How to Grow the Cowpea: Survival Strategies from the U.S. South at UT Austin's Visual Arts Center
At the University of Texas at Austin, the Visual Arts Center is showcasing "How to Grow the Cowpea: Survival Strategies from the U.S. South," co-curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum and Melissa Fandos. This exhibition brings together sixteen artists who collaborated with researchers from Planet Texas 2050, a $10-million initiative spanning ten years focused on climate data. Featured artists include Jackie Sumell, Heather Bird Harris, and Angel Lartigue, with Lartigue's installation incorporating organic materials and Mark Menjívar's work aimed at reducing bird strikes. A seed bank preserves heirloom cowpea varieties. The exhibition is open until March 5, 2027, with support from NEA gap grants and UT's Green Fund. Holum highlights the role of artistic approaches in confronting climate grief.
Key facts
- How to Grow the Cowpea: Survival Strategies from the U.S. South is on view at the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin through March 5, 2027.
- The exhibition is co-curated by Melissa Fandos and visiting curator Erika Mei Chua Holum of The Dock Art Centre in Co. Leitrim, Ireland.
- Sixteen artists are featured, some paired with Planet Texas 2050 researchers including ornithologists, hydrologists, and climate modelers.
- Planet Texas 2050 is a ten-year, $10-million campus-based grand challenge wrapping up its initial run this fall.
- George Washington Carver's 1911 Tuskegee bulletin How to Grow the Cowpea and his original scientific drawings and agricultural bulletins are displayed as active methodology.
- Mark Menjívar's intervention uses Feather Friendly vinyl collision dots on the building's exterior glass to prevent bird strikes.
- A central wooden seed bank holds ancestral heirloom cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) strains with historical provenance cards, and visitors can take seeds home.
- Funding includes NEA gap grants and UT's student-funded Green Fund, which fully subsidizes a free catalog for the public.
Entities
Artists
- George Washington Carver
- Melissa Fandos
- Erika Mei Chua Holum
- Heidi Schmalbach
- Heather Bird Harris
- Angel Lartigue
- Jackie Sumell
- Obie Wethers
- Mark Menjívar
- Patrick Bixler
- Paola Passalacqua
Institutions
- Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin
- The Dock Art Centre
- Planet Texas 2050
- Tuskegee
- Fernbank
- NEA
- UT Green Fund
- Glasstire
Locations
- Austin
- United States
- Alabama
- Co. Leitrim
- Ireland
- Georgia
- Atlanta
- Texas