#CarverMuseumPrograms | AustinTexas.gov

Carver Museum Programming

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What's Happening this Month?

April Events

Love the Carver? Nominate us as Austin’s Best Museum for The Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin 2022!

April 23, 1PM - 3PM: 4th Saturday Genealogy Seminar: Basics of Ancestry and Tree-Building

This 4th Saturday Seminar is presented by Sarah Kroh. Kroh is a texas-based genealogist who enjoys bringing ancestors to life with stories, photos, and historical context - even if they arent her ancestors! Her favorite record types are obituaries, city directories, yearbooks, and county tax rolls. She currently serves as the Librarian for the Williamson County Genealogical Society.

This event is free to the public and will take place at the Carver Genealogy Center. Masks recommended inside. RSVP on Eventbrite.

April 15, 6PM - 8PM: Folktales Book Club

This month Folktales is reading You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston. RSVP for Folktales Book Club.

Zora Neale Hurston, "You Don't Know Us Negroes" book cover, which is a black background and a drawing of a person wearing a straw hat

May Events

May 5, 7PM - 9PM: Create & Heal: The Art of Happiness

Are your actions moving you in a positive direction? What are you doing in your communities to improve and uplift them? This month visual artist Samara Barks will help our audience explore "The Art of Happiness" in a hands-on watercolor workshop and conversation. Samara Barks’ vibrant and beautiful murals are sprinkled throughout the city of Austin. Samara is a visual artist that uses her art to inspire viewers to reflect on their own hearts and intentions.

Samara (Sam) Barks, also known as Mixed Hues, is a freelance illustrator, muralist, 3D artist, and mentor. Her art career has taken her across the states, from her hometown of Detroit to Pittsburgh, Miami, Houston, and for the last five years, east Austin, which she now calls home. Her illustration and fine art styles mix exaggerated realism with a graffiti feel, and work features people of color, specifically black people, in spaces where they aren't likely to be seen or otherwise represented.

RSVP on Eventbrite.

Call for Proposals: Small Black Museum Residency Project, Volume II

CarverMuseumATX is requesting proposals for our 2022 Small Black Museum Residency Project. The Carver residency project is a three-month residency for three artists to develop new artwork and engage in professional development initiatives offered through the program. The residency will have a hybrid format that takes place remotely and in-person between September 5, 2022 - November 28, 2022.

Artists who successfully complete the residency will be eligible to participate in a survey, group, or solo exhibition. Click here to learn how to apply.

Apply Now! The deadline to apply is May 22, 11:59 PM CST.

Ongoing Programs

Create & Heal

purple and yellow gradient banner with the bold text arranged in a curved pattern "Create & Heal"

Create and Heal is a program of the Carver Museum that focuses on helping our community process the continued state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown people in the United States. Through this program, we partner with Austin-based artists and activists to provide workshops where participants can share their thoughts and feelings and create art.

Folktales Book Club

This month Folktales is reading You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston. RSVP for Folktales Book Club.

Zora Neale Hurston, "You Don't Know Us Negroes" book cover, which is a black background and a drawing of a person wearing a straw hat

Small Black Museum: a podcast

Cover graphic for Small Black Museum Ep. 1

Featuring stories from Black Austinites and contemporary shakers and makers, Small Black Museum is a podcast hosted by CarverMuseumATX. Our first episode, “Legacy, Legacy, Legacy!” features Stephanie Lang, Program Administrator for the Center for Community Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. You can listen to it on Soundcloud.

Our next segment of Small Black Museum features husband and wife hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm. We’ll be dropping it in late May. Until then, stay curious and elevate your own living archive!

Carver Studio Arts

The Carver Museum’s Studio Arts Program for adults was created as an inclusive place for the creation of artwork informed by and grounded in the history of Black art and artists. Courses are taught by local professional artists, include both history and technique of the medium, and are small in class size allowing for discussions, experimentation, and artistic development. Participants are also able to visit and be inspired by local and national artists’ work exhibited throughout the Carver Museum Art Galleries.

2022 course offerings include DJ 101, relief printing, digital photography, and Afrocentric drawing.

Summer Camp

Carver Camps 2022

purple flyer with illustrations of two students holding paint brushes

Carver Camps are back!

Online registration starts February 8

Program dates: June 6-August 12

Parks and Recreation Summer Camp

parks and recreation summer camp

Parks and Recreation's socially distant summer camp starts on June 6 and goes until August 12!

