The Hidden Agenda: A Splendid Array

After spending a month curating The Hidden Agenda as a biweekly roundup of Houston’s under-the-radar cultural events, I’ve decided to change the format to a weekly column. As Paul Middendorf mentioned in his piece “New Year, New Art World,” promotion has changed a great deal in recent years, particularly with when and how things are announced. In an effort to capture a wider range of events, you can now expect a new edition of The Hidden Agenda every Monday.

This week brings a splendid array of events, including the opening celebration for Round 58 at Project Row Houses, a poetry reading at the Alley Theatre, the opening reception for Flor Garduño’s exhibition at FotoFest, and a four-part film program at Blaffer Art Museum. 

Flor Garduño, Plum Tree and Donkeys, Mexico, 1983.

Courtesy of the artist and FotoFest.

Monday, March 3

Performance — They, Who Sound
Lawndale Art Center

Start your week strong with the latest installment of They, Who Sound — the long-time experimental music series presented by local nonprofit Nameless Sound — hosted at Lawndale Art Center (4912 Main Street). The evening features a performance by local musicians Andrew Baker (tenor saxophone, shruti box) and Neon Guzman Delgado (cello), as well as a set from Drone Strike, composed of Austin Cooley (electronics), Ryan Edwards (guitar) and Chris Nelson (guitar and keyboards). Doors open at 7 p.m. for this free performance that runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Reading — Jennifer Chang and Naomi Shihab Nye
Alley Theatre

Presented as part of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, Jennifer Chang and Naomi Shihab Nye will read from their respective poetry collections, An Authentic Life and Grace Notes: Poems about Families, starting at 7:30 p.m. on the Hubbard Stage at the Alley Theatre (615 Texas Avenue). Chang’s book, which offers “a bold examination of a world deeply influenced by war and patriarchy,” was a 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Shabib Nye, a National Book Award finalist and former Young People’s Poet Laureate, compassionately celebrates family and community in her latest collection. Tickets are $5 and the event will conclude with a book sale and signing. 

Tuesday, March 4

Closed World Film Program
Blaffer Art Museum

Seeking to “build and unbuild a ‘closed world’ progressively and collaboratively through community participation,” Closed World is a four-part film program that coincides with Makeshift Memorials, Small Revolutions, the latest exhibition at Blaffer Art Museum (4173 Elgin Street). Co-curated by Innocent Ekejiuba and Erika Mei Chua Holum, the program features works by an international roster of contemporary artists “designed as four exercises in healing,” and the series includes events from March 4 to 7.

Wednesday, March 5

Discussion — Kinder Institute Forum: “Houston’s Northside Neighborhoods” 
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

From 7 to 8:15 p.m., the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet Street) hosts sociologists Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Sarah Mayorga as they speak about their 2024 book, A Good Reputation: How Residents Fight for an American Barrio. Joined in conversation with Ruth N. López Turley, director of the Kinder Institute, Korver-Glenn and Mayorga will discuss the development of Houston’s Northside neighborhood and area residents’ changing views on the transformation. Admission is free, but registration is required to attend.

Thursday, March 6

Performance — The Imp
Winter Street Studios

Described as a “one-hour somewhat dark comedy about two friends yapping after an immersive theatre experience,” writer-director Emily J Hynds’ The Imp runs for its final three nights at Winter Street Studios (2101 Winter Street, #B100). The play, which stars Antoine Culbreath and Katy Manning, with Andrew Love and Annie Love, will begin at 8 p.m. each night from Thursday through Saturday. Tickets to the performance are $20 and are required in advance. 

Friday, March 7

Opening Reception — Flor Garduño: Paths of Life
FotoFest

From 6 to 8 p.m., FotoFest (2000 Edwards Street) presents the opening reception for their latest exhibition, Paths of Life, a journey through the 45-year career of Mexican photographer Flor Garduño. Organized into six sections, the exhibition spotlights recurring motifs presented throughout Garduño’s career-long body of work. Her photographs explore “themes of ritual, mythology, legacy, symbolic archetypes, and the connection between humanity and the natural world.” Admission is free but requires registration to attend. 

Saturday, March 8

A Conversation with Flor Garduño
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

FotoFest and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston present a conversation with Mexican photographer Flor Garduño. Joining her in the discussion are FotoFest co-founder Wendy Watriss and executive director Steven Evans. The discussion, presented in English and Spanish, will explore Garduño’s career and her current traveling exhibition, Paths of Life, on view at FotoFest. The conversation takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Lynn Wyatt Theater inside the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building (5500 Main Street). The event is included with museum admission but requires registration to attend.  

Dimensions Variable: Nature Inspires
Moody Center for the Arts

Inspired by their current exhibition Breathe(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice, Moody Center for the Arts (6100 Main Street, MS-480) presents “Dimensions Variable: Nature Inspires,” an event featuring a hands-on workshop led by exhibiting artist, biologist and environmental educator Brandon Ballengée; a beekeeping demonstration and honey tasting with the Houston Beekeepers Association, inspired by the works of exhibiting artist and fourth-generation beekeeper, Garnett Puett; and a screening of music videos featuring Alaskan sound artist Matthew Burtner. Taking place from 2 to 4 p.m., the event is free and open to the public but registration is required to attend. 

Opening and Community Market — Round 58: Free Someone
Project Row Houses

A reference to the influence of the “BE SOMEONE” graffiti over I-45, Free Someone — the latest round at Project Row Houses (2521 Holman Street) — seeks to question the “relationship between public art without permission and public art by commission.” The artists featured in Round 58 — GONZO247, Phillip O. Perez (Article), Lee Washington (Theonelee), Erik Del Rio (Colors oner), Iris Karami, Craig “BBC” Long, Chandrika Metivier and DUAL — use court cases, news stories, documentary film, large-scale murals and hip-hop music to “highlight their journey with collaborators, appreciators, and law enforcement over the last thirty years.” The opening, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m., features music and performances, a custom car meetup, and a market featuring local food and art vendors. “Porch Talks” with the artists will run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Elaine Reichek,

A Charleston Sampler, 2023-24.

Courtesy of Seven Sisters.

Closing — Elaine Reichek: “Something Betwixt and Between” – Matisse & Bloomsbury
Seven Sisters 

Don’t miss the final day to experience Elaine Reichek’s solo exhibition, “Something Betwixt and Between” – Matisse & Bloomsbury, closing at Seven Sisters (805 Rhode Place, Suite 500). The exhibition, which “focuses on the fluid relationship between painting and textiles in the work of Henri Matisse and the Bloomsbury Group artists Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, and Roger Fry,” explores Reichek’s fascination with historical artistic practices that transcend the boundaries of traditional genres. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.