Beyond the hedges: LAWAH builds community for Latine artists

By Madison Barendse     10/4/22 11:36pm

​​Latin American Women Artists of Houston is a collective that aims to empower Latine artists by providing them with a community and opportunities to share their work. Each member contributes their unique artistic style and background to the group, but the collective’s art generally builds on themes of home, immigration and cultural identity.

Lorena Morales, a LAWAH member, said she uses lines, colors and shadows to communicate her experience with movement and immigration.

“Through this movement in my work, I want my viewer to be displaced — to move around, so they can experience what I experienced when I moved from Venezuela to Houston,” Morales said.

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Morales said she was inspired to become a professional artist after moving to Houston in 2003, because it allowed her to overcome language barriers and share her story.

“All my art is related to home and cultural identity because it’s my way to talk about my experience as an immigrant,” Morales said. “Art helped me to connect and communicate, mostly because [of] my limitations with English. Through art, I feel I can communicate my ideas to the viewers.”

According to Morales, LAWAH is beneficial because it allows artists with varying levels of experience to collaboratively improve their art and develop their careers. Morales said she is always learning from her peers at LAWAH and is glad to pass on her knowledge.

Recently, LAWAH collaborated with the Harris County Cultural Arts Council to create an exhibition called “Cruzando Fronteras / Crossing Borders.” It will be on view at the Harris County Cultural Arts Center until Oct. 21, and it aims to express the artists’ migrational experiences. Morales said she believes collaborations like these are key to LAWAH’s future.

“It is important for us to grow as a group and to give back to Houston, the city that welcomed us and put us together,” Morales said. “Artists grow when we belong to a community that supports us. We cannot be isolated.”

Gabriela Monterroso, a founding member of LAWAH and the owner of the Monterroso Gallery, said LAWAH did not have ambitious beginnings. The founding members, originally from the Glassell School of Art, formed the collective because they enjoyed discussing art with each other. Monterroso said one of the best things about LAWAH is how collaborative and helpful the collective is.

“The group is very democratic,” Monterroso said. “We make all the decisions together. We have committees for a lot of things where everybody cooperates. No matter what idea we come up with, we have a good conversation, everybody’s voice is heard, and everybody is willing to help.”

Ultimately, Monterroso said that LAWAH’s exhibitions are important, because they demonstrate the diversity of Latin American artwork and culture.

“Latin American art is not a theme,” Monterroso said. “We are Latin American artists, but there are people here from different countries. At the end of the day, we all have different backgrounds, so our art is different.”

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