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olu-campbell-blog · 6 years ago

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Olu Campbell | Laurel, Maryland

Olu Campbell is from Laurel, Maryland. Laurel is a city in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, in the United States, located almost midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River.

Laurel is a city in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, in the United States, located almost midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. Founded as a mill town in the early 19th century, the arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1835 expanded local industry and later enabled the city to become an early commuter town for Washington and Baltimore workers. Largely residential today, the city maintains a historic district centered on its Main Street, highlighting its industrial past.

The Department of Defense is a prominent presence in the Laurel area today, with the Fort Meade Army base, the National Security Agency, and Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory all located nearby. Laurel Park, a thoroughbred horse racetrack, is located just outside city limits.

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The City of Laurel had a population of 29,081 as of July 1, 2018. Laurel ranks in the upper quartile for Population Density and Diversity Index when compared to the other cities, towns and Census Designated Places (CDPs) in Maryland. See peer rankings below.

The primary coordinate point for Laurel is located at latitude 39.0993 and longitude -76.8483 in Prince George's County. The formal boundaries for the City of Laurel encompass a land area of 4.42 sq. miles and a water area of 0.03 sq. miles. Prince George's County is in the Eastern time zone (GMT -5). The elevation is 167 feet.

While the primary coordinates for City of Laurel are located in Prince George's County, it should be noted that the formal boundaries for this community also extend into Anne Arundel County, and Howard County.

The City of Laurel (GNIS ID: 2390608) has a C1 Census Class Code which indicates an active incorporated place that does not serve as a county subdivision equivalent. It also has a Functional Status Code of "A" which identifies an active government providing primary general-purpose functions.

The City of Laurel is located within District 10, Laurel, a minor civil division (MCD) of Prince George's County.

The expanse of what is commonly referred to as "Laurel" crosses over portions of three Maryland counties: Prince George's, Howard, and Anne Arundel. The portion of Montgomery County having a postal address of Laurel is so miniscule it could be missed with the preverbal â€œblink of an eyeâ€. Most of Montgomery County Laurel was moved to a Burtonsville zip code years ago and only a few Montgomery County properties remain with a Laurel zip code.

The incorporated City of Laurel is ONLY in Prince George's County, MD. So in other words, all of what is commonly thought of as Laurel is not part of the City of Laurel. However, all of what is Prince George's County Laurel is NOT the City of Laurel but all of what is the City of Laurel is in Prince George's County. None of what is in Montgomery County, Howard County or Anne Arundel County is part of the City of Laurel.

The total of â€œpostalâ€ Laurel is made up of four zip codes. Laurel 20723 is Howard County Laurel.

In the State of Maryland, political power comes from the State to the counties. Typical services like planning and zoning, police and fire protection, education, etc. are controlled by the counties. When a municipality is incorporated, varying degrees of this authority is ceded to the municipality. For instance, some municipalities, like Laurel (the City), have their own police, recreation and planning and zoning authority. Of course, the municipalities have taxing authority and this makes property taxes higher, in varying degrees, in incorporated municipalities than in unincorporated areas. The county property taxes are lower in areas where some of the services are provided by the municipality but the lower county taxes just donâ€™t seem to compensate for the city taxes levied. I don't believe that any cities in Maryland (with the exception of Baltimore City which has the same political status as a county) have authority to levy sales, income or real estate transfer taxes. Also, with the exception of Baltimore City, ALL elementary and secondary education is under the control of the counties.

The real estate market in "Laurel" is quite diverse, as has been previously mentioned, and like anywhere, may vary with the price range of the property you are seeking and the specific area. This may also vary by how â€œquality of lifeâ€ is perceived and measured. Of course, convenience to quality recreation, shopping and transportation play a part in this. Quality of education plays a great part to many. Since our educational systems are county based and controlled, the perceived quality of education may vary from one part of Laurel to another.

