Jack Livingston's creative interest lies in the production of work that is emotive, but not overt or controlling. "We all bring our ego along when we...make art, but by utilizing various forms of disruption, [the] ego can be pushed back to its rightful place - a nattering monkey relegated a reasonable distance from the action," says Livingston. His series of gouache drawings, entitled Held Forever in a Spell are inspired by writer Mari Sandoz's description of the Sand Hills of western Nebraska: 

While growing up in New York during the golden era of Hip Hop, Philip Maysles became aware of the conflict between his identification as White and his interest in Black popular culture, finding himself "distanced from my desiring appreciation for its music, cultural icons, and radical politics, by an anxiety that comes from an acceptance of my position of privilege within our society's asymmetrical power framework."  Using historical references as source material, Maysles employs images, sound, and text to designate the characteristics and limitations of "normative" whiteness as a viewpoint and to work out a manner of socio-cultural relationships that break from the prescriptions of the black-white binary.  His most recent works are an engagement with Norman Rockwell's 1964 painting, "The Problem We All Live With".  For this painting, Rockwell turned to the struggle for Civil Rights as subject matter during a time of personal crisis and creative impasse, to defiantly depict the young Ruby Bridges with dignity as set against a backdrop of the sinister realities of American life.  

Matthew Sontheimer's works are often created in the form of postcards and letters.  "For the greater part of my life communication with my father has taken place through letters, postcards and telephone calls," states the artist. Nine years ago Sontheimer developed a twenty-six character alphabet developed from his father's signature on the various missives sent his way.  Over time, he began to incorporate an alphanumerical code, based on the way.one spells words using a telephone keypad.  His most recent work continues to be language-based, but has begun to evolve into a less masked depiction of imagery and influence. Paying homage to the relationship and correspondence that initially inspired this body of work, Sontheimer's creations are an intimate discussion with the viewer.

Marco Villegas' series Soporific Landscapes and Lazy Horizons takes inspiration from drives along Texas Farm Road 153, Texas Farm Road 448, and on and on through the Texas Hill Country.  His works created from such simple materials as discarded newsprint, prints, paint samples, printing proofs, pencil and felt tip pens, evoke a sense of incredible depth.   Villegas describes these collages as "empty fields of fleeting color, power lines, and highway markers set against the distant, always constant horizon." 

Born in western Nebraska in 1953, Jack Livingston grew up near Denver, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate of Rocky Mountain College of Art (1971) and attended the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado where he studied under William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. In 1980 Livingston moved to Houston to participate in its burgeoning art scene.  In the late 80's and early 90's he served as literary program director for DiverseWorks, and co-founded, with writer Jan Werner, Anti-Trust, a "faux" artist's collective that dissected forms of propaganda. In 1996 Livingston moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he has supervised large-scale community arts projects and founded/published arts and culture criticism, including RADAR Review, a journal dedicated to regional arts, and RADARredux.net an online hypermedia arts and culture review that utilizes web2.0 technology.  He continues to exhibit his work nationally and serves as visiting artist, teacher and lecturer at schools that include Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Philip Maysles is an artist, writer, and filmmaker from New York.  He has a M.F.A. from California Institute of Art (2005) and a B.A. with honors from Brown University (2002).  He has taught art and film at schools and community centers, including Rice University, Houston, California Institute of Art, Our Side, and Arms Reach, New York, and City Arts, Providence, Rhode Island.  Maysles is a former Glassell Core Fellow, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His work has exhibited as places that include PSI in Long Island, California Institute of Art, Amistad Center for Arts and Culture, Project Row Houses, Houston, and TCB Gallery in Melbourne Australia.  He is currently the Exhibition and Education Programs Director at The Maysles Institute in New York.

Born in New Orleans, Matthew Sontheimer currently lives and works in Denton, Texas. He received his B.F.A from Stephen F. Austin State University (1992) and his M.F.A. from Montana State University in Bozeman (1995.).  Sontheimer has been included in exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among others.  His works are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.  Sontheimer is represented by Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, and Anthony Meier Fine Art, San Francisco.

