Funding Austin History

Austin lands $50,000 federal arts grant to digitally map historic local cemetery

The grant will help the city learn more about those in unmarked graves at Oakwood.

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The City of Austin is one of eight recipients in Texas to score a recent grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that will help provide some historical context for the oldest city-owned cemetery in town. According to a release, the federal agency will dole out $28.4 million in grants for 239 humanities projects across the U.S., with eight of those projects located in Texas.

The NEH was created to support research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities. It’s taxpayer-funded, and for four years in a row, the Trump administration threatened to cut its budget. However, during that time, the NEH budget actually grew from $148 million to $237 million (including CARES Act funding). Joe Biden, of course, proposed an increase.

Most of the funded projects are arcane and/or super academic, such as the creation of an app to make it easier to research digitized ancient manuscripts from St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt, the world’s oldest continually operating library. That is clearly a must-have.

Then there are translation projects, like an annotated translation of classical Chinese commentaries on Confucius’ chronicles of court history, and the first comprehensive, freely available edition of all extant Greek and Latin inscribed legislation from classical Rome.

Other grants will enable the publication of books, such as a biography of neuroscientist and writer Oliver Sacks; a book on the making and legacy of 1950 film Sunset Boulevard; and a narrative history of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

This round of funding also marks the addition of the Boston Public Library as a hub for the National Digital Newspaper project, expanding the reach of the Chronicling America online database of historical American newspapers to include newspapers published in Massachusetts between 1690 and 1963. Additional funding awarded in this round will support ongoing newspaper digitization work in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Rhode Island, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Texas received $864,675 total for these eight projects:

Austin
City of Austin: $50,000
Title: A Geographical Approach to Inclusive History at Oakwood Cemetery
Description: The creation of an innovative digital model to help determine the location of and provide historical context for marginalized individuals in unmarked graves in an Austin cemetery.

Lance Richardson: $60,000
Title/Description: A Biography of the American Writer and Naturalist Peter Matthiessen

College Station
Texas A&M University: $198,289
Title: Toward a People’s History of Landscape: Black and Indigenous Histories of the Nation’s Capital
Description: A three-week, residential institute for 25 college and university faculty on social and landscape history in Washington, D.C., focusing on African American and Indigenous contributions.

Denton
University of North Texas: $208,888
Title: Lone Star Ink: Texas NDNP 2021
Description: Digitization of 100,000 pages of Texas newspapers dating from 1887 to 1939, as part of the state’s participation in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

Farmers Branch
City of Farmers Branch: $7,500
Title: Keenan Cemetery Assessment
Description: A preservation assessment of a Texas state historical site, the Keenan Cemetery. Established in 1843, the cemetery is the burial place for many pioneer families, as well as veterans ranging from the War of 1812 to Vietnam. The assessment would result in guidance for the preservation of each grave, facilitating research and related educational and public programming initiatives about the lives of those buried there.

Houston
University of Houston System: $249,998
Title: Democratizing Politics: Mapping the Stories and Significance of the 1977 National Women’s Conference
Description: Preparation of an open-access website on the legislative, political, and social impact of the 1977 National Women’s Conference.

Prairie View
Prairie View A&M University: $15,000
Title: Preserving Our History through Assessment
Description: A preservation site assessment for the archives of Prairie View A&M University. The archive holds a number of distinctive collections, including over 1,000 rare books. Collection highlights include information on African American bibliophiles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the Blacks in the Military Collection documenting the contributions of African Americans to military history.

San Antonio
Witte Museum: $75,000
Title: Reinterpreting Texas at the Witte Museum, Where Nature, Science and Culture Meet
Description: Planning for a reinterpretation of the museum’s permanent exhibition on the history of Texas.

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State of the Arts

7 Austin art exhibits breaking boundaries this December

Courtesy of Davis Gallery

B Shawn Cox blends western imagery with floral motifs and bold graphics at the Davis Gallery Holiday Show.

From experimental ceramics to multimedia installations incorporating found materials, Austin's early winter exhibitions showcase artists who are pushing the boundaries of their mediums while exploring themes of heritage, identity, and our relationship with nature.

Across seven venues, from the Blanton Museum to intimate gallery spaces like the Wally Workman Gallery, these exhibitions showcase both established and emerging artists. Their works invite viewers to experience familiar subjects through fresh perspectives, creating opportunities for both curiosity and education.

Dimmitt Contemporary

Michael Dines: Echoes of Tonalism — through December 13
Dines creates haunting works that transcend traditional landscape painting, using the natural world as a foundation for exploring deeper artistic elements. The artist creates a compelling tension between surface and depth, inviting viewers into mysterious, otherworldly scenes while simultaneously emphasizing their separation from these spaces. The resulting works feel like portals into an alternate reality, where familiar natural forms merge with abstract elements to create something entirely new.

Wally Workman Gallery

Will Klemm:Elevations — December 7-29
Klemm presents a collection of ethereal landscapes that capture nature's most evocative moments, from emerging sunsets to dusky forest scenes. A nationally recognized artist with more than 40 solo exhibitions across major U.S. cities, Klemm demonstrates his mastery of both pastel and oil in large-scale works that poetically interpret Southwestern landscapes from Texas to California.

Lora Reynolds Gallery

Tony Marsh: On the Clouds of Magellan — through January 1
Created over the past year, Marsh’s new sculptural works explore human torso forms and, for the first time in his career, wall-mounted pieces. The exhibition demonstrates his evolving approach to surface treatment, alternating between smooth and heavily textured surfaces, with experimental glazing techniques that include building with large chunks of glaze. Named after his father's poem about Magellan's explorations, the show marks a shift toward more personal and emotional expression in Marsh's work.

Blanton Museum of Art

Group Exhibition:Native America: In Translation — through January 5
This exhibition brings together nine Indigenous artists who explore contemporary Native identity through photography and multimedia works. The exhibition challenges historical photographic representations of Native Americans while presenting new narratives about Indigenous life today. Featured artists including Rebecca Belmore, Martine Gutierrez, and Kimowan Metchewais use various mediums — from Polaroids to video installations — to examine themes of memory, language, landscape, and beauty.

Group Exhibition: Long Live Surrealism! 1924-Today— through January 12
This multi-artist exhibition marks 100 years since Surrealism emerged as an artistic movement, changing modern perspectives by delving into dreams and the subconscious mind. The show includes pieces by key Surrealist figures such as Bellmer, Carrington, Ernst, Lam, and Ray, plus works by later artists like Kusama and Hood who were shaped by the movement's ideas.

Austin Public Library

Suzy González: Plantcestors — through January 12
González creates distinctive portraits that blend conventional oil painting with actual organic materials like pecans and seeds. Each work depicts members of local creative and social justice communities, with natural elements chosen to reflect each subject's background. The artist combines photography, gardening, gathering of materials, and preservation methods to produce layered compositions sealed in resin. These earth-toned works explore themes of cultural roots and heritage while physically incorporating elements from nature.

Davis Gallery

Group Exhibition: Breathe — through January 18
Davis Gallery’s 26th annual holiday show displays diverse works from 12 artists working across multiple mediums. The show features B Shawn Cox's vibrant acrylic paintings on fabric, which blend portraits with western themes, mixing feminine and masculine elements through unexpected color combinations and patterns. John Sager contributes mixed media assemblages crafted from found objects like printer's blocks, steel, and piano parts, while Lisa Beaman presents serene animal portraits depicting birds, rabbits, and cows in their natural settings.

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Courtesy of Davis Gallery

B Shawn Cox blends western imagery with floral motifs and bold graphics at the Davis Gallery Holiday Show.

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