The market in our general area is a buyerâ€™s market. This means that in many areas there is more than a six month supply of homes. This supply is measured by taking the total inventory of available homes and dividing it by the number of homes that sell in a month. If we measure affordability by monthly cost, here will probably never be a better time to buy a home. Monthly cost will increase and affordability will decrease if either or both factors of price of home and interest rate of mortgage loans go up. Even if one goes down a little, the increase of the other might erase any affordability gains. Prices are soft and interest rates are reasonable. Smart buyers invest when buying demand is low. Smart owners sell when buying demand is high. Unfortunately, most of us are moved to action to buy by the frenzy created when demand is high and supply is low and we loose our nerve to buy when demand is low and supply is high.

There are many factors to consider when choosing where to purchase a home. Of course, as a Realtor, and as an Accredited Buyerâ€™s Representative, I have some experience in helping you sort through those. You may or may not be aware that Realtors are paid by commissions. The buyerâ€™s agent is usually paid by sellers in their agreements with their listing agent and shared with the buyerâ€™s agent through a customary arrangement provided in our MLS system. In other words, you can have the benefits of a professional who is legally and ethically charged with protecting your best interests but is paid by the seller. Therefore, our services in your behalf are no cost to you. An initial consultation is also free and with no further obligation on your part.

Laurel was formed from land on the fall line of the Patuxent River patented by the Snowden family in 1658 as part of the 12,250-acre New Birmingham plantation, which included the later Montpelier.The Washington Turnpike Road Company built Route 1 between 1796 and 1812, creating a major North-South land route. Milstead's Hotel halfway house was built in town to serve four stage lines a day in 1816.Nicholas Snowden built a grist mill on the site circa 1811 which grew to a small cotton mill by the 1820s.In 1828, a detailed survey was conducted to build a canal from Baltimore to Georgetown to connect to the proposed C&O canal.

The route from Elkridge Landing to Bladensburg would have built a waterway roughly aligning with modern U.S. Route 1 and Kenilworth Avenue, with special consideration not to harm the water power for Savage Mill. The project did not go forward; the preference was to build a railroad, the B&O. Nicholas Snowden died in 1831, and the mill properties transferred to Louisa Snowden and her husband Horace Capon in 1834. In 1835, coinciding with the opening of the Capital Subdivision rail line from Baltimore to Washington, the Patuxent Manufacturing Company was chartered by Horace Capon, Edward Snowden, Theodore Jenkins, W.C. Shaw, A.E. Hall, and O.C. Tiffany and the mill expanded greatly with the addition of the Avondale Mill building in 1844.

Mill president Horace Capron with his partners built housing for close to 300 workers, and a bigger cotton mill. Cotton duck from the mill was shipped down what would become Laurel's Main Street, then by rail to Baltimore.A substantial dam was built in 1850.As a mill town, Laurel was somewhat unusual in Prince George's County and was surrounded by agricultural endeavors.

The community was originally known as "Laurel Factory" when Edward Snowden became the first postmaster in 1837 and was a true company town, with a school and shops, and many of the mill workers' homes owned until the 1860s by the company. During the 1840s, three historic churches in the community—the Methodist Est. 1842, St. Mary of the Mills (Roman Catholic) Est. 1845 and St. Philip's (Episcopal) Est. 1839 —established what are still vigorous congregations. During the Civil War, Laurel Factory, like much of Maryland, was a divided community, but with many Southern sympathizers. Union soldiers patrolled the railroad, and for a time there was also a Union hospital. During the latter half of the 19th century, while it still operated its factories, manufacturing played a less important role in the community. Laurel evolved into an early suburban town. Many of its residents commuted by rail to jobs in Washington or Baltimore. The town was incorporated in 1870 and reincorporated in 1890 to coincide with a new electric power plant and paved streets and boarded sidewalks. By this time, the town had grown to a population of 2,080, and the city banned livestock from the streets.

