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<\/a>Photographs of the historic 1971 \u201cDeLuxe Show\u201d on view in \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\nCurated by Harrison Guy, This Far By Faith pays homage to The DeLuxe Show (1971). Guy\u2019s placement of vintage black and white photos and posters on the South-facing wall gives a glimpse into a long-gone past. A number of Houston\u2019s political and sociocultural icons pictured have passed on, including Representatives Mickey Leland and Barbara Jordan<\/a>. Bishop Roy Lee Kossie, who for decades served as pastor of the Latter Day Deliverance Church, located further down Lyons Avenue, visited the exhibition with his children. Traveling West on Lyons leads to late Project Row Houses co-founder Jesse Lott\u2019s old studio, which is situated near train tracks.<\/p>\n For this exhibition, Guy\u2019s curatorial perspective is focused, in part, on the element of time. As he notes within his curatorial statement, \u201cThis Far By Faith is an exhibition shaped by time. It is a meditation on milestones as markers of survival, testimony, and forward motion. Presented at Houston\u2019s historic DeLuxe Theater in the Fifth Ward, the 2026 DeLuxe Show arrives at a rare convergence of anniversaries: 250 years of the United States, 100 years of Black History Month<\/a>, 160 years of the Fifth Ward community, 10 years since the theater\u2019s reopening as a cultural anchor, and 55 years since the original 1971 DeLuxe Show. Together, these markers invite reflection on how communities measure progress, memory, and faith across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n The impressive intergenerational mix of artists from various eras and stylistic perspectives represented in the group show undoubtedly establishes an important dialogue about the role of art in telling stories about histories and communities. Younger artist Delita Martin\u2019s The Seeker (2016), a linocut on paper featuring a strong, resolute woman, is positioned between works by Foundational 20th-century Black artists like Elizabeth Catlett and Houston art legend Dr. John Biggers. Catlett, along with her husband Charles White, were social activists and mentored Biggers at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Virginia. In turn, Biggers later mentored Houston artists, iconic photographer Earlie Hudnall and Project Row Houses co-founder and painter Bert Samples \u2014 whose works are presented in the show. Romeo Robinson is another established artist whose works are placed outside the wooden churchlike structure, which is centered in the exhibition space. Artist Melvin Edwards\u2019 work is also included.<\/p>\n Younger artists featured in the exhibition include Otabenga Jones<\/a> co-founder Robert Pruitt<\/a>, Ann Johnson<\/a>, Shawn Artis, and Crystal Coulter. Viewers walking into the exhibition space encounter a dark gray wooden church structure with the words \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d rendered in white lettering. Guy placed Nigerian-born artist Abidemi Olowonira\u2019s mostly white leather cross, also made using fur, epoxy resin, and hemp fiber, adjacent to the exhibition title and to the left of the church door. Part of Olowonira\u2019s intriguing Sunday\u2019s Best series, a total of 12 crosses painted in various hues like yellow, red, purple, black and blue, these works are the central focal point of the show and are hung on white walls inside the church. Guy placed Shawn Artis\u2019 Choir Boy (2026) \u2014 made with acrylic, latex, a found object, and pyrography \u2014 outside the church on a doorlike structure.<\/p>\n Guy explains the meaning behind the exhibition title. As he notes within the curatorial statement, \u201cThe title draws from a phrase deeply rooted in Black cultural and spiritual life. \u2018This far by faith\u2019 is both declaration and acknowledgment. It recognizes that movement forward is rarely linear and never solitary. It honors those who built, resisted, created, and imagined before us. Here, faith extends beyond religion. It is faith in community, in cultural continuity, and in the capacity of art to hold memory while pointing toward the future.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most impactful, moving works in the exhibition are the juxtaposed television sets that show the before and after of the Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church\u2019s demolition, which began in 2024. An empty field now sits in place of the old domed church, which was an important Fifth Ward landmark. Karen Kossie-Chernyshev filmed the demolition (edited by Keda Sharber) with precision and care, and in a city where destruction of important landmarks has long been a phenomenon, it makes the viewer confront the constantly changing dystopian landscape and ask what can be saved. The exhibit doesn\u2019t delve into other demolitions of historic Fifth Ward structures, such as Don Robey\u2019s Bronze Peacock Dinner Club, the old Wheatley High School, or the transitioning of St. Elizabeth Hospital into housing. One issue which has plagued historically Black neighborhoods in Houston, including Third Ward, Freedmen\u2019s Town (Fourth Ward), and Fifth Ward, is the destruction of major parts of a neighborhood in conjunction with\u00a0the construction of interstate highways. Another topic not addressed directly in the show is gentrification, although the demolition of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, which led to the Houston Housing Authority being embroiled in controversy, certainly hints at it.<\/p>\n Another highlight of the exhibition are the classic black and white photographs of Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Photographic subjects include a couple holding champagne glasses on their wedding day, a horse walking along a street near the Royal Center Cafe, row houses, and adults and children in various settings. Robert Pruitt\u2019s large-scale Oba (2011), a cont\u00e9 and charcoal on handmade paper work, stands out, with its subject raising his right hand.<\/p>\n Ann Johnson\u2019s subtle concrete works, with muted colors, are powerful and memorable. Aside from the overarching sense of community, one of the most beautiful aspects of the exhibition is the presence of music. Songs played over the speaker system include Donny Hathaway\u2019s \u201cSomeday We\u2019ll All Be Free,\u201d Aretha Franklin\u2019s \u201cYoung Gifted and Black,\u201d and The Clark Sisters\u2019 \u201cBlessed and Highly Favored.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>An installation view of the \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater in Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\n<\/a>Abidemi Olowonira\u2019s \u201cSunday\u2019s Best\u201d series on view in \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\n<\/a>Works by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. on view in \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\n<\/a>Works by Robert Pruitt and Dr. John Biggers on view in \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\n<\/a>A work by Ann Johnson on view in \u201cThis Far By Faith\u201d at The DeLuxe Theater. Photo: Keda Sharber, courtesy of Harrison Guy<\/p>\n