Public Program

In conjunction with the curatorial project "Collective Presence," on view at DW through April 14, Paraspace Books will host a screening and discussion of the short film, "Oil on My Mind." Director Erica Hua Fletcher will join the discussion via Skype, facilitated by S Rodriguez and Sara Balabanlilar, founders of Paraspace Books. "Oil on My Mind" is a project of a collaborative, art-based inquiry on grassroots approaches to wellbeing, ecology, and loss in the Southwest. More info: https://oilonmymind.wordpress.com _____ Erica Hua Fletcher, Ph.D. is native Texan. She received her training as a health humanities scholar at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and now serves as the Zorich Fellow in Mental Health Policy at the Hope and Healing Center & Institute in Houston. She also teaches classes in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California in Irvine. Sara Balabanlilar and S Rodriguez co-run Paraspace Books, a bookstore and workshop project devoted to queer speculative and science fiction and a 2017 Idea Fund grant recipient. Balabanlilar is an arts organizer and administrator in Houston; she currently serves as the Marketing and Events Director at Brazos Bookstore and is a member of the DiverseWorks Artist Advisory Board. Her […]

On Friday, March 1 from 6 - 8 pm, Raul Orlando Edwards and Reinaldo Costa of Strictly Street Salsa will host a dance workshop in the gallery - Heritage in Motion: Not So Equal. This workshop allows participants to experience the richness that is the Latin Diaspora. Not So Equal will highlight the many areas Latin dance and music have in common with cultures from Europe and Africa. This event is free and open to the public. No experience required. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and shoes to move around in. Heritage in Motion: Not So Equal is presented in conjunction with the curatorial project Collective Presence, on view through April 14. _____________________________________ Raul Orlando Edwards is the Executive Director for Arts of Tolerance at Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for Religious Studies. He is also the creative entrepreneur behind Strictly Street Salsa, FLAMART (Featuring Latin American Music and Art), and Houston’s Afro-Latin Festival Reinaldo Costa is a dancer and teacher who works closely with Edwards at Strictly Street Salsa and with the Afro-Latin Festival. He has studied and performed across North America, including Cuba and Mexico.