In 1870, the Patuxent Bank of Laurel was founded on the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue. In 1874 a delegation was sent to Annapolis to introduce legislation to make Laurel its own county of 10,000 residents with land from Prince George's, Howard, and Anne Arundel counties. In 1879 Laurel Academy of Music was built along Route 1. The building was converted to a movie theatre in 1915, with a parking garage on the lower floor of the wood structure; it burned in 1917, and Academy Ford built on the same site in the late 20th century. In 1888 inventor David J. Weems tested an unmanned electric train on a two-mile banked circular track near Laurel Station. The three-ton vehicle reached speeds of up to 120 mph for twenty minutes.

At the turn of the century, Louis Barret operated a hotel called the "Half Way House", later called the Milstead Hotel, which served as a stop for the four stage lines operating between Baltimore and Washington. In 1898, a stable fire spread to the 100-year-old hotel and burned adjacent buildings along Main Street. With only bucket brigades, Mayor Phelps telegraphed Baltimore to send a special train with fireman, horses, and engine number 10. One fireman was crushed by the rolling fire engine, and returned in a casket saved from the burning mortuary. The resulting losses inspired efforts to bring water and fire apparatus to the town.The town was struck again by the great Laurel fire of December 14, 1899, when a twelve-building fire destroyed the Laurel Presbyterian Church (known then as Presbyterian Church at Laurel).

#Olu Campbell Laurel Maryland

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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Things to Do in N.Y.C. This February

Looking for even more reasons to get out of the house? Visit our Arts & Entertainment Guide at nytimes.com/spotlight/arts-listings.

Feb. 1

‘Lunar New Year Festival: Year of the Rat’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This daylong celebration includes a parade, performances and family-friendly art activities. (While in the area, head to Rumsey Playfield in Central Park for the free winter sports festival Winter Jam, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; metmuseum.org.

Feb. 2

BAMkids Film Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A range of international works, from live-action features to animated shorts, should appeal to children of all ages. A carnival rounds out the weekend-long festivities. Feb. 1-2; bam.org.

Feb. 3

‘Five Hundred Years of Women’s Work: The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection’ at the Grolier Club. With more than 200 items, the Grolier Club’s latest exhibition documents the history of women making an independent living. Among the works are one of the first books printed by women, a 1478 history of Rome’s emperors and popes, and a copy of Mary Seacole’s 1857 autobiography, the first by a black woman in Britain. Through Feb. 8; grolierclub.org.

Feb. 4

The Moth StorySLAM at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The writer Dame Wilburn will host this iteration of StorySLAM in which 10 Harlemites will be selected to share their stories on the evening’s theme: “Only in Harlem.” Doors open at 7 p.m.; eventbrite.com.

Feb. 5

Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ at Le Poisson Rouge. The Brooklyn ensemble Darmstadt performs its interpretation of this 1964 landmark composition ahead of the musician and composer’s 85th birthday this summer. At 8 p.m.; lpr.com.

Feb. 6

Art in Dumbo’s First Thursday Gallery Walk in Brooklyn. Galleries will stay open late so visitors can browse the Triangle Arts Winter Open Studios and other galleries on their own, or join an Insider’s Tour, a free guided tour of exhibitions on view at Janet Borden and A.I.R. Gallery. (Then stroll along the East River to take in Antony Gormley’s “New York Clearing,” a monumental public work piece called “drawing in space,” at Pier 3 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.) From 6-8 p.m.; artinDUMBO.com.

Feb. 7

‘Cane River’ at BAM Rose Cinemas. Horace Jenkins died shortly after finishing this 1982 romantic melodrama tackling issues of colorism, the legacy of slavery and deceitful practices against African-American landowners. After a negative was found and painstakingly restored, the film is now getting its theatrical release. Feb. 7-20; bam.org.

Feb. 8

Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française. Award-winning features, immersive exhibits, video game demonstrations and more are the heart of this festival. For those Academy Award-minded fans of animation, the Oscar-nominated feature “I Lost My Body” will be shown on Feb. 8 at 11 a.m., followed by a behind-the-scenes panel discussion with the film’s editor, Benjamin Massoubre. Feb. 7-10; fiaf.org.

