The Big Show

Lawndale Art Center presents The Big Show. Opening Reception Friday, July 11, 2014, 6:30-8:30 PM. On view through August 9.

The Big Show is Lawndale Art Center's annual open-call, juried exhibition. It has been an important venue through which emerging and under-represented Houston area artists gain exposure since the show's conception in 1984.

"The Big Show" was formerly the "East End Show," sponsored by the East End Progress Association, at Lawndale's original location.

Each year Lawndale Art Center invites a guest juror to select from work submitted by artists living within 100 miles of Houston. Artists are invited to bring up to three works of art, not previously shown in Houston, to Lawndale Art Center where the work is juried on-site for a chance to be included in the show and a shot at $3,000 in cash awards.

2014 Juror:

Erin Elder, Visual Arts Director
Center for Contemporary Arts
Santa Fe, NM

Erin Elder is the Visual Art Director of Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe. Prior to taking this post in 2012, she worked as an independent curator, writer, and teacher for over twelve years, cultivating interests in experimental collaboration, sense of place, and expanded notions of culture.

Her research has focused on counter-cultural education and art practices, with particular interest in those activities happening in the 1960s American Southwest. Her writing has been published by University of Minnesota Press, University of Houston Press, Proximity Magazine, and more.

She has produced projects with a variety of institutions including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Creative Time, the Center for Land Use Interpretation, International Symposium on Electronic Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.

She is a visiting lecturer at numerous schools and universities and has served as juror or reviewer for many international forums. Since 2009, she has cooperatively run PLAND, an off-the-grid residency program near Tres Piedras, NM.

Erin holds dual self-designed BAs from Prescott College, and an MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts. She has been to Houston twice before and was very, very impressed.

In conjunction with The Big Show, Lawndale presents The Big Slide Show Wednesday & Thursday, July 30 & 31 at 6 PM.

Join Lawndale and Houston's talented Big Show artists for short, informal presentations about their work. Presentations start at 6 PM each night at Lawndale Art Center. Come early as seating is limited.