I’ve written a lot about this book, partly because I am selling copies myself. One thing I noticed going through it is how many of the artists’ spaces it discusses were started or nurtured by former CORE Fellows. The images below are pages from Impractical Spaces: Houston, except for pictures of artwork.
Alabama Song was founded by Gabriel Martinez, who came to Houston to be a CORE fellow. The CORE program is a residency hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts which has been hosting artists and critical writers since 1982. The residency lasts two years, which has the perhaps unanticipated effect of allowing the young CORE fellows enough time to develop local connections. Artists sometimes stay on in Houston after their residency, and in doing so add immeasurably to the vitality of the local art scene. Martinez is one of those who stayed. I have been to Alabama Song many times, including giving a talk on comics there once. I’ve written about Martinez’ activities—as an artist, as a zine-maker, as the majordomo of Alabama Song, etc., many times over the years. And I have a couple of pieces of art by Martinez.
But Martinez isn’t the only CORE fellow to found an artists space.
Bill’s Junk was the store/art project founded by Bill Davenport. A great wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard among Houston art-lovers earlier this year when Davenport decided to shut down Bill’s Junk. I’ve written about Davenport and his store many times over the years. In fact, when Pete Gershon (editor and primary writer of Impractical Spaces: Houston) wrote his first book, Painting the Town Orange, he had to cut some chapters for length. I published them on the blog, including a chapter on Bill’s Junk. And I like Davenport’s art so much that I bought a painting he did.
Another space founded by a CORE fellow featured in the book is Front Gallery. It was founded by Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette. Parazette, Engelstein and Davenport all became CORE fellows in 1990. Parazette and Engelstein married and started a gallery in the front room of thier charming Montrose home—hence the name of the gallery. The first exhibit there was a show of paintings by Kim Dingle, which I wrote about at the time. I’ve been a frequent visitor to the gallery in the years since. And I included some Sharon Engelstein art in a show I curated in 2011 called Pan Y Circos.
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