Feb. 9

‘Visions of Resistance: Recent Films by Brazilian Women Directors’ at the Museum of the Moving Image. Stories of resilience and uprising are the focus of this series, which pays particular attention to the lives of black Brazilians. Feb. 8 and 9; movingimage.us.

Feb. 10

‘Hamlet’ opens at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Ruth Negga received rave reviews for her portrayal of Hamlet in Dublin. Now she will reprise the role that she says “cracks you open,” for New York audiences — and it’s a very tough ticket. Feb. 1-March 8; stannswarehouse.org.

Feb. 11

‘The Mother of Us All’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Virgil Thomson’s opera, with a libretto by Gertrude Stein, is rarely performed. All the more reason to see one of the performances of this work this month. Feb. 8, 11, 12 and 14; nyphil.org.

Feb. 12

‘Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures’ opens at the Museum of Modern Art. After its inaugural exhibitions, the newly renovated museum begins its rollout of new shows. Among the first up is Lange’s photographs, which sharply reflect the human condition. It’s the first major MoMA exhibition of Lange’s career in 50 years. Feb. 9-May 9; moma.org.

Feb. 13

Artist Talk and Book Signing: Rachel Feinstein at the Jewish Museum. In her first museum retrospective, the artist and fashion muse Rachel Feinstein presents fanciful works with a core of steel — a balance of the whimsical and the grotesque. On this night she’ll speak about her exhibition, “Maiden, Mother, Crone,” and the inspirations for her art, which underscore that there is no reality without fantasy. From 6:30-8 p.m.; thejewishmuseum.org.

Feb. 14

‘High Fidelity’ premieres on Hulu. The latest adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel, Mike Hale wrote, “gender-switches the record-store-owning, Top-5-list-making protagonist, who’s now played by Zoë Kravitz.” She plays a record store owner in the gentrifying Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. hulu.com.

Feb. 15

20th anniversary screening of ‘Love & Basketball’ at BAM Rose Cinemas. Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, and teenage hoop dreams: See Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 classic on the big screen as part of the “Long Weekend of Love” series. Make it a Valentine’s double-feature: “The Photograph,” a new Issa Rae-Lakeith Stanfield vehicle reminiscent of 1990s black love stories, arrives in theaters Feb. 14. bam.org.

Feb. 16

Irina Kolesnikova in ‘Swan Lake’ at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Russian prima ballerina and the St. Petersburg Ballet Theater make their United States debut in Tchaikovsky’s beloved classic. Feb. 15 and 16; bam.org.

Feb. 17

‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein’ open at Classic Stage Company. Kate Hamill reimagines Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Tristan Bernays adapts Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” for this repertory cycle of two Gothic tales. In repertory through March 8; classicstage.org.

Feb. 18

Toni Morrison’s ‘The Source of Self-Regard’ at 92nd Street Y. André Holland and Phylicia Rashad perform a dramatic reading of the writer’s 2019 nonfiction collection, consisting of works written over four decades that still resonate socially and politically. Morrison would have turned 89 on Feb. 18. At 8 p.m.; 92y.org/event/toni-morrison.

Feb. 19

‘Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks’ at the Brooklyn Museum. For this exhibition, the artist, who is of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, has selected items from the museum’s collection to be presented alongside his recent work. The result: a rethinking of institutional categorizations and representations of Indigenous peoples and Native American art. (Also on view: “Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas,” an exploration of the effects of climate change on Indigenous communities. It includes more than 60 works spanning 2,800 years and cultures across North, Central, and South America.) Both shows opens Feb. 14; brooklynmuseum.org.

Feb. 20

‘West Side Story’ opens on Broadway. New moves and plenty of tattoos: Ivo van Hove’s approach to this beloved musical is finally here. Jerome Robbins’s choreography has been replaced by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s; “I Feel Pretty” is gone; and this production has an intermission-free running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Open run; westsidestorybway.com.

