New exhibit offers diverse view of history, culture

University of Houston-Clear Lake community friends can get a different perspective of punk culture in the exhibit, “Women in Punk: A Legacy of Empowerment,” on display on the second floor of the Bayou Building.

The exhibit shows the evolution of punk through posters, flyers, album covers, books and other artifacts curated from a collection of about 5,000 items, and touches on diverse genres and cultures, including feminism, LGBTQ and transgender movements.

“The display may be modest, but it is diverse and inclusive, including African American, Hispanic, Muslim, and Native American participants over the decades,” said Lee College English instructor David Ensminger, who organized the exhibit. “In doing so, we hope to create discussions about the roles of women not simply within music communities, but within their own cultures too—each shaped by gender roles, codes, and expectations.”

Ensminger, a folklorist and punk expert, collaborated with co-curator and visual artist Heather Johnson, UHCL Coordinator of Audience Development Jeff Bowen, for the UHCL Art Gallery, and UHCL Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis Sarah Lechago to bring the exhibit to UHCL.

“We want to inspire the UHCL community to see that activism, art, and important work can be executed in a variety of ways, including outside of the academic setting,” Lechago said. “We want to create unconventional learning spaces that inspire conversation about people’s identities, histories and interests.”

Ensminger hosted a zine workshop at UHCL in April, at which students, faculty and staff got hands-on experience creating hand-made magazines as another facet of the punk culture.

“My hope is to inform, entertain, and show students a folk history through objects and experience so they can do their own self-guided tours, and follow up with their own research,” Ensminger said.

Visit the exhibit on display until Dec. 8. For more information on upcoming events at UHCL, visit www.uhcl.edu/news.