More info here.

Black History Month

Black History Month 2022

The CarverMuseumATX presents a community Block Party for Black History Month!

yellow background with monochromatic photos of performing artists and text beaming up saying "Block Party"

Join us for music, food, and a Melanated Marketplace Vendors’ showcase with DJ Urban Mello! With special performances by Shelbi Alexandria, J. Mill, and Andre Taylor. Free and open to the public.

photograph of an artist in front of their paintings

photograph of two performers on stage in front of the museum

photograph of two women in matching shirts that say "it's a good day to be Black"

photograph of Shelbi Alexander performing on stage and a child dancing in front of the stage

Black History Month Kids’ Day! presents crafts, storytelling and activities to learn more about Black Heritage

Something for the entire family! We're focusing on this year’s Black History Month Theme “Black Health and Wellness” and featuring special guests: Children’s Book Author and Illustrator Don Tate, Black Girls Who Run Austin, Christopher Isom-Youth MOVEment Instructor, and CDF Freedom Schools Austin

photograph of an adult showing a child how to create a craft

photograph of a child standing in front of a book display

photograph of artist Don Tate drawing a cartoon image of a child in front of an audience of children

Photographs by Madison Morris and Nicole Parker

Past Programs

Storytelling and the Social Landscape through the Photographic Lens

View the ONLINE EXHIBITION.

Timbuktu Y.O.U. Virtual After-School Program

timbuktu you digital banner

Timbuktu Y.O.U. is a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) and photography-based virtual after-school program that touches on SEL (social and emotional learning) as well as gardening and leadership with our youth participants.

The program is for 6th-8th graders and is especially geared towards students of color. All kids welcome. Its name is inspired by Timbuktu, the center of learning for centuries in Mali, West Africa an empire founded by Mansa Musa 1,800 years ago.

Timbuktu Y.O.U. program dates are September 21 - December 17, 2020. Spaces are limited. Sessions will be via Zoom Rooms.

SCHEDULE:
Monday and Wednesday 4pm-6:30pm
Tuesday and Thursday 4pm-6pm

Important NOTE:
If interested in enrolling in all three sessions, $150 due in full upon registration. For monthly payment options, enroll in individual sessions of interest. Deadline for first session payment is upon registration (beginning August 18th). Deadline for second session payment is Sept. 17th; and deadline for third session payment is October 15th.

Timbuktu Y.O.U. will offer the following classes:
TEEN SUMMIT
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
AQUAPONICS
AND MORE...

Click HERE for more information on how to register on Rectrac. Click HERE for information on Financial Assistance through the City of Austin. If financial aid approved email faith.weaver@austintexas.gov to let us know, so that it can be applied.

We look forward to serving youth virtually with Timbuktu Y.O.U. afterschool.

Digital Kickback

Digital Kickback featuring DJ Shani

Digital Kickback is a music series showcasing Black Austin-based DJs, musicians, and audiophiles to help you shake off the work week. Every Friday from 5:30-6:30pm, the Carver will go Live on Instagram with a musician to set the soundtrack for your weekend.

Make sure you’re following us on Instagram and have notifications turned on so you don’t miss a beat!

Digital Kickback line up:
April 10: DJ Cysūm
April 17: DJ Shani
April 24: Stefon Osae
May 1: Charles Moon

Black to the Future: Book Club

Black to the Future Banner

Black to the Future is a virtual book club focusing on works by Black authors on dystopian realities, alternate universes, and sci-fi. RSVP through Eventbrite here to access the web conferences.

Cover of Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler Black to the Future's first meeting is on April 28, 2020 from 7pm to 9pm and will discuss Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler. Butler is a renowned author and is the first science fiction author to ever receive the “Genius Grant.” Parable of the Talents is a science fiction novel set in a dystopian reality wherein the United States is governed by an extremist fundamentalist Christian group. In a stark comparison to the current political climate, this 1995 novel maintains its cultural relevance in a new decade by exploring the dynamics of power, control, and enslaved labor within America.

Conference information for discussions TBA.

Cultural Aptitude

Cultural Aptitude is a conversation and training series designed to provide practical advice around navigating our new normal. Join us at 6pm on May 6 for a conversation with sustainability and self-sufficiency expert Christina Muhammad.

Phone conference info:

Phone number: 408-418-9388 // Access code: 622-275-062