Feb. 21

‘It’s All in Me: Black Heroines’ at the Museum of Modern Art. On the heels of Film Forum’s four-week “Black Women” festival, MoMA presents this intriguing series with works both familiar and obscure, including “The Watermelon Woman,” “Support the Girls,” “Sambizanga” and “Lime Kiln Club Field Day.” Feb. 20-March 5; moma.org.

Feb. 22

‘Platform 2020: Utterances From the Chorus’ at Danspace Project. “If contemporary dance holds a certain allure yet still seems intimidating,” Gia Kourlas wrote recently, this series “is a way in.” Ideas about performance and protest will be explored by its organizers, Okwui Okpokwasili, a MacArthur recipient, and Judy Hussie-Taylor, Danspace’s executive director and chief curator. Feb. 22-March 21; danspaceproject.org.

Feb. 23

‘Countryside, The Future’ at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The museum turns over its rotunda to Rem Koolhaas’s long-awaited exhibition. In addressing environmental, political and socioeconomic issues, it will examine changes to what Koolhaas calls the “countryside” — that is, rural areas not occupied by cities. Feb. 20-Aug. 14; guggenheim.org.

Feb. 24

‘Cambodian Rock Band’ opens at Signature Theater. Lauren Yee’s music-infused work, featuring songs by Dengue Fever, follows a Cambodian-American woman trying to prosecute a Khmer Rouge prison warden. Previews begin Feb. 4; signaturetheatre.org.

Feb. 25

‘Dana H.’ opens at the Vineyard Theater. Lucas Hnath’s latest is personal: It’s the story of how his mother came to be held captive by an ex-convict who kept her trapped in a series of Florida motels, disoriented and terrified — for five months. Previews start Feb. 11; vineyardtheatre.org.

Feb. 26

‘José Parlá: It’s Yours’ at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. For his first solo museum exhibition in New York City, Parlá presents new paintings that explore his connection to the Bronx. Expect works that “address the suffering caused by redlining policies, the waves of displacement imposed by gentrification, and structural racism,” according to the exhibition news release. Feb. 26-Aug. 16; bronxmuseum.org.

Feb. 27

‘Pioneering African-American Ballerinas’ at the Museum at FIT. This event focuses on some of the ballerinas who paved the way for Misty Copeland, who, in 2015, became the first African-American woman to be named a principal at American Ballet Theater. The panelists include Virginia Johnson, now the director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem; Lydia Abarca, first prima ballerina of the Dance Theater of Harlem; Debra Austin, the first African-American female dancer at New York City Ballet; and Aesha Ash, former ballerina with City Ballet. At 7 p.m.; fitnyc.edu/museum.

Feb. 28

‘Intimate Apparel’ previews begin at Lincoln Center Theater. Lynn Nottage’s 2003 play has been adapted into a chamber opera, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon. Nottage wrote the libretto and Bartlett Sher is directing. Set in 1905 New York, the story follows an African-American seamstress who through letter writing courts a laborer working on the Panama Canal. Previews begin Feb. 27; opening night is set for March 23; lct.org.

Feb. 29

‘Brendan Fernandes: Contract and Release’ at the Noguchi Museum. A collaboration with the dance and visual artist Brendan Fernandes is the focus of Saturday programming at the museum this month. Dancers engage with Isamu Noguchi’s works as well as with Fernandes’s “training devices.” Saturdays through February; noguchi.org.

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caveartfair · 6 years ago

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Chicano Artists Challenge How We Remember the Alamo

Mari Hernandez, The Signing, 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

On May 1, 1718, a Spanish expedition to the northern reaches of what was then New Spain established the Mission of San Antonio de Valero—a building today known as the Alamo—and the city that is now San Antonio, Texas, was officially founded. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 and passed the General Colonization Law three years later, allowing individuals to own land in Mexico, regardless of race or citizenship. Today, the Alamo is best known for a pivotal battle fought there by white settlers in 1836 in the lead-up to Texas gaining independence from Mexico.

