COMPLETION DATE
April 2022

LOCATION
Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza at Central Library
500 McKinney St
Houston, TX 77002

District I

CLIENT
City of Houston

SPONSORING DEPARTMENT
Houston Public Library

PROJECT BUDGET
$20,000.00

A Life, Illuminated
Marsha Dorsey-Outlaw

Image Credit: All images courtesy of the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs; Photographer: Alex Barber

Project Description

Artist Masha Dorsey-Outlaw created A Life, Illuminated, which amplifies the emotions and imagination ignited by the power of stories on four custom planters outside of the Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza at the Houston Public Library Downtown.  

A reflective and pixelated ground is perceived as a pastoral scene or early morning cityscape to some and the colors of an encounter or mood to others. Floating above the reflective ground are a few opening lines to literature selections, beginning with stylized, illuminated letters, facing the covered gathering place as a centerpiece for intergenerational exchanges, and prompts to inspire all to tell their own stories. 

 The dancing forms summon feelings of anticipation in passersby and those entering the library while honoring them as characters in that precise snapshot of life with the greeting, “Once upon a time.” 

  • HAA oversaw the artist selection, design, fabrication, and installation process for this artwork. Working diligently with sponsoring city departments, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the selected artists, HAA created and publicized the opportunity, coordinated the panel process, managed artist communications, and monitored on-site installation. Recommendation reports were submitted at the conclusion of Artist Selection and Design phases, and a robust closeout report was provided upon project completion detailing project summary and ongoing maintenance requirements.

  • In memory of the late Barbara Bush and the legacy of her work championing the cause of literacy, the City of Houston and the Houston Public Library Foundation worked together to complete the Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza outside of the Jesse H. Jones Central Library.

    Barbara Bush dedicated her life to public service and for nearly three decades focused on the cause of literacy through the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which is committed to breaking the intergenerational cycle of low literacy in America. Mrs. Bush accepted naming the downtown Houston Library Plaza in her honor in November 2016. The Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza has been created to recognize her role in changing the lives of countless Americans and to elevate her cause. This welcoming space, designed by Lauren Griffith Associates, extends the Houston Public Library’s mission outside of its physical walls and into the outdoors.

  • This project was funded through Houston’s Civic Art Ordinance, which requires 1.75% of the budget for eligible City-funded construction projects to be spent on integrating artwork and artists' ideas in public spaces and conserving the City of Houston’s Civic Art Collection. The Houston Arts Alliance administers the civic art program for the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. 

  • ARTS REPRESENTATIVE

    Dixie Friend Gay, Artist

    COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES

    Algenita Davis, Government and Community Affairs Officers, Downtown District

    Jaime Herrero, Founder, Xmental

    Lauren Griffith, Founder, President, Principal Designer, Lauren Griffith Associates

    SPONSORING DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE

    Raiset Ruben Valiente, Project Manager, Houston Public Library

Artist Bio

Marsha Dorsey-Outlaw is a mixed media visual artist, with an emphasis on social practice and education. Her work is an investigation of the narratives that motifs bear in the rhythm of textile patterns, tender threads of metal or silk, contours of wood or stone, in finely cast plastics, and evolving into the durable, accessible practice of mixed media mosaics. On the Texas Commission for the Arts Artist in Education Roster, Marsha Dorsey-Outlaw has enjoyed extended residencies at The Community Artists’ Collective and the Austin Children’s Museum. She was the first artist in residence and community liaison in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Education Department. As Project Manager, her focus was community engagement with the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. Through the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Foundation, she composed, promoted, and facilitated programs and festivals to increase public awareness of the communities’ artists and crafts persons living in their midst and within themselves

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