DiverseWorks produces and presents new multidisciplinary art through innovative collaborations with artists and communities. We honor each artist’s vision without limits to generate expansive art and learning experiences for all.
Artists, participants, enthusiasts, and those new to the arts form the DiverseWorks community—we encourage active engagement in all that we do.
EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
DiverseWorks commissions artists to create new works, including exhibitions and performances, that are not easily categorized. We encourage artists to take risks, try new things and collaborate with other artists and the community.
River on Fire – Exhibition
River on Fire – Exhibition
River on Fire is a multidisciplinary exhibition and performance project curated by DW’s Curator Ashley DeHoyos Sauder that explores the conversations related to the impacts and effects of the climate crisis and human reliance on fossil fuels in Houston and the Gulf South region.
Praise Music Sonogram
Praise Music Sonogram
River on Fire is a multidisciplinary exhibition and performance project curated by DW’s Curator Ashley DeHoyos Sauder that explores the conversations related to the impacts and effects of the climate crisis and human reliance on fossil fuels in Houston and the Gulf South region.
Visit to explore all past works.
DIVERSE DISCOURSE
LECTURE AND STUDIO VISIT PROGRAM
Initiated in 2013, Diverse Discourse brings curators, artistic directors, and critics from across North America to Houston. While here, they present a free public lecture and conduct studio visits with Houston-area artists, performers, and writers. These visits often lead to long-term relationships and future projects, contributing to Houston’s reputation as an essential center of contemporary curatorial ideas and artistic practice.
Apply for a studio visit
Houston-based artists working in all disciplines (including performance) may apply for a studio visit with Diverse Discourse visiting lecturers, who each make their selections from the pool of applicants. The application portal generally opens 6-8 weeks prior to each program.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Must reside or work in Harris County, Texas.
- Must be able to have an in-person or virtual studio visit.
- Must NOT be currently enrolled in a degree-granting program (i.e.BFA or MFA).
- Performers, choreographers, writers, filmmakers, multidisciplinary, and visual artists are especially encouraged to apply.
PREVIOUS LECTURERS
Naomi Beckwith
Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Amanda Cachia
Independent Curator & Critic
Dan Byers
The Richard Armstrong Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Carnegie Museum of Art
Xandra Eden
Executive Director & Chief Curator, DiverseWorks (former Curator of Exhibitions, Weatherspoon Art Museum)
Sonia Guiñansaca
Managing Director, Culturestrike
Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy
Curator of Contemporary Art, Coleccíon Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, NY and Caracas, Venezuela
Candice Hopkins
Independent Curator & Writer; Senior Curator, Toronto Biennial of Art
Kemi Ilesanmi
Executive Director, The Laundromat Project, New York, NY
Drew Klein
Performing Arts Director, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati
Claudia La Rocco
Poet, critic, and performer, San Francisco
Thomas Lax
Associate Curator, Department of Media and Performance Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Christopher Y. Lew
Nancy and Fred Poses Associate Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art and 2017 Whitney Biennial Co-Curator
Daniela Lieja Quintanar
Chief Curator and Deputy Director, Programs, REDCAT, Los Angeles
Shea Little
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Big Medium, Austin
Mia Locks
Independent Curator and 2017 Whitney Biennial Co-Curator
Adriel Luis
Curator of Digital and Emerging Practice, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Hesse McGraw
Vice President for Education and Public Programs, San Francisco Art Institute
Angela Mattox
Artistic Director, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA)
Christopher K. Morgan
Executive Artistic Director, Dance Place, Washington, D.C.
Diana Nawi
Associate Curator, Pérez Art Museum, Miami
Larry Ossei-Mensah
Curator-at-Large, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and Co-Founder of ARTNOIR
Chris Sharp
Independent Curator, Writer, and Critic, Mexico City
Astria Suparak
Independent Curator
Stacy Switzer
Artistic Director, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Dominic Willsdon
Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
I cannot imagine having created “Womb“ in partnership with any other presenter and am so grateful for our experience with them this past year. As a truly artist-driven organization, DiverseWorks will be the standard for all my future commissioning collaborations.
Marina Magalhães — Choreographer & Dance Artist, Los Angeles
Marina Magalhães — Choreographer & Dance Artist, Los Angeles
PROJECT FREEWAY
Project Freeway is a response to the rapid growth and diversification of the city of Houston and DiverseWorks’ desire to support innovative art projects that engage all Houstonians, especially those living in neighborhoods outside of the city center. Initiated in 2018, the Project Freeway Fellowship Program provides support for artists to develop and present new projects in the neighborhoods where they work and/or live. Through workshops and meetings with DiverseWorks staff, community activists, other artists, curators, and arts professionals, Project Freeway programs are designed to foster dialogue, develop production and management skills, decentralize the arts in Houston, and forge new neighborhood partnerships and support for the arts.
THE IDEA FUND
The Idea Fund supports artists, curators, and collectives in the Greater Houston Area to realize new projects that exemplify unconventional, interventionist, conceptual, entrepreneurial, participatory, or guerrilla artist practices. These projects expand our understanding of how art exists in the world and model new ways of working in, for, and with community.
Administered by DiverseWorks in partnership with Aurora Picture Show and Projects, The Idea Fund is an Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program, one of 32 such programs across the United States.
For more information about The Idea Fund—including eligibility requirements, how to apply, and previously funded projects, please visit The Idea Fund’s website.
Through DiverseWorks, I was exposed to artists whose work changed my life by informing my perspective of what art made by supported artists can do. The relationships they develop between artists and other artists, as well as with the larger Houston population, is invaluable to the artist and collective communities. I attribute so much of my growth as an artist and person to DiverseWorks, a literal dream opportunity come true.