A city that likes a party, San Antonio has gone all out for its 300th birthday this year. On May 1st, it celebrated with Catholic church bells, Buddhist chants, and a gospel choir in the city’s Main Plaza, half a mile from the Alamo. The king and queen of Spain were in town last month to add to the festivities, launching a landmark exhibition of paintings from Madrid at the San Antonio Museum of Art before heading to Washington, D.C., for a reception with the president.

One of the most revelatory exhibitions mounted for the city’s tricentennial, however, aims to rebut rather than celebrate one of San Antonio’s origin stories. “The Other Side of the Alamo: Art Against the Myth,” on view through October at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on San Antonio’s west side, inverts the narrative around the building that was ground zero for the city’s founding.

The symbol of the Alamo evokes a specific American ideal: a rugged mix of frontier grit, revolutionary zeal, and Spartan sacrifice. The small band of martyrs who dug in against the overwhelming force of the Mexican army at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836—including widely hailed folk hero Davy Crockett—are credited with galvanizing the Texan revolt and assisting a definitive victory over Mexico one month later, setting the stage for Texan independence and, eventually, entrance into the United States.

Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, The Fall of the Alamo or Crockett’s Last Stand, c. 1903. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Or so goes what artist César Martínez calls, in a wall text, “the John Wayne version of Alamo history,” referring to The Alamo, a 1960 film that has shaped the popular mythos. Martínez’s Cenotaph Aguila, a photograph he took in 1972, is one of the most striking images in the exhibition: The Alamo sits to the left of the composition, with the foreground dominated by the Alamo Cenotaph, a monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of Texan independence. Looming large in the background is the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas, which was built in 1968 to commemorate San Antonio’s 250th anniversary and remains the city’s tallest building. But the viewer’s eye is drawn to a symbol confronting the monumentality around it: a spray-painted stencil of the eagle logo adopted in 1962 by United Farm Workers (UFW), the labor union led by Chicano activist Cesar Chavez.

Martínez, age 74, moved to San Antonio in 1971 and quickly became involved with a wave of political activism inspired by the UFW. He was a peripheral member of Con Safo, a Chicano artist collective whose prime movers Felipe Reyes and Mel Casas are also represented in “The Other Side of the Alamo.” One of the group’s tactics was to expand the symbolism of the UFW logo—which takes the form of an inverted Aztec temple topped by an eagle’s head—to include broader Chicano issues. The exhibition opens with Sacred Conflict, a 1971 painting by Reyes whose composition plants the UFW flag in front of the Alamo. It is a reframing of the Alamo as a symbol of “Anglo aggression instead of Mexican tyranny or cruelty,” writes Dr. Ruben C. Cordova, the show’s curator. Reyes views the Alamo as a symbol of Chicano victory, as quoted in the wall text: “The Alamo to me represents vengeance for the Chicano, and the flag is the Chicano symbol for justice.”

Though primarily known today as a painter, César Martínez devoted much of his early career to photography, documenting the work of Chicano muralists in New Mexico and California, as well as the guerrilla activists who stenciled the UFW eagle all over San Antonio’s west side in the early 1970s. He mentions the wartime photography of Richard Avedon and the portraiture of Rolling Stone-era Annie Leibowitz as key influences, but unlike those guiding lights, Martínez said his work at the time was viewed neither as art, nor as documentary. “One of the things that used to be said by the art world in general, and local critics, was that [this work was] not really art, that it was propaganda,” he explained. “This is ironic, because at that time the art world was very proud of what it was doing to push the limits of what art was, and here we are, known as propaganda. So we must have been at the cutting edge in our own way.”

“They didn’t want anything that was ethnic, and they didn’t want anything that was political,” said Cordova of the art world in the 1970s, which was preoccupied with hard-edged Minimalism. Given the UFW’s union roots, the work of Chicano artists invoking its symbol was viewed in light of the Cold War as “Communist and propagandistic,” Cordova added.

