CAMHLAB is an ongoing artist-in-residence initiative that supports artists working within and in partnership with the Museum to develop new work and ideas. CAMHLAB offers critical and early-stage direct support of artists’ process and production of new and timely work through short-term residencies and long-term collaborations with artists. CAMHLAB residencies seek to connect artists directly with audiences through catalytic and unexpected experiences of contemporary art.

HFTC x CAMH is a partnership between Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy (HFTC) and Contemporary Arts Museum and Houston (CAMH) promoting Houston Freedmen’s Town as a monument of Black community, agency, and heritage. Freedmen’s Town, a neighborhood established in 1865 by over 1,000 formerly enslaved people is now recognized as Houston’s first Heritage District. The two organizations have partnered to create artistic activations through artist residency programs, research fellowships, and exhibitions with the mission to share and honor the story of Houston’s Fourth Ward and to establish creative opportunities informed by its legacy and community stakeholders.

In 2023, HFTC x CAMH announced their partnership with with the City of Houston (COH) and artist Theaster Gates to promote Houston Freedmen’s Town as a monument of Black community, agency, and heritage through the multi-year Rebirth in Action: Telling the Story of Freedom initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation and NEA Our Town grant. The project’s first phase includes community engagement and artist-led activations through a continuation of CAMH’s artist residency program, CAMHLAB.

For more information on HFTC x CAMH, visit CAMH.ORG/HFTC.

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. The conservancy supports community engagement, re-education, and heritage tourism while preserving the historic legacy of Freedmen’s Town, inspiring all through education and awareness of its unique story.

Established in 1948, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) is one of the oldest non-collecting contemporary art museums in the country and is internationally known for presenting pivotal and landmark work by artists recognized as the most important of the 20th and 21st centuries. CAMH’s mandate is to be present, to connect artists and audiences through the urgent issues of our time, and to adventurously promote the catalytic possibilities of contemporary art. CAMH’s programming in and beyond the Museum is presented free to the public and advocates for artists’ essential role and impact in society.