Candice D’Meza — Artist & Director, Houston
Candice D’Meza — Artist & Director, Houston
DIVERSEWORKS’ PRESENCE IN HOUSTON
In the early 1980’s, Houston began to be recognized, internationally and nationally, for the diversity of the city’s culture, while at the same time, in the words of DiverseWorks Founder Charles Gallagher, “a developing collision between artists and a stifling institutional environment exposed the need for an independent artist-run organization and gave urgency to our hearts and hands.” In the fall of 1982, James Surls’ Lawndale Art Annex hosted the first multimedia fundraiser for what would become DiverseWorks, and the first Artist Advisory Board exhibition was mounted in February 1983 at the Texas Commerce Tower 60th Floor Sky Lobby.
Many artists volunteered to work to create a professional space for exhibitions, video screenings, music, performance, and community forums culminating in the opening of DiverseWorks in a Civil War-era building near Market Square in downtown Houston in 1983. Over the course of our 40+ year history, DiverseWorks has made its home at four locations, while also presenting artists’ projects at a variety of unconventional sites across Houston.
1983-1989
1989-2012
2012-2015
2015-NOW
214 TRAVIS
1117 EAST freeway
4102 fannin
MATCH: 3400 MAIN
DiverseWorks’ first location was a Civil War Era armory and dry goods store at 214 Travis Street Houston, TX 77002. The building was damaged in a fire on February 9, 1989.
DiverseWorks’ second home was a cotton warehouse complex built in 1920 at 1117 East Freeway, Houston, TX 77002.
DiverseWorks’ third location was in the back warehouse section of the old Cleburne Cafeteria at 4102 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77004
DiverseWorks is currently located in the MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston) at 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.
1983-1989
1989-2012
214 TRAVIS
1117 EAST freeway
DiverseWorks’ first location was a Civil War Era armory and dry goods store at 214 Travis Street Houston, TX 77002. The building was damaged in a fire on February 9, 1989.
DiverseWorks’ second home was a cotton warehouse complex built in 1920 at 1117 East Freeway, Houston, TX 77002.
2012-2015
2015-NOW
4102 fannin
MATCH: 3400 MAIN
DiverseWorks’ third location was in the back warehouse section of the old Cleburne Cafeteria at 4102 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77004.
DiverseWorks is currently located in the MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston) at 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.
DiverseWorks has a commitment to bring art to communities throughout the Houston area.
A small selection of off-site projects include:
ALIEF ART HOUSE, created as part of artist Matt Manalo’s DiverseWorks Project Freeway Fellowship, is a hub for creativity that highlights the cultural richness of the multiple communities in Alief.
NATURAL ACTS IN ARTIFICIAL WATER by Stephan Koplowitz
FIRE AND MOVEMENT by Jefferson Pinder
CENTER AISLE BLUES by Laura Gutierrez stems from childhood memories of Fiesta Mart to more recent political realizations. Gutierrez choreographs movement inspired by the aisles and atmosphere of a local Fiesta, playing on the aesthetics of the supermarket, the ritualistic experience of grocery shopping, and the convergence of diverse communities in the aisles.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING is a participatory theater event about empathy, democracy and power. Combining transcripts from government meetings in several cities, as well as original writing and a surprise ending, City Council Meeting reveals the city we make each night by performing it. This work is created anew in each city where it is presented, with the help of local actors, activists, politicians, and other citizens.
RASGOS ASIÁTICOS – SOBREMESA was written by San Antonio-raised and Austin-based artist Virginia Grise with an installation by Los Angeles-based designer Tanya Orellana, Rasgos Asiáticos – Sobremesa transforms the Train Shed next to the Silos at Sawyer Yards into a market of memories—a site-specific, multisensory experiential installation.
214 TRAVIS: DiverseWorks’ first location
1117 EAST FREEWAY: DiverseWorks’ second home
MATCH (3400 MAIN): DiverseWorks’ current location
4102 FANNIN: DiverseWorks’ third location
ALIEF ART HOUSE, created as part of artist Matt Manalo’s DiverseWorks Project Freeway Fellowship, is a hub for creativity that highlights the cultural richness of the multiple communities in Alief.
NATURAL ACTS IN ARTIFICIAL WATER by Stephan Koplowitz
FIRE AND MOVEMENT by Jefferson Pinder
CENTER AISLE BLUES by Laura Gutierrez stems from childhood memories of Fiesta Mart to more recent political realizations. Gutierrez choreographs movement inspired by the aisles and atmosphere of a local Fiesta, playing on the aesthetics of the supermarket, the ritualistic experience of grocery shopping, and the convergence of diverse communities in the aisles.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING is a participatory theater event about empathy, democracy and power. Combining transcripts from government meetings in several cities, as well as original writing and a surprise ending, City Council Meeting reveals the city we make each night by performing it. This work is created anew in each city where it is presented, with the help of local actors, activists, politicians, and other citizens.
RASGOS ASIÁTICOS – SOBREMESA was written by San Antonio-raised and Austin-based artist Virginia Grise with an installation by Los Angeles-based designer Tanya Orellana, Rasgos Asiáticos – Sobremesa transforms the Train Shed next to the Silos at Sawyer Yards into a market of memories—a site-specific, multisensory experiential installation.
214 TRAVIS: DiverseWorks’ first location
1117 EAST FREEWAY: DiverseWorks’ second home
MATCH (3400 MAIN): DiverseWorks’ current location
4102 FANNIN: DiverseWorks’ third location