Meet the Dallas/Dijon Chapter of the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts

On June 17th, the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts would like to introduce you to the leaders of its new Dallas/Dijon chapters and to meet French artist/photographer Sebastien Godret. Hailing from Dijon originally, Godret will be in Dallas to shoot footage for his upcoming project, a series on American cities called La Ville Américaine.
Tuesday June 17th, 2014
5:00 to 7:00PM
CentralTRAK Artist Residency
800 Exposition Boulevard Dallas, TX 75248
RSVP: Pierrette Lacour
pierrette@utdallas.edu

Feature of the Month: The Biggest Mural in Houston, Preservons la Creation

FBchronadAt over 8,000 square feet of surface area, Preservons la Creation (Let’s Preserve Creation) is the largest mural produced in the history of the metro area of Houston. This work of art carries with it a mission of public art awareness and community centered art projects that connect the business and creative sectors. A portion of the proceeds from the project will benefit a children’s hospital mural project, which will begin production in Houston and in France in 2014-2015. Texan-French Alliance for the Arts (TFAA) joined with Sebastien “Mr. D” to bring to life a conversation about the importance of street art, and other urban art forms, to the culture of a city, and to have and preserve creativity in daily life. In doing so, we act on one of the main principles of TFAA, which is cognizance of the link between art, society, and the human condition – with all its trials and triumphs.

Keeping this point in mind, we see Preservons la Creation as a stepping stone to our upcoming mural project, collaboration between TFAA, Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau, and children’s hospitals in Houston and France, with the participation of Foundation Lenval. The program, which will last several months, will comprise of therapeutic artistic programs for the children and a mural to celebrate the creations they make. Our hope is that the project will boost the children’s moral, allow them the opportunity to experience and learn about new cultures, and empower them with the knowledge of their creative capabilities.

If you want to support these projects, you can donate through Power2Give, where every dollar will be matched by 50 cents thanks to the generosity of the Houston Alliance for the Arts. To celebrate the opening, we are having a festival June 7. Tickets can be brought here.

Open the Door Documentary Screening

A screening of the Open the Door Documentary was held May 22nd in Paris. The documentary examines the installation process and effects of the Texan-French Alliance for the Art’s Open the Door project, which installed doors painted by Texan and French artists in public spaces across Houston.

Banlieue is Beautiful

The Texan-French Alliance for the Arts contributed to the Banlieue is Beautiful festival held May 16-18 at the Palais de Tokyo (the biggest contemporary art museum in Europe) in Paris.

This event was developed by Monte Laster with the French-American Creative Exchange in partnerships with many organizations. Texan-French Alliance for the Arts presented one program/performance:

The World in the City / In My Shoes in collaboration with the UH Community Design Resource Center

As with the majority of the world’s major international cities, Paris is branding its future megacity status under the name of “le Grand Paris”. Through this process, which combines urban growth, the concentration of specific activities, economic dynamics and it’s demographic context, Banlieue is Beautiful strives to reveal the human and cultural richness which is specific to its suburbs. The vitality of it’s existing culture still remains greatly underestimated even though the suburbs contain the essential components of the cultural heritage and identity for the future metropolis. Individual initiatives contribute to a better understanding of the emerging “Grand Paris,” allowing it to be more anchored in reality. These initiatives enable ownership of the project by individuals; those who inhabit the city base it on a more profound understanding of the city. The process itself re-instates these territories in the future metropolis. Banlieue is Beautiful is a a social sculpture by Monte Laster which was organized by FACE (French American Creative Exchange). The project seeks to reveal cultural identity and question the role of art and culture in the socially complex context of urban renovation and the city’s search for its identity as a megacity. This project has enabled the numerous exchanges between artists, architects, rappers, students, children, inhabitants, and journalists and has allowed them to be implicated in different initiatives around a common subject: How to organize, present, and develop a creative and imaginative scenography that enables us to have an overall view of the suburbs of Paris. Banlieue is Beautiful derived from social and participative art forms, notions that are essential and at the heart of the project, which itself could not exist without this human, participative process.

Five Funny French Films is Back !

 Thursday, March 20–Sunday, March 23 at  the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston


Firmly established as one of the Museum’s most popular annual film series, Five Funny French Films delights and intrigues with innovative approaches to humor.

Opening with Tip Top, auteur Serge Bozon’s genre hybrid policier starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain, the fourth edition also includes two tales of ordinary individuals who unexpectedly become national heroes: Populaire and Tour de Force.

The lively The Rendez-Vous of Déjà Vu considers the French public’s reaction to the government’s shortening of the traditional summer vacation, and the war of the sexes is front and center in the romantic comedy Love Is in the Air.

Un petit extra is included in the program: a restored edition of Seven Years Bad Luck, a hilarious 1921 silent comedy directed by and featuring the great Max Linder.

$9 general admission – $2 discount for MFAH Members, seniors, and students with ID

For more information