Courtesy Kinfolk House
Houston-based artist Colby Deal
The Kinfolk House opens its doors for its summer exhibition, Congregate, a collection of art that illustrates the community during the last two years. The show launches on Saturday.
The Kinfolk House is a new art space in a 100-year-old home on Wallace Street in Polytechnic. Sedrick and Letitia Huckaby own the house. The original homeowner and inspiration for the place was Hallie Beatrice Carpenter, Sedrick’s grandmother.
They conceived of a place where through partnerships with community-minded creatives and project-based artists, they could “build outside the preconceived ideas of ‘what art is,’ exploring the intersections of life, cultural pursuits, and artistry.”
Both Huckabys are artists and hold post-graduate degrees in fine art.
The inaugural exhibition, Welcome, invited guests to the Huckaby’s property, where they told their family stories, weaving the narrative of family, legacy, and traditions through pieces of art.
The story now turns to the community in Congregate.
“The perception of the space makes the Kinfolk House the Kinfolk House,” says Jessica Fuentes, director of Kinfolk House. “It's a home and feels familiar. When you come up to the space, it doesn't feel how museums and galleries can feel intimidating. It feels warm.”
The house’s recent exhibition, Congregate, features artists Skip Hill, Colby Deal, and Angela Faz. Congregate focuses on community and the isolation felt during the pandemic and culture.
“When we were thinking about this first year, we wanted it to be about community,” Fuentes says. “We wanted this next project to be a step out into the community. We were all stepping out of the pandemic and coming back to our communities in a way we hadn’t in the last two years.”
Each artist received a list of questions from the Kinfolk House, asking them to illustrate community within their art. One goal of the Kinfolk House was to bring artists from regional, state, and national levels. South Padre Island native Skip Hill uses mixed media to show the beauty of the composition. Houston-based artist Colby Deal showcases the elements of psychological environments. Angela Faz, a multidisciplinary artist from Oak Cliff, focuses on the reclamation of public spaces.
“We want people to feel seen and feel that the images on the wall depict people like themselves or people from their communities,” Fuentes says. “The goal for our communities of color is that when they come in, they feel seen. For other visitors, we want these works of art to create windows to view and see and understand other people and other people's experiences.”
Throughout the summer, the Kinfolk House will participate in projects and programs to further their exhibition’s community message. Each artist tasked themselves with planning one of the programs for community outreach. One artist chose to host a summer cookout at the Kinfolk House in July, the idea that food brings people together.
“Those questions we posed to them will be guiding principles Part of our goal was that each of the artists would come up with an idea to bring the community together,” Fuentes says. “It’s a welcoming space that people from the community and art community would feel welcome coming to. Food is such a big part of culture, and how it brings people together, it’s how we make memories, how we relate to each other.”
The Kinfolk House will host a free opening reception from 12-7 p.m. on Saturday, with all three artists in attendance.
