The Big Show

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.

The Big Show 2014 award winners selected by guest juror, Erin Elder, Visual Arts Director, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe were announced at the opening reception on July 11, 2014. Awards were given to:

Celan Bouillet
Peter Broz
Laura Pregeant

For this year’s exhibition, a total of 115 works by 106 artists were selected by juror Erin Elder, Visual Arts Director, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, for the exhibition from 981 works submitted by 382 artists. Artists selected for the exhibition include:

Maurice Abelman, Sarita Ackerman, Isela Aguirre, Mehek Ahmed, Homer Allen, Joel Anderson, Shara Appanaitis, Amanda Armistead, Logan Sebastian Beck, Mack Bishop III, Noreen Borys, Celan Bouillet, Elaine Bradford, Jeff Bradley, Margaret Braun, Kari Breitigam, Betty-Ann Brose, Peter Broz, Vernon Caldera, Lindy Chambers, Yvette Chapman, JooYoung Choi, K.C. Collins, Isabel Cuenca, Claire Cusack, Sandra de la Rosa, Kelley Devine, Luisa Duarte, Amber Eggleton, Sandy Ewen, Xenia Fedorchenko, Laura Feld, Vincent Fink, Jed Foronda, Jenn Fox, Diane Fraser, Leticia Garcia, Bryan Gardner, Helena Gijsbers van Wijk, Marsha Glickman, Eva Graf, Carrie Green Markello, The Center for Imaginative Cartography + Research, J.G. Harkins, Linda Harmes, Eric Hartley, J. Hassinger, Luis Hernandez, Keith J.R. Hollingsworth, Michael Horvath, Jordan Hughes, Jeff Jennings, Michael Sean Kirby, Jason Kishell, Alexander Larsen, Riah Lee, Tae Lee, Lulu Lin, Annie Lockhart, David McClain, Palmer Mena, Adrienne Elyse Meyers, Paige Moore, L.A. Naut, Kia Neill, Clark Nunn, Eric Ockrassa, Lee Alice (Hillman) Pablo, Eric Pearce, Kristy Peet, Robert Peña, Jr., Page Piland, Laura Pregeant, Tara Ratliff, Patrick Renner, Leslie Roades, Lillian Roberds, Caroline Roberts, Natalie Rodgers, Penelope Ross, Nana Sampong, Charlie Jean Sartwelle, Nataliya Scheib, Mireille Schellhorn, Caroline Sharpless, Torie Shelton, John Slaby, Taylor Smith, Megan Spacek, Lou Sprecher, Adair Stephens, Todd Stevens, Gerald W. Syler, Kamilia Szczesna, Dwight Theall, Michael Toskovich, Sandy Tramel, Nohelia Vargas, Justin Varner, Amed Ruben Verástegui, Christopher Wallace, Elise Weber, Elizabeth Welch, Dave Wilson, Amy Beth Wright, Justin Zachary.

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 a 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.

Wednesday & Thursday, July 30 & July 31, 2014
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.

Your generosity provides funding for Lawndale’s many free programs and directly supports artists all year. Your financial support also helps to cover Big Show expenses such as the production and printing of the catalog, the juror’s honorarium and cash awards for the artists.

Many thanks to our Big Show 2014 sponsors!
as of July 9, 2014

Umbrella
Kathrine G. McGovern

Sand Castle
Scott R. Sparvero

Starfish
Felvis Foundation / David R. Graham

Beach Ball
Jereann Chaney
GDF Suez
Mary Morrison
Patterson & Murphy Public Relations
H. Irving Schweppe Jr., M.D.

Snow Cone
Kerry Inman & Denby Auble
Cindy & Larry Burns
Romayne & Bill Cox
Jane Eifler
Tim Kollatschny & Stephen Goldberg
Victoria & Marshal Lightman
Jeryn & Walter Mayer
Alan Morlan
H. Russell Pitman
Nicole & Joey Romano
Limor & Stuart Smith

Seagull
Sara & Philip Beck
James Bell
Minnette & Peter Boesel
Rob Greenstein
Richard E. Fluhr & Rudy Hernandez, Jr.
Maria Christina Jadick
Ben & Caroline Jansen
Jenny & Mark Johnson
Liz Anders & Associates
Frazier King
Nicole Longnecker
Julie Farr & Bob Lordi
Tracey & William Meyer
Meghan Miller
Phillips 66
Russell Rice
Anne & Joe Romano
Bryan Scrivner
Richard Stout
Misty Barnett Trahan & Chris Trahan
Venture Products Company

Friends
Marilyn & Terry Brooks
Rosalind Speed

In-Kind
Deep Eddy Vodka
KIND Healthy Snacks
Brian James
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
United Airlines
Christine & Ramon West
Whole Foods Market