Panel: Creating Containers
with Emily Lee, Austin Nelsen, Mai Snow, Brittney Williams, and moderator Rachael Starbuck
Join us for an exploratory discussion inspired by the artwork of exhibiting HOST space artist collective Celeste.
A dynamic panel of local artists and organizers will explore various practices and intentions involved in the creation of containers and the thoughtful act of hosting, both integral elements in the ideas behind the artwork of Celeste, as well as other practicing contemporary artists.
Meet us on the Jones Center Rooftop and get to know the Austin artists and art organizers involved in current community efforts to promote other creators through the idea of hosting and the creation of art spaces. Be a part of this inspiring conversation surrounding these generous concepts, which create a sense of community and support.
Joining us in conversation are Emily Lee, Austin Nelsen, Mai Snow, Brittney Williams, and moderator Rachael Starbuck.
About the Speakers:
Emily Lee is an artist and organizer based in Texas. Lee has exhibited in Texas and New York and is the recipient of the Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Grant, The Rhodes Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Art, and Future Front TX’s Microgrant. In 2021, they founded All the Sudden, a neighborhood project space dedicated to fostering context-specific exhibits and financial self-sufficiency for artists of all disciplines. ATS earned a Critic’s Pick Award from The Austin Chronicle in 2022. Their writing has been published by French & Michigan and Southwest Contemporary.
Austin Nelsen is an artist, director, and founder of Co-Lab Projects. For over 10 years, he has worked as a creative professional to grow and foster community engagement in the Austin arts community. In 2020, Austin conceptualized the Co-Lab Projects "Culvert" project as a way to operate during the pandemic, provide artists with a unique venue to exhibit new works, and utilize the culvert gallery as an art object in itself. Co-Lab Projects is a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes contemporary art through exhibitions, performances, and educational programs.programs.
Mai Snow is a painter living and making work in Austin Texas. Snow received their MFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020 and their BFA from Maine College of Art in 2013. Snow came to the United States at the age of 13 after being adopted from Russia. Snow is also the co-creator of a local DIY Gallery space, Shed Shows. Alongside painting, they care deeply about language and its ability to shape time, physicality, and openness. Snow has shown their paintings throughout Texas, New England, and in various parts of the Midwest.
Brittney Williams is a native Austinite, and co-founder of Origin Studio House, a community space located in historic East Austin that offers art, coffee, food, cocktails, and events. Williams is also a designing partner of Studio VYB, a full-service interior design studio based in Austin. Cultivating community through the lenses of intentional design is her superpower. She’s an expert in hospitality design, cultural curation, and storytelling. Some of Brittney’s notable design contributions include eleMINT Facial Studio, Swedish Hill, Joann’s Fine Foods, Outdoor Voices (Los Angeles), Clark’s Oyster Bar (Aspen, CO), and several custom luxury residences for high-profile clients. Brittney majored in Urban Studies under Eugene Lang at The New School.
Rachael Starbuck is an artist, educator and curator from Miami, currently living in Austin. She is a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Art and Art History, and Gallery Coordinator and preparator at the Visual Arts Center. A sculptor and video artist, Starbuck makes objects and videos that are sensitive to their environment and navigate how we make and maintain connections. Invested in working collaboratively, Starbuck is a co-founder of the nomadic curatorial project Partial Shade and a founding member of MATERIAL GIRLS, a non-local artist collective of female-identifying sculptors and digital artists. She received her MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and her BFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011. Starbuck has been a resident at The Wassaic Project (New York, 2018), The Vermont Studio Center (2015), ACRE Projects (Chicago, 2013), and the Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside (New York, 2011). She has shown work nationally and internationally at Artpace San Antonio (2022), Northern-Southern (Austin, 2022), Sweet Pass Sculpture Park (Dallas, 2021), TSA Sculpture Park (Los Angeles, 2019), 5-50 Gallery (Queens, 2019), SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW (NYC, 2018), Monaco (St Louis, 2018), Trestle Art Space, (Brooklyn, 2017), and Chiang Mai University (Thailand, 2017).