‘Policing, Performance and the Question of Reform’

‘Policing, Performance and the Question of Reform’ UH Chief of Police Ceaser Moore, Artist Shaun Leonardo Engage in Virtual Discussion May 20

Shaun Leonardo, Janice Bond, Chief Moore
Hosted by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, “Policing, Performance and the Question of Reform,” will feature a discussion between artist Shaun Leonardo (left) and UH Chief of Police Caeser Moore (right) and moderated by Janice Bond, (middle) deputy director of the Contemporary Art Museum Houston.

University of Houston Chief of Police Ceaser Moore will join interdisciplinary artist Shaun Leonardo to discuss the perception and practice of policing and how art, dialogue and engagement can impact its future. 

Hosted by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, “Policing, Performance and the Question of Reform,” will be held at 3 p.m., Thursday, May 20 via livestream. The event is open to the public. Click here to watch on YouTube.

Leonardo’s art installation, “Your First Interaction with Law Enforcement,” is currently on view on the exterior wall of the UH Fine Arts Building through May 31. People of all ages, colors and backgrounds are invited to anonymously submit, through a QR code, memories of their initial interactions with law enforcement. The accumulating mosaic of narratives displays how the community has learned to define its relationships with policing.

The livestream event will include a viewing of Leonardo’s 2020 video “Memory/Cycle,” a series of visual storytelling workshops with participants from four distinct groups, each with a unique relationship to prison — corrections officers, legal advocates, formerly incarcerated individuals and court-involved youth — as they translate their personal narratives into performative gestures without the use of words. Interdisciplinary artist Janice Bond, deputy director of the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, will serve as moderator.

WHAT: “Policing, Performance and the Question of Reform,” hosted by the UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts

WHO:  Shaun Leonardo, interdisciplinary artist; UH Chief of Police Ceaser Moore and moderated by Janice Bond, deputy director, Contemporary Art Museum Houston

WHEN: 3 – 4:30 p.m., Thursday, May 20

WHERE: This is a free online event via YouTube Live. No RSVP required. Click here for the link.