LITERATURE + LECTURES

April brings a new round of free, public events associated with the Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites program organized by Houston Arts Alliance's Folklife and Traditional Arts Program. They include an exhibition, two lectures and a workshop.

6:00 pm, Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Lecture: Altars and Offerings: The Art of Religious Devotion
Dr. Kay Turner, (pictured) New York University and Brooklyn Arts Council
Houston Arts Alliance Gallery, 3201 Allen Parkway
Dr. Kay Turner has studied domestic, festival, and memorial altars for many years. Her lecture, with photos, will explore a range of altar traditions, highlighting the altar’s history, aesthetics and unique function as a site for communication with the dead and the divine.

Dr. Kay Turner has a Ph.D. in Folklore and Anthropology from University of Texas, Austin. She is currently the Folk Arts Director at the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) and a faculty member in the Performance Studies Program at New York University. Among her published work is Beautiful Necessity: The Art and Meaning of Women's Altars, which explores the home altar tradition in the Texas Mexican community. At the BAC, she is presently working on Black Brooklyn Renaissance, a year -long cultural program.

Visit Houstonartsalliance.com for more information on upcoming Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites programs.

The Houston Arts Alliance is the official local arts agency for the city of Houston, providing funding, technical assistance and leadership to non-profit arts organizations region-wide. Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites is part of HAA’s new Folklife and Traditional Arts Program, the only one of its kind in the state of Texas. Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites programs are funded in part by the Houston Endowment, Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, Sara and Bill Morgan, His Highness The Aga Khan Council for the USA and Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston.