AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Public Library on West César Chávez Street is hosting a panel on Feb. 25 titled “Holding Space Through Food: Black Stories from Soil to Stove.” It will discuss Black foodways in Austin, centering “stories of land, labor, culture and community all through lived experiences,” according to their website.
The panel is part of an art exhibit over two months long at the library’s gallery called Holding Spaces Project, dedicated to Black entrepreneurs in Austin. According to the library’s description, the project is “a love letter to the people who make Austin feel like home.” It is located on the second floor of the library in its gallery. The exhibit’s main artist is Steven Hatchett, and it’s curated by Taylor Danielle Davis.
Hatchett is a portrait photographer who has been based in Austin for eight years. His work seeks to “capture the identities, expressions and auras of people,” he said on his website. Hatchett is also the co-founder of _OFCOLOR, a nonprofit arts alliance supporting artists of color in Austin.
The Holding Spaces exhibit opened on Jan. 15 and will run until March 29. The exhibition reception with an opportunity to meet the artist will take place on Feb. 5 and can be registered for on the library’s website.