SPACE TAKING ARTIST RESIDENCY
2025 COHORT
Clothespins and Storylines
BY ARTIST: OUTSPOKEN BEAN
IN RESIDENCE: JUNE-JULY 2025
Clothespins and Story-Lines transformed the Winter Street Studios Gallery into an immersive, community-driven poetry installation, inviting the public to co-create a living tapestry of stories. Visitors wrote poems on provided materials and contributed them to the evolving display, decorating clothespins to reflect their personal style. This exhibition also welcomed visitors to join MANY exciting events throughout the residency such as live performances, workshops, and community events featuring poets, musicians, and other artists. Built from found materials like crates and string, the installation—centered around a crate stage called The Soapbox—encouraged storytelling, connection, and reflection within a dynamic, welcoming environment.
Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean is a nationally celebrated poet, electrifying performer, and dedicated mentor whose work bridges art and activism. Known for his commanding presence and transformative storytelling, Bean served as Houston’s Poet Laureate and was honored as a 2022–2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Under his leadership, the Meta4 Houston youth poetry team earned back-to-back championships at Brave New Voices, the largest international youth poetry festival. Bean has captivated audiences at iconic venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hobby Center, and the Wortham Theater, using the stage as a platform to inspire, challenge, and connect. Beyond performance, he empowers communities through public speaking, creative coaching, and immersive outreach programs. His work lives at the intersection of art and impact—where words don’t just entertain, they ignite change. Learn more at outspokenbean.com
FEATURED ARTISTS: Kam Franklin, B.A. Moye, Meta4 Youth Poetry, Richelle Gemini, Madison Petaway, Rudy Francisco, Reyes Ramirez, and others
ARTIST MENTOR: Tony A.C. Evans, Space Taking Artist Resident 2021
As part of our ongoing mission to empower artists through professional development and community-building, the 2025 iteration of the Space Taking Artist Residency introduced a new peer mentorship component to the program. This addition enhances the program’s artist-led approach by fostering meaningful connections, shared learning, and ongoing support across residency cohorts.
Third Space Third Coast
BY ARTIST: KRYSTLE HOLNES
IN RESIDENCE: JULY-AUGUST 2025
Third Space Third Coast was a vibrant creative lounge space + community event series providing a safe and relaxed environment for folks of all ages to explore and experiment with their creative impulses freely – both independently and in collaboration with fellow community members through a variety of unique activities. The Third Space Open Studios featured self-guided creativity stations such as collaging, painting, and still-life drawing with all materials provided. Other unique events included speed art-making sessions, surrealist dinner parties, movement-generated projection art, and more.
Krystle Holnes is a Multi-disciplinary artist, educator, and curator with a Master’s degree from Lamar University and a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and a Post Baccalaureate from the University of Houston. Her work weaves together Afrofuturism, a vibrant cultural memory, and community engagement. Influenced by the lush environment of her upbringing in Panama City, she explores the intersection of identity, tradition, and imaginative futures. Whether in the studio or hosting art shows at elaborate dinners in the park, the classroom, or a gallery space, Krystle Holnes invites audiences to explore their creativity as a tool for liberation, connection, and imagination.
FEATURED ARTISTS: Al Alexander, Ashlee Rivera, DJ Yaaje, Dre Dre, Dr. Ha Na Lee, and others
ARTIST MENTOR: Ruby Rivera, Space Taking Artist Resident 2023
As part of our ongoing mission to empower artists through professional development and community-building, the 2025 iteration of the Space Taking Artist Residency introduced a new peer mentorship component to the program. This addition enhances the program’s artist-led approach by fostering meaningful connections, shared learning, and ongoing support across residency cohorts.
The Space Taking Artist Residency is funded in part by a grant from Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Endowment, and Brown Foundation.
Related Media Links
The Leader News, March 24, 2021: “Art Valet: Fresh Arts launches new residency”
Houston Chronicle, June 11, 2021: “Fresh Arts’ residency gives opportunities for underrepresented Houston artists”
Houstonia, July 5, 2021: “This New Sawyer Yards Art Installation Spotlights Black Women’s Unapologetic Femininity”
The Leader News:, July 7, 2021: “Art Valet: Experience collection of creativity at Sawyer Yards”
Houston Press: “Best Bets the Week of August 12-18, 2021“
Fox 26 Morning News segment: Art Houston Magazine, Issue 13, Fall/Winter 2021: Interviews with Stacey Allen and Saida Carter (pgs 72-75)
