of view has been inspiring,” Smith said of the artists-in-residence. Throughout the residency, the artists will work with Smith and PRH’s public art director Ryan N. Dennis to develop their practices and learn more about community-based and socially engaged art. The curriculum of the program has been determined by Smith and Dennis and includes studio visits with established artists and curators as well as site visits with local institutions.
“The process of selecting students for Summer Studios was both an honor and a challenge,” said PRH Board member and selection panel member Karen Bertonaschi. “The students really opened my eyes to the wealth of local talent within out institutions of higher learning.”
Participating 2016 residents include Amiri Boykin (Rice University), Rachel Even (University of Houston), Devon Grigsby (University of Houston), Robert Riojas (Texas Southern University), Caroline Ryan (University of Houston) and Huidi Xiang (Rice University). The 6-week residency will culminate with the exhibition of installations by the residents, opening on August 20, 2016 from 4-7pm.
Summer Studios is presented with generous support from Clare Casademont and Michael Metz.
About Kaneem Smith
Kaneem Smith is an installation artist, conservator and teacher. An active artist and teacher since the mid-1990s, her solo exhibitions have been presented at Project Row Houses, the Rudolph Projects/ArtScan Gallery in Houston and the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art. She has been included in group exhibitions throughout Texas, in Syracuse, New York, and Budapest, Hungary. Smith’s awards include an Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellowship, a Hungarian Multicultural Center Research Fellowship, the Sculpture Prize in the 20th Annual Carrol Harris Simms National Black Art Competition at the African American Museum in Dallas, Texas and a Studio Fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center.
About Summer Studios
Summer Studios was developed to provide an opportunity for emerging artists to create and exhibit work that responds to, engages with and/or is reflective of the community. This program is open to seven art students and emerging artists, nominated by professors and selected by a panel. Summer Studios is open to artists who are interested in making art in an urban community setting, engaging with the PRH/Third Ward Community and interacting with established Houston-based artists.
About Project Row Houses
Project Row Houses (PRH) is a community-based arts and culture non-profit organization in Houston’s northern Third Ward, one of the city’s oldest African American neighborhoods. The mission of Project Row Houses is to be the catalyst for transforming community through the celebration of art and African-American history and culture. Learn more at ProjectRowHouses.org
