We are honored to send Beverly Buchanan’s 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘳) from our collection in Austin, Texas, to Venice, Italy, for inclusion in the 61st International Art Exhibition “In Minor Keys,” curated by Koyo Kouoh.
On display together with works by 110 artists, this sculpture made of bottle caps, a Georgia license plate, ball bubble hair ties, shells, and other found materials glued onto a rusted tin can connects the lived-in landscapes of the U.S. South with art audiences from around the world.
Beverly Buchanan (1940-2015) was born in Fuquay, North Carolina. She explored history, memory, and place, particularly within the context of Black experiences. Influenced by memory jugs, which were left on unmarked African American graves — often with a watch or a piece of fabric from a person who passed away, Buchanan’s “spirit jars” burst with various things that she discovered in thrift stores. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘳), c. 2000, references long-term, evolving issues such as the Georgia-based company Coca-Cola’s historic relationship to both the Confederacy and desegregation.
On campus at UT Austin, AGBS stewards a growing permanent collection of 1300+ works of art and presents original, scholarship-backed exhibitions in multiple gallery spaces each year. Reaching new audiences with existing artworks is a central tenet of what we do.
Says Kaila Schedeen, exhibitions and collections manager, “AGBS’s mission is focused on highlighting the many interwoven realms of African Diasporic experiences for students, faculty, staff, and the public, who recognize our collections for a high caliber of intellectual inquiry, visual appreciation, and cultural care. Buchanan’s 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘳), c. 2000, is an evocative example of a rigorous conceptual work that explores history through a modern/contemporary artistic lens, which is reflected throughout our holdings. Her work’s inclusion in La Biennale highlights the international scope of human experience represented across our collections.”
Biennale Arte 2026 is open to the public May 9 – Nov. 22, 2026.
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With thanks to @andrewedlingallery
Only a few days left of 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡. The exhibition closes May 9th. Gallery hours below!
Christian Green Gallery: Wed - Fri 12 - 5 pm and Sat 11 - 2 pm
Idea Lab: Tues - Fri 12 - 5 pm and Saturday by appointment
📷: @tmeredithphoto
Need a break from finals season and the end of the semester? Looking to celebrate after a looong year? ⭐ Join us 5 - 7 pm on 4/17 for our final Fridays for Students program of the Spring semester! ⭐
Enjoy some treats and refreshments, check out the art, mingle with friends, and craft your hearts out. We hope to see you there!
Looking back on our Something Grander Still Convening! We were honored to host our incredible participants and moderators. Thanks to all involved and all of our guests for showing support!
𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 is on view January 30 - May 9, 2026. Visit the link in our bio to plan your visit.
📷: Thomas Meredith (slides 1, 3, 4, and 6)
"Carry Mae Weems: Something Grander Still" is on view now Art Galleries at Black Studies!
Show Dates: January 30 – May 9
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“There’s something grand in the knowing and the creating of ourselves, and something grander still about how we know and create our personal histories,” Carrie Mae Weems observed in a 1984 artist statement for ‘Family Pictures and Stories’ (1978–84). Weems has returned periodically to this multigenerational, multimedia family album of photographs, text, and audio over the next forty years, and continues exploring its concerns with the relationships among the self, identity, and history.
Featured in AGBS’ Christian-Green Gallery, “Carrie Mae Weems: Something Grander Still” tracks the creation of ‘Family Pictures and Stories,’ focusing on Weems’s ongoing re-use of her family pictures and stories from the early 1980s to today. A study room in AGBS’ Idea Lab unfolds Weems’s participation in dialogues about the politics of photography in the 1980s and early 1990s. The study room collects art and publications made by artists and activists who embraced photography and video as means to bring visibility to marginalized experiences and resist forms of othering prevalent in mainstream media.
Following the journeys of Weems and her family pictures through art schools and museums as well as worlds of Black photography, the global social documentary movement, and feminist thought, “Something Grander Still” sheds new light on the development of one of the most significant artistic practices of the twenty-first century.
