Curatorial Statement

As a Co-curator for this exhibition, it has been a privilege to work with students and alumni who identify with LGBTQ+ communities for the past month. Service and community engagement has been a significant feature of our exhibition; I would like to thank the participating artists for leading community workshops, and I applaud your commitment to service. Many of these artists are working to complete their theses and dissertations. Yet, their eagerness to serve the public when faced with the overwhelming stress of upcoming exhibitions and defenses fills me with immense pride.

Over the past month, we have experienced generative discussions with the public and the positive engagement with exhibition has vastly surpassed our expectations. I am grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with these artists and I'm proud of the two-cycle exhibition we pulled off together. Our closing reception is a site to celebrate the accomplishments of our exhibiting artists and would like to recognize their commitment to solidarity, transformative justice and collectivism when faced with the end of DEI in Texas. Although tonight is a site of celebration, there is an elephant in the room that must be addressed.

As a southern, queer working-class artist, my community taught me integrity, persistence and selflessness are profound attributes of our character and I find merit in this positionality. I believe the measurement of one’s character can be assessed by their willingness to grow as a person when faced with the harm they've inflicted on others. Taking responsibility and accountability by standing in front of your mistakes is a genuine expression of character. I have not been prompted by anyone to deliver this statement and I wish to share the sincerity of my character with you all. There has been some controversy around my installation that I would like to discuss. The piece illustrates some of the curatorial obstacles we've experienced as it relates to unnecessary institutional oversight due to problematic fears about the word queer.

On August 21st, 2023, I submitted an exhibition proposal to the exhibits and speakers committee requesting to use the Satellite Gallery as a collaborative space to showcase to showcase artists who identify with LGBTQ+ communities to include students, alumni, faculty and staff. We had no overt attentions for this exhibition to become political or a site of institutional critique, rather a celebration of LGBTQ+ associated with the SOA. Given the anxiety surrounding SB17, I understood this proposal could be denied due to fears surrounding the bill and we were prepared to submit a revision with significantly more detail in response. In this revision, we intended to emphasize the scholarly research component that focuses on establishing a third space that could enable a generative discourse among the queer community in Lubbock; however, the feedback we received from the committee and subsequent exchanges revealed a complex problem.

Initially, we had hoped to utilize the gallery during the First Friday Art Trail in November, but the committee did not officially meet until late September- making an open call curatorial approach infeasible. Our submitted proposal requested February as another suitable date, but we were denied as well. On September 27th, we received an email from Joe Arredondo on behalf of the committee partially rejecting our proposal on the dates specified but offering June or July as potential dates if we submitted a portfolio of works and list of artists. Ultimately, this is an unusual request by the committee given the open call curatorial approach, but Joe articulated that we must submit the requested information by the end of October for consideration.

I have experience exhibiting in the Satellite Gallery and submitting proposals to this committee since I have been in my current program for the past five years. I found the quick turnaround for the resubmission slightly peculiar because the call for summer proposals is typically sent in April with the committee reviewing the submissions in mid-May. The deadline we were offered felt rushed and affected our approach towards curation. We rationalized that we could reach out to alumni to submit current works because current students would have difficulty submitting works during the stress of midterms. The artists we invited submitted current works for review but allowing for new work to enter the exhibition is an important component that we intended to include with our revised proposal.

On October 10th, Aaron Hegert initiated a conversation with one of our artists as a member of the exhibits and speakers committee about our proposal. Aaron informed this artist that the committee elected to contact the dean of the TCVPA regarding the show and he advised the work should be pre-approved by the committee to permit the exhibition for the summer dates. I had been reflecting on the portfolio issue and my exhibition experience in the space for a couple of weeks while working to compile a portfolio, but this interaction led me to ask for further clarification from Joe. The contract between the SOA and CASP regarding the satellite gallery requires and exhibition during each First Friday Art Trail or else the SOA may lose the space. I was given the opportunity to quickly produce a show with a colleague for the First Friday in March 2022. We were given 2 weeks to materialize a show without any supervision, proposal, restrictions or guidance from the SOA or Joe. I sent Joe an email to gain further understanding on October 11th. I believed the quick turnaround to submit the portfolio could have been an act of generosity by the committee to allow our exhibition to have first priority for June or July; I was interested in the possibility of an extension for the revision given the typical procedure for summer proposals due in May as additional inquiries on top of the portfolio question but I was met with overt unprofessionalism as seen in the emails presented in my zine under exhibit c.

I reported this prejudicial grievance to Title IX and the former School of Art directive in fall 2023 but there were several failures and communication and the fact that my efforts to follow up on the investigation were ignored became a site of deep frustration. Nevertheless, I kept trying to report and follow up on this issue while working to complete my dissertation. Following a comprehensive report to the grad school I submitted in early June, title IX reached out to me and they've been a great support over the past few weeks and have aided me in the process of escalation to EEO. I feel validated, supported and heard by the various investigating entities at present. I received an e-mail from Dean Camacho earlier this week that provided clarification and expressed support through the reporting process. I appreciate the guidance he provided as well as his statement that he was not contacted about our exhibition. Ultimately, this was a relief to hear as it means we are closer to the truth of this unnecessary oversight and that our college takes such matters seriously as genuine allies. This also means that Aaron Hegert intentionally misled one of our artists by claiming the requirement to submit a portfolio for pre-approval came from the administration. These professors did not out us to the dean but one of them gave the impression of this unethical act and that is the mistake I must confront with my practice. I will not speculate why he would do this but leave the matter to the investigating entities to determine in addition to Heather Warren-Crow's involvement and history of favoring censorship as it relates to student creative research while serving on the exhibits and speakers committee.

As a result of this piece, I've experienced several interactions with current and former students about troubling conflicts with professors as well as their experiences with discrimination. Although the reporting process may seem overwhelming, frightening and slow to achieve results, I encourage every student to report their grievances to enact change period if something happens to one of us, it could happen to any of us and protecting your community is the ultimate labor of love. We have some deeply talented artists in our programs who deserve the best from their professors. Reporting our grievances and an excellent way to ensure we received the best education, but we cannot ignore the power of organized collectivity. Students possess immense power that requires unflinching solidarity, the courage to speak out against injustices and the collective demand for the best. There's power in a boycott, love and support each other make your voices heard. This is your school, don't let them silence you.