A month-long series of events highlighting Black art, music, history and culture will be the special focus for Black History Month at the Price Center. A symphonic concert featuring live painting kicks the month off, followed by a documentary about Black jazz musicians in Houston, then a live staged reading of a new screenplay about the Tulsa Race Massacre, all wrapped up with an afternoon of painting, sipping and poetry. The work of the six Black artists featured during the concert event will remain on display all February long in the Center’s 1910 Room. Here’s a quick summary of the special events that have already occurred:
• Saturday, Feb. 1 — Evan Blaché proudly presented “Chromatic Reverie - A Colors Recital” in collaboration with Siren Strings TX and various Austin artists. This world premiere features a multi-movement string piece, “Chromatic Reverie,” which translates Evan’s synesthesia into a vibrant auditory experience. Accompanying the recital, visual artists interpreted the colors they perceived as Siren Strings TX performs, creating a unique fusion of sound and sight. Six Black visual artists had their work on display.
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 — The First Tuesday SMTX Film Series featured When Houston Had the Blues, focusing on the rich, but sadly unheralded, spawning ground of great Black music. No other city can claim giants such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, Clifton Chenier, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Albert King, Freddie King and Albert Collins, plus great (pre-Motown) Black-owned labels like Duke and Peacock. With new interviews featuring Billy Gibbons, CJ Chenier, Marcia Ball, Augie Meyers, Grady Gaines and many others. The film was brought to you in partnership with the Dunbar Heritage Association and the TXST Center for Texas Music History.
Upcoming events this month include:
• Saturday, Feb. 11 — Tulsa ‘21 is a screenplay inspired by true events of the Tulsa race riot of 1921. The script was written by Joe Fikes and Anita Azenet about two star-crossed lovers as they find themselves in the center of the riot. We follow them as they navigate racial tensions in a thriving American community divided by violence and prejudice when Greenwood, or “Black Wallstreet” as it was known, was burned to the ground, marking the first time a U.S. city was bombed from the air by its people. The Staged Reading will be held on Feb. 8, at 6:00 p.m. This event is sold out.
• Saturday, February 22 — The Dunbar Heritage Association will host a Sip, Paint & Poetry Event highlighting poets from the African diaspora to educate and celebrate Black poetry and the Black aesthetic. The event will feature poetry, live music, a multimedia presentation, painting/ adult coloring and food. It will be held on Feb. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the 1910 Room. The event is free and open to all.
