Gem to Gem

Episode 2: Annette Carlozzi in Conversation with Sue Graze

In this episode, Annette sits down with Sue, spotlighting her years with the TFAA/ Arthouse. Sue was at the helm until 2011, directly preceding Arthouse at the Jones Center‘s merge with the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) to become The Contemporary Austin, which now occupies both locations.

The early 2000s was a transformative era that brought Austin Texas up to speed with contemporary art. It was during this time that Sue and Annette worked together in close proximity, at Arthouse and the Blanton Museum of Art respectfully, and their bond as colleagues intensified. Of note, Annette was the first professional curator at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, hired in 1979 by the then director, Laurence Miller. And she was the founding Contemporary Art Curator at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin (formerly the Huntington Art Gallery) from 1996-2014.

Annette and Sue’s narrative includes a tribute to Laurence Miller, the former director of the Laguna Gloria Art Museum from 1974-1990. In 2003, he went on to co-found Fluent~Collaborative with Regine Basha, and its program, testsite, lasted twenty years.

It was Laurence who brought national talent, Annette and Sue among them, to Austin to establish new curation and programming that dialed in to the international contemporary art scene, provided an unprecedented nexus and opportunities for local artists and expanded the awareness of contemporary art in Austin.

We invite you into the boiler room to learn about this fascinating synthesis of people and events that shifted the trajectory of Austin’s art eco-system to its current ethos. Sandra, Sue, Annette, Laurence, and Dana Friis-Hansen, among many others, broke new ground on the institutional level and in tandem, a vibrant local scene emerged, including Okay Mountain, Art Palace and the D. Berman Gallery.

We are proud to mention that these three were featured on the GBTS #10-The Energy Surge of the early 2000s, led by Jill Schroeder of Gray Duck Gallery.

For a deeper dive into the context and community acknowledgement of this remarkable era, read Annette Carlozzi’s supplimental essay.

Coming up

Gem to Gem will feature Dana Friis-Hansen, former director of Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) from 2002-2011, in conversation with Chris Cowden, the executive director of Women and Their Work since 1985.