Upcoming Educational Programs

Join VAA for a virtual interview and presentation on "From Space Planning to Building Paintings" by Veronica Ibargüengoitia, Saturday January 8, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.

Veronica Ibargüengoitia was born in Mexico City. Her work is about exploring the dwelling space disregarding the location or country of origin. Her creative practice is motivated by photographs of intimate places she received from random persons. From them, she builds an understanding of how to use the space and its elements to keep and construct a safe and personal environment. She feeds her work with philosophy in a discerning approach to the migration and readaptation phenomena of humans.

Ibargüengoitia will discuss how her work evolved over the past years and highlight future investigation. She will discuss her overall approach, since people ask frequently about her transition from the traditional canvas to the constructed object.

Join Visual Arts Alliance Saturday, October 1, at 11:00 a.m. for an in-person event, “Solving Puzzles for Peace of Mind – the Covid Years” at Poissant Gallery, 5102 Center St, Houston.  Four artists, Eren Eiswirth, Brittani Kelley, Ryan Baptiste, and Chloë Helen Calthorpe Dillion Stewart, will discuss their art practice and how it has been influenced by and speaks to mental health and addiction, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, moderated by Frank Larkey, PhD.

Chloë Stewart will moderate the panel, anchoring the discussion to the practice of art as a tool for communication and awareness. “Using my mediums of mixed-media painting, installation spaces, assemblage sculptures, photography, 3D printing technology, and fashion design, I explore my experience with mental health, addiction, and domestic violence. I tackle the stigma surrounding mental illness and addiction,” says Stewart.

Ryan Baptiste’s artwork challenges viewers with symbolic narratives of memories, feelings, and individual experiences. Collapsed and decaying architecture in urban landscapes are personified in his work along with metaphorically charged portraits of people that have major influence in his life.

Brittani Kelly describes her art as reliving the traumatic stories of her predecessors. “Having experienced domestic violence myself, my work focuses on how society views Black women, their roles and dynamics within their families, and how the environments affects their mental and emotional states.”

Eren Eiswirth’s work focuses on human perception, self identity, mental health, and LGBTQ+ issues. These subjects are explored primarily with the use of optical illusions, using the physical limits of visual perception as an analogy for how people’s concept of self and understanding others are subject to change based on circumstance.

Originally from Taiwan, Cindy Shung has been living in Houston for 30 years and calls Texas her home, where her once-hibernating artistic instincts have awakened through explorations of glass, roses, light and space. She has participated in workshops and classes at the Houston Center for Photography, and her works have been selected for juried exhibitions by Lester Marks (Mayor’s Ambassador to the Arts) and Alison de Lima Greene (Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) for the Visual Arts Alliance. She has won honors and features by the Neutral Density Photography Awards, Chromatic, and Don’t Take Pictures.