Jazz music from the Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective fills the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs lobby as artists passionately speak about their work, which explores themes of liberation with bluntness and beauty.
As part of the 29th annual Barbara Jordan National Forum, the LBJ School hosted “Art is Activism: Visions of Liberation” on Tuesday. In partnership with _OFCOLOR, a local non-profit that strives to create inclusive spaces for artists of color, the event showcased work from 20 local artists of color. The featured work aimed to blend policy with advocacy and liberation, inspired by the advocacy work of Barbara Jordan, former politician and UT LBJ Centennial Chair of Public Policy.
“There’s a unique blend between one of the top policy schools in the country, partnering with such a local entity that gives us a human aspect that maybe we haven’t had in the past,” said G. Christopher Cutkelvin, the student access and civic education director at the LBJ school.
Nina Quỳnh Anh Hồ, a featured artist, represented her idea of liberation through her collection of photographs of a Palestine protest. Dressed in an Áo Dài, a traditional Vietnamese dress, and a Palestinian keffiyeh, Hồ bridges her culture with activism. Her clothing and work serve as representations of how she expresses liberation and solidarity, she said.
“My relationship with my art is that I’m here to be the fullest expression of who I am and speak my truth,” Hồ said. “If seeing my art (and) reading my work starts to have people ask questions about themselves, then that’s success for me.”
The event came to light after Ashley Alvarado, a master’s of public affairs second-year, visited the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and saw a t-shirt in the gift shop with the phrase “Art is Activism.”
“I thought it’d be really cool to combine policy and art together, which are my two personal passions,” Alvarado said. “(The) LBJ School hasn’t had an event like this before, so it was great exposure to bring to my classmates and to the community.”
Once _OFCOLOR agreed to participate in the event, the vision for an art-driven take on policy and activism took shape.
The original idea for the show encompassed themes of excellence, legacy, joy and resilience. However, the theme quickly evolved, said Whitney Hamilton, _OFCOLOR’s vice chair and the show’s curator.
“As I was getting the art, I couldn’t stick to those things anymore,” Hamilton said. “This story of liberation is enough because what it looks like to every artist is going to be different.”
Cutkelvin said this year’s forum paid homage to Barbara Jordan’s advocacy work, as she advocated for more fine art programs in school.
“Art is a really important part of our society, whether we want to admit it or not,” Alvarado said. “A lot of education systems don’t prioritize art, and I find that to be a huge issue because art is what gives life meaning.”
