e-culture: Bill Steber Exhibit, class, travel, more
February 12, 2001


IN THIS ISSUE
Did You Know?
Bill Steber's Recordings
Photography Class for Artists
Adventure Travel to Santa Fe
Cultural Traditions
General Interest Meeting
Feature Writers Wanted
Additional On-line Services
Special Programs on KTRU



In this festive season, I hope everyone had an inspirational Martin Luther King celebration, a safe and steady trail ride, a lucky draw of the King Cake, and a prosperous Chinese New Year.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, it is year 4698, the Year of the Snake.

http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/cny.html

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Did You Know?

The first Chinese immigrants to arrive in Texas worked on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1870 and the Southern Pacific in 1881. Most of the nearly 4,000 railroad workers left for Arizona and California, and by 1900 the Chinese population in Texas was 836. Most who remained settled in El Paso, with smaller communities in the vicinity of Calvert and Hearne. In 1917, following a year-long pursuit of Francisco "Poncho" Villa in Mexico, General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing returned to the United States with 527 Spanish-speaking Chinese. The northern Mexican Chinese, who feared retaliation by the Mexican revolutionary for their role in aiding the American general, settled in San Antonio.

The Chinese population in San Antonio surpassed El Paso as the state's largest Chinese community, until the 1950s, when Houston became the social center of Chinese activity in Texas. In 1980, nearly 50 percent of the state's 25,000 Chinese lived in Houston.

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Bill Steber's Recordings

Please visit our On-line Exhibit of the documentary photographs of Bill Steber, who has been recording the vanishing Blues culture in the Mississippi Delta with his camera and digital audio tape deck for most of a decade.

http://www.houstonculture.org/artist

The exhibit is the first in a series of featured artists. Visitors will be able to submit questions to the artist for an on-line interview and we will later bring the artist to Houston for a lecture and discussion about the role of the Blues in traditional culture in Mississippi.

To send a question to Bill Steber, please write to hoodooroot@home.com.

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Photography Class for Artists

Bill Steber recreates existing light in the environment with strobes. His proficient use of lighting makes it possible for him to confidently produce photographs of social interaction that accurately represent the environment.

We will offer a Photography and Lighting Course for artists who are interested in producing social documentaries on film or video, handling their own publicity, documenting their work, photographing their children, or improving their images in any capacity. Send an email to info@houstonculture.org, or call 713-521-3686, as soon as possible if you are interested.

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Adventure Travel to Santa Fe

Our May trip will take us back to territorial New Mexico, across the San Luis Valley on the Spanish frontier and to prehistoric sites of the Anasazi. We will follow the route of Cabeza de Vaca and Juan de Onate along the Camino Real to Santa Fe, and we will follow the historic Zuni Trail and Anasazi roads connecting fantastic civilizations in the Four Corners region. For more modern excitement we will follow the Otto Mears Highway through the Rocky Mountains.

http://www.houstonculture.org/travel/itinmay01.html

While the trip to Santa Fe is structured, we will also go out on a few informal excursions this season. What's the difference? On the Santa Fe trip you will have very few arrangements to make -- just meet the group and go. The itinerary each day is well planned. But on the informal trips you will need to help with the preparations. We will be going off into the unknown together.

We will make a short foray into Coahuila, Mexico to see 5,000 year old petroglyphs near Potrero Chico and a longer adventure into Chihuahua to see Mennonite farms and ancient cave dwellings around Madera. We will be looking for the illusive Mardi Gras Indians on St. Joseph's Day. And, for the truly adventurous, we will get out on the water to see prehistoric Indian sites on the San Juan River and Lake Powell, the Rio Grande and the Lower Suwanee.

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Cultural Traditions

Mardi Gras Indians
http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/indians.html

Coming next month:
St. Joseph's Day Altars

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General Interest Meeting

There will be a general meeting to discuss methods to increase involvement and support for Houston Institute for Culture. The agenda is wide open. The only rule will be that no one can say, "You know what you should do..." Send me your agenda items and a confirmation that you will attend the meeting so I can make sure we have the proper room reserved.

