SpiritHouse Fundraiser
Stay tuned for an announcement about our upcoming SpiritHouse fundraiser! Be part of the groundswell to make this work a meaningful part of the mental health, arts, and prison recovery spaces in Central Texas.
SpiritHouse Productions
In addition to programming, SpiritHouse is a home for staged readings and productions that honor Black playwrights and artists from Central Texas and beyond. A portion of proceeds from these events goes directly to fund SpiritHouse programming.
“Theater is a vital part of building community. We are struggling for representation in a city that is rapidly losing its black population. When I was born, the city was at least 20% black and now it has dwindled to around 6%. I think we find ourselves working overtime to make art that represents us and holds fast to who we are while watching the populous disappear along with our actual physical history in the form of historic neighborhoods and streets. And most importantly, this company is led by black women. Black folks need to be at the helm of telling our stories, not in support roles, not as props for validation. These are our stories and it is imperative that we hold the lens through which they are being told.”
“Our Truth Teller” was the inaugural production for SpiritHouse, a one-night-only staged reading of Toni Morrison’s works that combined music, selected video and performance of passages from Morrison’s writing to both honor the late author’s life and to herald the future of Black artistry in Austin.
“Her work is inexorably a part of who I am. I was fortunate enough to grow up reading her words and be shaped by them. I remember being young and reading her first book, “The Bluest Eye,” and being so moved and so horrified, but also completely understanding the themes in the novel. Growing up white-adjacent and living under the societal standards of beauty, and very often being the only black girl in a space, she spoke to me and my experience. And that’s how her work is — she allows you to see yourself in her stories, paints a world just for you. She unearthed a magical, mystical element in black life that has forever inspired me — the inherent magic of blackness. I carry it with me, and it informs how I see the world, and the approach I take to my own work. I endeavor to imbue my work with that magic — and that’s what SpiritHouse is.”
