Featured

The blues continue to be a part of African-American life in Texas, and is found where dancing, drinking, socializing and being seen are at the center of the action. The blues life, in a sense, is made up of all these pieces - the music and the mood, the place and the people. The three venues documented in this exhibition - the Eastside Lounge and the Longbranch Inn in Austin and C. Davis Bar-B-Q in Houston - have served variously as neighborhood hangouts or favorite jam places for local blues musicians. In their modest and steady way, these venues keep the blues alive by providing a welcoming environment for musicians and for the many people who follow and support them.

Texas Folklife’s exhibit Yard Show showcases homes and properties transformed by their owners into uncommon personal displays with photographs by Krista Whitson, Jill Nokes and Chuy Benitez, videos and sculptural elements borrowed from selected yards as well as new installations commissioned for the exhibit. The stories in Yard Show build vivid pictures of home that is more than just real estate and property values, and offers a lens for people to view their own communities, especially those overlooked neighborhoods where forgotten public histories and private memories may contribute to a greater sense of place.