César Martínez, Cenotaph Aguila, 1972. Courtesy of Ruiz-Healy Art.

If there’s one core message of “The Other Side of the Alamo,” it’s that this determination has it backwards. It is the mainstream myth of the Alamo—the “John Wayne version,” in which a noble band of martyrs sacrifice themselves to the cause of Texan independence—that is propaganda. In Cordova’s show, this version is revealed as a triumphal narrative designed to obscure the fact that the Texas Revolution was fought primarily to protect the right of settlers to own slaves.

Cordova’s catalogue for the exhibition was originally scheduled to be released on Juneteenth—a holiday marking the end of slavery in Texas in 1865—but has been postponed as he plunges deeper into research. What started as a five-page essay now cascades across more than 60 pages, including a substantial aside about the lengths to which President Andrew Jackson went to facilitate the Texan Revolution—which was fought in 1835–36, and led by colonists like Sam Houston and local Tejanos like Juan Seguín—with the ultimate goal of annexing another slave state into the American South. Cordova said there is ample evidence that, despite an official U.S. position of non-intervention, there was “no end to scheming and collusion” between Jackson and Texan leaders such as Houston. “I think that’s one of the reasons that propaganda has gone into history and stayed there—because [the early Texans] knew they had to be secretive to ever get statehood,” Cordova asserted. After gaining independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845, triggering the Mexican-American War the following year, and exacerbating a conflict over slavery that would only be resolved by the Civil War.

Mari Hernandez, Epidemic from the series “Hombres,” 2017. Courtesy of the artist.

Mari Hernandez, Manifest Destiny from the series “Hombres,” 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

Though the exhibition had been planned “well before Trump,” one can’t help but read it through a political lens at a time when the U.S.-Mexico border is a heated topic of debate, and anti- Mexican rhetoric has experienced a “renaissance of acceptability,” in Cordova’s words. One wall is taken up by selections from “Hombres” (2016–17), a photographic series by Mari Hernandez that “engages regional history in the broader context of the revival of racism and xenophobia in the age of Trump.” The centerpiece is The Signing (2016), a surreal tableau in which Hernandez recreates the signing of the treaty that ended the Mexican-American War by ceding half of Mexico to the United States. “I believe the history we are taught is biased, and it’s an intentionally created narrative that sides with and represents those in power,” she said.

Hernandez, who has been active in community work on the west side of San Antonio for 18 years and co-founded the Chicana art collective Más Rudas in 2009, said that her “artistic purpose and mission [are] rooted in representation,” adding: “One of the reasons Más Rudas was formed was to find ourselves in the art we were viewing. I seek out art that speaks to me as a Chicana.”

Though earlier Chicano artists like César Martínez ultimately achieved wider recognition, the effort to confront themes that lie at the heart of America’s history of racial and colonial oppression remains a fight. “Most places wouldn’t touch this show, even today,” said Cordova. A timely collection of work critiquing one of the central founding myths of Texas, “The Other Side of the Alamo” provides the latest salvo in a struggle for recognition—both of historical fact and of underrepresented voices—that has been simmering for decades, even centuries. As Cordova noted: “It’s a battle that’s still going on.”

from Artsy News

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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Things to Do in N.Y.C. This February

Looking for even more reasons to get out of the house? Visit our Arts & Entertainment Guide at nytimes.com/spotlight/arts-listings.

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Feb. 28

‘Intimate Apparel’ previews begin at Lincoln Center. Lynn Nottage’s 2003 play has been adapted into a chamber opera, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon. Nottage wrote the libretto and Bartlett Sher is directing. Set in 1905 New York, the story follows an African-American seamstress who through letter writing courts a laborer working on the Panama Canal. Previews begin Feb. 27; opening night is set for March 23; lct.org.

Feb. 29

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

Text

Things to Do in N.Y.C. This February

Looking for even more reasons to get out of the house? Visit our Arts & Entertainment Guide at nytimes.com/spotlight/arts-listings.

Feb. 1

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