Houston arts-scene power couple heads to Mississippi
Ryan Dennis wants to expand on the African American narratives in art museums, and she now has a new stage for that work.
After eight years at Houston’s Project Row Houses, where she has been the curator and programs director since 2017, she was recently named chief curator at the Mississippi Museum of Art and artistic director of its Center for Art & Public Exchange.
Dennis and her husband, the musician and sound artist Jawwaad Taylor, plan to decamp in early June, leaving a bungalow in Houston’s East End for a loft in downtown Jackson, Miss. As urban as that may sound, it’s also a “goodbye, big-city life” moment ripe with fresh optimism for the couple.
Jackson, Mississippi’s largest city and state capital, is about the size of some Houston neighborhoods, with a population of 175,000 that is more than 80 percent black. Its art museum is an anchor within a downtown cultural district that also boasts a convention center, a performance hall, a planetarium and a museum of Muslim culture. The city has a number of other museums as well.
CAPE, as the museum’s Center is called, is an initiative described on the museum’s website as a “brave space” where visual art is a conduit for conversation about confronting the past and building empathy.
“It’s an extension of what I’ve been doing at Project Row Houses but in more of a museum context,” Dennis says. “It’s an important moment to put some of this work into action in a different way.”
We spoke before the latest cycle of national outrage erupted over the killing of Third Ward native George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis, but that is not the kind of narrative Ryan seeks to emphasize. “How do we platform black optimism and not focus on the trauma?” she says.
Deep listening
The South may be the belly of America’s troubled past, but Mississippi also has given birth to beautiful movements, including the blues, and it has an indigenous community and the Natchez River, Dennis notes. “We’d like to elevate these conversations in addition to bringing strong exhibits and a program that speaks to the local community. We want people to come in here and feel like it is their space.”
She also has other reasons to be happy. Her first child, Ahmet Taylor, is now a bubbly 9-month-old, full of personality and “such a light,” Dennis says.
Then there’s her husband’s success. About the same time she landed her new job, Taylor learned he would receive a 2020 Creative Capital grant. That elite national honor includes a $100,000 prize to develop a proposed project, and it arrived at an opportune time. Taylor normally tours internationally, mostly to jazz festivals, but every gig he had booked through December 2021 has been canceled since the pandemic began.
He is designing an immersive sound sculpture, a room-sized environment that will be a place of healing, with digitally produced sound based on Pauline Oliveros’ concepts of deep listening.
He is still researching the design and looking for a site — the pandemic shutdown has delayed things — but Taylor wants the piece to serve the neighborhood where he grew up, near Acres Homes on Houston’s northwest side. He envisions it as some kind of oversize, perhaps continuously playing instrument. He dreams of buying the land and making it permanent.
Taylor has sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder that compromises the immune system, particularly in the black population. He believes deep listening, which taps into all the senses and involves meditation, stimulates endorphins, hormones in the nervous system that help him feel better.
“That’s what got me thinking about this whole project,” he says. “A musician’s life can be really challenging. All the travel and keeping up with trends. But I haven’t been to the hospital in about 10 years.”
Leaving her mark
Now, of course, he will be doing most of his planning from Mississippi. “I’m thrilled to support my wife,” he says. “And Jackson is a small town. It’s a chance to be more reflective that will do me well at this point in life.”
Dennis feels the same way. “Before COVID, we thought we’d just travel more,” she says. “That’s changed. But I’m excited to slow down and spend really focused time with my family and my work.”
Her influence could be felt statewide since Mississippi’s largest museum also is a flagship for 32 smaller institutions that share exhibitions and borrow its objects. The museum is doing important work around restitution, engagement and visioning new futures for the local and national community, Dennis says. “Having the opportunity to expand the collection, elevate the histories of the South and invest in black optimism as a way to approach exhibition making and dialogue is of utmost importance.”
Dennis’ last project at Project Row Houses, the exhibition “Round 51: Local Impact II,” was a few days shy of opening when the pandemic shutdown began. Still, her work has left an indelible mark, says PRH executive director Eureka Gilkey. Dennis has been expanding partnerships (notably with the University of Houston) and programs focused on social issues that impact the Third Ward community, Gilkey says.
“Her work has been important to our success and sustainability, and she has been a great advocate for emerging and midcareer artists and artists of color. The public art program at PRH is better for her efforts.”
“Jackson (Miss.) is a small town. It’s a chance to be more reflective that will do me well at this point in life.”
Jawwaad Taylor