About The Wrtier

Cydney Pickens is the current Curatorial Fellow at The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), a nonprofit art space and residency with a focus on craft. Pickens has a BA in Art History from the University of Houston, where she authored the honors thesis Transitive Healing and the Metaphysical Properties of Relational Aesthetics: Uniting African Art Philosophy With Avant-Garde Participatory Practice examining “the critically influential role of pre-colonial African art philosophy and theory on select instances of participatory practice in Modern American and European art.”

In her current role, she has worked closely with local craft guilds to curate exhibitions such as Limitless: The 2021 Recipients of ClayHouston’s Award for Texas BIPOC Ceramic Artists and Sawed, Soldered, Constructed: The Work of Houston Metal Arts Guild. During her Curatorial Fellowship, she aims to “highlight the influence of heritage and tradition on contemporary craft” while maintaining close relationships with local artists and neighboring arts organizations.

About The Artist

Chelsea Clarke recently completed her MFA at University of Kentucky in Lexington, where she investigated the intersection of print and fiber. Her work centers around themes of perceived contradiction, seeking comfort, and living in a state of recovery. She received her undergraduate degree in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, followed by a Post-Baccalaureate in Nonprofit Management with the goal of one day founding a radically accessible artist residency. She currently lives in Houston, Texas and works at the Lawndale Art Center as their Artist in Residence.

Mission

Lawndale is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center that engages Houston communities with exhibitions and programs that explore the aesthetic, critical, and social issues of our time.

About

Lawndale believes in the role of art and artists to inspire and inform the world around us. By serving as an intimate gathering place to experience art and ideas, Lawndale seeks to foster connections between communities in Houston and beyond. Lawndale presents a diverse range of artistic practices and perspectives through exhibitions and programs, including lectures, symposia, film screenings, readings, and musical performances.

Through exhibition opportunities, the Artist Studio Program, institutional collaborations, and the engagement of an advisory board comprised of artists, curators, and scholars, Lawndale seeks within its mission to support all artistic and cultural communities of Houston.

Supporters

Lawndale is grateful for the support it receives from individuals, foundations, government agencies, and other organizations.

Lawndale’s exhibitions and programs are produced with generous support from The Anchorage Foundation of Texas; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Garden Club of Houston; David R. Graham; The Joan Hohlt and Roger Wich Foundation; The John M. O’Quinn Foundation; The John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Houston Endowment; Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal ARP Act; Kathrine G. McGovern/The John P. McGovern Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Rose Family Foundation; the Scurlock Foundation; the Texas Commission on the Arts; The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance; and The Wortham Foundation, Inc. Additional support provided by Lindsey Schechter/Houston Dairymaids, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, and Topo Chico.