YardWorks is a partnership between Public Art UHS and the School of the Art at the University of Houston. It is a biennial program granting early-career Texas-based artists  exhibition opportunities for their site-specific installations and public art projects. The program includes a professional dialogue component as well as a guided experience along all stages of the exhibition process; from concept development to fabrication to installation. Commissions remain on view for a 9-month period from June through March at the Louise J. Moran Fine Arts Courtyard, in the heart of the University of Houston’s Arts District.

YardWorks launched in the Summer of 2021 with Tay Butler’s We Are Still Searching… (2019). Tay Butler is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Houston, while teaching and studying in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Currently an MFA candidate of the University of Arkansas’ Photography and Studio Art program, Tay received his BFA in Photography and Digital Media from the University of Houston. His work utilizes photography, collage, video, music, installation and performance to identify and confront history, migration, memory and identity.

YardWorks 23 Call for Artists

The YardWorks Selection Committee invites proposals from Texas-based artists and artist teams at the early stages of their careers to design, fabricate, and install temporary works of public art for the Louise J. Moran Fine Arts Courtyard on the campus of the University of Houston in 2023.

The call for YardWorks 23 is now closed. Stay tuned for finalist announcement. In the meantime, please direct all questions to David Politzer, Associate Director of the School of Art.

Tay Butler, We Are Still Searching... (2019)

August 2021 – March 2022