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Art Galleries at Black Studies @galleriesatut
Christian-Green Gallery
ADDRESS: 201 E 21st St, Jester Center A232
HOURS: Wed-Fri: 12-5PM; Sat: 11AM-2PM
Idea Lab
ADDRESS: 210 West 24th St, Gordon-White Building 2.204
HOURS: Tue-Fri: 12-5PM
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IMAGE: Carrie Mae Weems @carriemaeweems
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#carriemaeweems #artgalleriesatblackstudies #christiangreengallery #idealab #agbs #austinart #artaustinorg #atx #austin #artaustin #austinartist #artexhibition #artgallery #austintexas #atxart #atxevents #austingallery #galleryaustin #austinartgallery #artmuseum #austinartmuseum
The AGBS galleries will be closed this week for Spring Break! We will reopen next week. Come by then to see our current exhibition 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 (January 30 - May 9).
Christian Green Gallery hours: Wed - Fri 12 - 5 pm and Sat 11 - 2 pm
Idea Lab: Tues - Fri 12 - 5 pm and Saturday by appointment
📸: Mark Doroba
Join us this Friday for our Fridays for Students program! 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Christian Green Gallery we will be screen printing, exploring the galleries, and socializing over pizza. Free for all students. Check out the link in our bio for more info!
🖼️: Deborah Roberts, Budding..., 2016, Mixed media collage, 30 x 22 in.
Just one week until 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀! Take a look at our participants, and RSVP at the 🔗 in our bio. See you soon!
AGBS welcomes you to 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀!
Convened on the occasion of the exhibition 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 at AGBS, this program brings together eight artists who embraced photography and video as means to bring visibility to the histories and perspectives of people of color, women, LGBTQ+, and/or working-class communities in the 1980s. Discussing how they developed new methods and ideas about photography, film, and documentary, this program illuminates the legacies of these experimental practices in contemporary art.
⭐ Thursday, March 5, at The University of Texas - Austin
3-4:45 pm / Panel 1: “Photography’s New, Old Histories”
Joy Gregory and Deborah Willis converse about their work in the 1980s to build archives, books, and associations for photography of the African diaspora. Moderated by Eddie Chambers.
⭐ Friday, March 6, at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University
1-2:45 pm / Panel 2: “Documentary in Contention”
Ben Caldwell, Janet Delaney, and Ingrid Pollard discuss the questioning of documentary taking place in the 1980s, and how this questioning was intertwined with community-building and activism. Moderated by Ariel Evans.
Intermission
3:15-5 pm / Panel 3: “Photography, Place, Position, Politics”
Marilyn Nance, Martha Rosler, and Will Wilson consider the international scope of documentary film and photography; thinking through how geopolitical concerns and increasingly global discourses about identity informed artists working in the 1980s and 1990s. Moderated by Erina Duganne.
RSVP at the link in our bio! See you there.
📸: 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡, installation views. Idea Lab, AGBS, The University of Texas at Austin, January 30 – May 9, 2026. Photo: Mark Doroba.
Thank you for coming out last week to celebrate the opening of 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡!
Our opening night was bustling and filled with excitement, we love seeing you in the space. Stop by any time during our open hours to catch the exhibition again or if we missed you at the opening!
Christian Green Gallery is open W-F from 12 -5 pm and Saturdays 11 - 2 pm.
Idea Lab is open Tu-F from 12 - 5 pm and Saturdays by appointment.
📸: Thomas Meredith @tmeredithphoto
Fridays *for Students*
February 6th join us at the Christian-Green Gallery (Jester Center, 2nd Floor, A232) for Fridays for Students from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
Learn about Carrie Mae Weem’s photography with 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 curator, Ariel Evans. Discuss the artwork, socialize with new friends, and enjoy delicious snacks!
Pizza and refreshments provided.
Join us at our Opening Reception for Carrie Mae Weems | Something Grander Still ⭐ We will be celebrating at the Christian Green Gallery from 5 - 8 pm. Free and open to the public with food and refreshments! RSVP at the 🔗 in our bio.
AGBS's Idea Lab will be open to the public as well, but no reception will be held there.
See you soon!
