Billion Tekleab (she/her) is a first-generation Eritrean-American interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Houston, Texas. Currently studying African American Studies and Studio Art at the University of Houston, Tekleab is an emerging artist interested in Black histories across the diaspora and using tools to better envision futures. Much of her work reflects the experience of Black joy, capturing Black realities, contiguities between theology and queerness, and the material conditions of marginalized people everywhere. Liberation is a force that persists in Tekleab’s work despite political landscapes. What centers her practice is the belief that a better world is possible and the responsibility for its conception is ours.

CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town is an onsite artist-in-residency program that aims to highlight, honor, and animate the histories and stories of Freedmen’s Town, a neighborhood established in 1865 by over 1,000 formerly enslaved people that is now recognized as Houston’s first Heritage District. In line with HFTC x CAMH’s goals, CAMHLAB at Freedmen’s Town aims to generate research, contextualize, and connect artists and the general public to the stories of Freedmen’s Town through month-long residencies.

For more information, visit CAMH.ORG/CAMHLAB.

The Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that protects and preserves the history of Freedmen’s Town for the benefit of future generations. We support community engagement, re-education, and heritage tourism.