HOUSTON — A project from the University of Houston's Center for Mexican American and Latino Studies displays the city's Latino public and private art in a new and innovative format in an effort to represent and reach the community like never before.
The project is called Latino cARTographies and one of its leaders is Dr. Pamela Ann Quiroz, the director of CMALS.
"We wanted to do it as all things in Texas, I'm told, should be done… big," Quiroz told KHOU 11.
The project is an interactive digital board showcasing and mapping out Houston's diverse public and private Latino art.
"Something that could be dynamic, that could change as the art evolves in Houston, but could also preserve this work by digitizing it," Quiroz said about what she hoped to accomplish with the project.
Latino cARTographies takes real-world art from neighborhoods across Houston and puts it at the fingertips of people who interact with the board.
"The point of it is to create it for the public and to help it be a tool that people could learn more, not just about art, but about our cultures," Quiroz said.
Users can touch the board to move through Houston's neighborhoods, view art and learn more about the pieces from multimedia involving artists and more.
The project took years to complete, but once done, sparked an emotional reflection for the project's leaders.
"What were your thoughts, what were your emotions once you were able to touch and see it?" KHOU 11's Victor Jacobo asked Quiroz.
"I cried," Quiroz said. "You also wear the weight that, well, if this project goes south, this may impact other people who come after me who want to do something like this, so, all that tension builds up, and you don't even know that it's built up in that way until I realized, yes, it's going to work."
Marisela Martinez is the associate director for CMALS and the project holds special meaning for her, having been born and raised in Houston.
"Being a native Houstonian and working on this project, I never realized just how many Latino artists are there in the public and for the public to see and no one even realizes it," Martinez said.
The project's unveiling featured a special immersive display event, but now the digital board is displayed at Bush and Hobby Airports and is making stays at museums and other locations — including the Holocaust Museum Houston where it will be through Dec. 12.
Organizers say the board's mobility allows it to be taken anywhere, like classrooms, all in an effort to inspire, share and show the power of public art.
"Art is a wonderful ambassador for a city," Quiroz said. "It makes a city beautiful, it gives messages that are very much needed and it teaches children even that there's all kinds of possibilities."
For more information on the project, click here.