11th Annual African-American Art Exhibition Starts

The African American Art Advisory Association (Five-A) of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the 11th Annual Citywide African-American Art Exhibition at 10 venues from February 1-28, 2007. An opening reception for the exhibition is planned from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, February 1 at Farnsworth Pavilion at Rice University, 6100 Main Street.

A second reception is planned from 5:30-7 p.m. on Friday, February 16, 2007 at the Houston Area Urban League, 1301 Texas Street, followed by a presentation of the film Stormy Weather.

The African American Art Advisory Association (Five-A) is a volunteer support group of the MFAH. In 1997, Five-A began to implement the educational and outreach goals outlined in its mission statement by presenting the Annual Citywide African American Art Exhibition each February during Black History Month.

The Citywide Exhibition is a community outreach program that gives emerging African-American artists the opportunity to display their artwork to a larger more, diverse audience. The exhibition´s goal is to introduce these underrepresented artists to the community and give them the exposure necessary for a continued successful career in the visual arts. The exhibition also awards a $500 prize for the show´s top entry selected by a panel of judges. Judges this year are Floyd Newsum and Leslie Hewitt, both artists and art professors at the University of Houston, and Sarah Trotty, art professor at Texas Southern University.

Artists who previously participated in the exhibition include Robert Pruitt, who now has an exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum, and Jabari Anderson, a new resident at Lawndale Art Center.

Works by 28 contemporary artists in this year´s exhibition include paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, video, mixed media, and assemblage. Participating artists are: Regina Agu, John Bullock, Kerri Carmouche, Desmond Carter, Greg "Freeman" Carter, Larry L. Cole, Nathaniel Donnett, Shannon Duckworth, Ted Ellis, Gwen Gabriel, Rossie Gomez, Bettie Harris, Robert Hodge, Chandra Hubbard, Michael Kahlil, Autumn Knight, Cliff Lloyd, Elton McWashington, Jr., Dune Micheli Patten, Jamar Duvol Pierre, Daniel Pore, Stacey Porter, Ayo Scott, Linda Soders, Vendetta Taylor, Maya Imani Watson, Danna White, and Bobbie Wright. -- www.mfah.org