Marco Villegas was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico and lives in Houston.  He studied art at the University of Houston (1986-1991) and is represented by Meredith Long Gallery. In the late 80's he was assistant at DiverseBooks, the DiverseWorks bookstore, and throughout the '90's he was assistant printmaker at Cerling Printmaking Studio. Villegas has exhibited his work throughout Texas including The University of Texas Dallas, Wichita Falls Museum of Fine Art, at an exhibition curated by Edward Albee at Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery in Houston, and at Dallas Contemporary, among others.  He was cited as one of the Best Artists in Houston in the on-line publication Glasstire, February 2007.  Villegas' works are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the playwright Edward Albee. Most recently he lectured and participated in a panel discussion at The Menil Collection on the artist Barnett Newman and his paintings.

Liz Ward is an artist who grew up in Houston and lives in Castroville, Texas.  She has a M.F.A. in Painting from University of Houston (1990), a B.F.A. cum laude from University of New Mexico (1982).  She also studied at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Atelier 17in Paris, and the Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Ms. Ward has exhibited her work throughout the US, including the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Weatherspoon Museum at University of North Carolina, and the International Print Center, New York.  Her awards include two Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA Fellowships, and a Dozier Travel Award from the Dallas Museum of Art.  Her work is represented by Moody Gallery in Houston and Dunn and Brown Contemporary in Dallas.  Ward is the Acting Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Trinity University.

Curator Beth Secor has a B.F.A. in Printmaking (1980) and a M.F.A. in Painting (1989) from the University of Houston. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, and is the recipient of several awards including two Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA Fellowships, and numerous artists and community arts grants from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County.  Her work is represented by Inman Gallery, Houston, and is in a number of private, corporate and public collections, including Marilyn Oshman, Hunting PLC and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  Ms. Secor is also a writer, and has been featured in publications that include Glasstire, Artlies and Peek Review. She teaches art at the University of Houston Downtown and Houston Community College Central, and writes grants for non-profit arts organizations.  In 2009, she will be in an exhibition commemorating the 200th Year Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in Great Britain at the Museum of the Docklands, London. (As an aside, her grandmother, Clara Brewer Marrs went to high school with Mari Sandoz, whose words were the inspiration for Livingston's series of drawings.)

Art League Houston is one of Houston's longest operating non-profit visual arts organizations and was the first alternative art space in Texas.  Founded in 1948 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1953, Art League Houston (ALH) was created to promote the public appreciation of and interest in the visual arts.  During the past 60 years, ALH has provided over 760 exhibitions to the Houston community, showcased the work of nearly 22,200 artists, and instructed over 35,000 students through the Art League School and Outreach Program. 

The mission of Art League Houston is to cultivate awareness, appreciation, and accessibility of contemporary visual art within the community for its cultural enrichment.  Art League Houston provides an opportunity for all members of the community to experience the contemporary visual arts.  We achieve our mission through exhibitions, education and outreach programs.

Art League Houston is supported principally by Houston Endowment Inc., the estate of William G. Daugherty, Kevin & Laurie Foxx, Aqua Foxx Productions, City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, John P. McGovern Foundation, Kat Gallagher & Michael Rudelson, The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation, Bridgeway Charitable Trust, Bruce & Jaleh Sallee, Art Colony Association/ Bayou City Art Festivals, and by Andrisin Abbey, Aubrey and Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund, Susan & Jack Apple, the Ann Bengtson Memorial Fund, Brad & Leslie Bucher, Cantoni, Marv & Billie Chasen, CITI Smith Barney, Darrell & Peggy Delahoussaye, Earth Exchange Corporation, Ray C. Fish Foundation, Hugh & Berthica Fitzsimons, Alice C. Boyd Gano, Nick & Candice Goodwin, James & Ann Harithas, Harris County Department of Education, International Bank of Commerce, Inversion Coffee House, Kinder Foundation, Leanna Laster, Mangini/ Lakhia/ Delahoussaye & Associates, P.A., Kenneth & Elena Marks, Mark & Gretchen Mazziotti, National MS Society Lone Star Chapter, Marilyn Oshman, Don & Crystal Owens, River Oaks Dental Arts, Michael G. Rudelson & Co., RWG Construction Management, Louisa Stude Sarofim, Tahamia Spain, Steve & Susie Streller/ Charter Custom Homes, Texas Art Supply, Top Drawer Lingerie, Kathryn Sherman Ttee, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., The Woodlands Development Company, and all of our sponsors, members and volunteers.