Check here for agenda updates:
http://www.houstonculture.org/archive/gim010305.html

We need volunteers to help promote the general meeting by taking notices to places you visit frequently around town. You may also forward the text below, including the statement about special arrangements, to those you think would be interested.

Houston Institute for Culture
General Interest Meeting
7:00pm, March 5, 2001
2nd Floor Meeting Room
Montrose Branch, Houston Public Library
4100 Montrose Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006
713-284-1958 (library)

Call 713-521-3686 for more information.

If you have a special physical or communication need that may impact your participation in this activity, please contact Mark Lacy at 713-521-3686 at least 48 hours prior to the event to discuss accommodations.

If you would like more details about volunteer opportunities, please see the January 2001 Letter to Volunteers.

http://www.houstonculture.org/archive/vol0101.html

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Feature Writers Wanted

Interesting stories can be found almost anywhere.

"Tyler is the Rose Capital of the World", boasts Rosa Rosario, owner of Rosa's Roses, "but it wouldn't be if we didn't take care of our roses..." This tidy lead came from the IRS web site (don't ask). Closer to home, Bud continues to antagonize host Michael Harris on the KCOH morning call-in show with his sharp wit and wisdom, lecturing him, "You've got to first pay your light bill before you can reconnect yourself to the electricity." The Pie Lady sells home-made pies at area universities and El Nido serves "Third Ward's finest enchiladas." We want to publish features about these entrepreneurs and wise souls for people to discover on our website. If you think you know some interesting people, or would like to meet some, please contact me or attend our general interest meeting on Mach 5.

There are many great stories to be found if you are interested in community history or pop culture. Did you know the Old Spanish Trail was Houston's own Route 66, but its nostalgia remains largely uncovered? The coast-to-coast highway opened in 1929. It linked St. Augustine, Florida with San Diego, California, and roughly followed Highway Alternate 90 through Houston. Though Spain never connected its outlying provinces, the Old Spanish Trail was named for the colonial Spanish settlements it passed through, including San Antonio, Texas, La Mesilla, New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona. Independent diners and lodges, including the Alamo Motel chain, thrived on the route through the depression and post-war years. Like Route 66, the Old Spanish Trail was replaced with a limited-access Interstate.

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Additional On-line Services

The journal of Cabeza de Vaca's wild sixteenth-century adventures in the interior of America can be read on line by sending an email to info@houstonculture.org. You will be sent a passcode to access the on-line book.

http://www.houstonculture.org/spanish/am.html

We will discuss some additional kinds of on-line resources at our General Interest Meeting. With more volunteer assistance, we may be able to add such valuable services as:
Web space and email addresses for artists and organizations
Media and event assistance for artists and organizations

Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.houstonculture.org/resources/faq.html

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Special Programs on KTRU

After the dramatic events of last fall at Rice University, you will be relieved to know that the schedule of community-oriented programs on KTRU remains in tact.

http://www.houstonculture.org/world/shows.html

Developmental experiences must remain first and foremost for current students at Rice University, but there are many ways volunteers can help, like producing a community calendar or using professional media experience to help promote KTRU-sponsored events. Send an email to info@houstonculture.org and we will get you in touch with the appropriate student director.

A programming note: The World Music and Americana Shows will be abbreviated tonight due to a Rice athletics broadcast starting at 7:30pm. So, if you are looking for something to do, REI will host a presentation on Appalachian Trail Hiking tonight at 7:00pm.

http://www.rei.com/storelocator/houston/


Thanks for reading and I hope you find something great to do.
Mark
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M A R K   L A C Y / mark@cultural-crossroads.com

World Music on KTRU
http://www.houstonculture.org/world

Read Cabeza de Vaca On Line
http://www.houstonculture.org/spanish

Blues Photography by Bill Steber
http://www.houstonculture.org/artist