Artist Statement

Amy C. Evans is an award-winning artist, writer, and documentarian based in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the city’s acclaimed High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), holds a BFA in Printmaking from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and an MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. Amy’s paintings have appeared in Southern Living, Southern Cultures, and on CNN’s Eatocracy and the Oxford American blog. Her writing has appeared in Saveur, The Bitter Southerner, The Local Palate, and Cornbread Nation 5: The Best of Southern Food Writing. Amy built the documentary program at the Southern Foodways Alliance, headquartered at the University of Mississippi, where she served as their lead oral historian for more than a decade. The Mississippi Historical Society has twice recognized her work, and Food & Wine magazine named Amy one of the “most fearsome talents” in the culinary world. She returned home to Houston in 2014 and embarked on an exciting freelance career, utilizing her varied skills and interests to explore new methods of storytelling. This experimentation birthed Amy’s groundbreaking multimedia project, “My Houston,” which documents her hometown through original paintings, archival photographs, and oral history interviews. Her first book, co-authored with Martha Hall Foose and published by Chronicle Books, A Good Meal Is Hard to Find: Storied Recipes from the Deep South, is set for release on April 28, 2020. Amy’s favorite pie is sweet potato.

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

1997 – Present KOELSCH GALLERY – Houston, TX

TEACHING

2024 Artist’s Residency – ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL – Houston, TX

2023 Hot Tamale Pop-up Show – INDIGO GALLERY – Greenville, MS

2021 Artist’s Residency – JX FARMS – Cleveland, MS

2021 – Present Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) – Teaching Artist – Houston, TX

2017 – Present Writers in the Schools (WITS) – Teaching Writer & Lead Writer – Houston, TX

2018 – 2019 Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) – Teaching Artist & Curriculum Developer/Author – Houston, TX

2018 – 2019 High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) – Teaching Artist – Houston, TX  2016 – 2019 Young Audiences of Houston (YAH) – Teaching Artist – Houston, TX 2015 – 2019 Literacy Through Photography at FotoFest (LTP) – Teaching Artist & Curriculum Developer/Author – Houston, TX  2014 – 2015 High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) – Teaching Artist – Houston, TX  2010 – 2014 Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) – Oral History Workshop Founder/Leader – Oxford, MS 2004 – 2005 University of Mississippi – Darkroom Photography Instructor – Oxford, MS  1996 – 2001 High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) – Teaching Artist – Houston, TX

AWARDS | GRANTS | RESIDENCIES

2024 Artist’s Residency – ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL – Houston, TX

2021 Artist’s Residency – JX FARMS – Cleveland, MS

Support for Artists and Creative Individuals Grant (additional support for 2020 grant projects in response to COVID-19)

HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE – Houston, TX

2020 City of Houston CARES Act Program for Arts and Culture Grant – HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE – Houston, TX

Support for Artists and Creative Individuals Grant – HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE – Houston, TX

2017 Harvey Arts Recovery Fund Grant – HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE – Houston, TX

Hurricane Harvey Artist’s Grant – MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE – Kansas City, MO

Presenter’s Scholarship – ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION – Minneapolis, MN

2016 Houston’s Harlem Renaissance – Successfully funded KICKSTARTER campaign – Online

2015 Artist in Residence – APPALACHIAN FOOD SUMMIT – Abingdon, VA

2014 Tabasco Guardian of the Tradition Award – SOUTHERN FOODWAYS ALLIANCE – Oxford, MS

2012 New Media Award – INTERNATIONAL ASSOC. OF CULINARY PROFESSIONALS (IACP) – New York, NY

Short-Form Audio Award – INTERNATIONAL ASSOC. OF CULINARY PROFESSIONALS (IACP) – New York, NY

2009 Global Vision Award: Culinary Heritage (SFA Culinary Trails) – TRAVEL + LEISURE MAGAZINE – New York, NY

2006 Elbert R. Hilliard Award for Outstanding Oral History Project: Mississippi Delta Hot Tamale Trail – MISSISSIPPI HISTORICAL SOCIETY – Jackson, MS

2005 Artist’s MiniGrant – MISSISSIPPI ARTS COMMISSION – Jackson, MS

Elbert R. Hilliard Award for Outstanding Oral History Project: Doe’s Eat Place – MISSISSIPPI HISTORICAL SOCIETY – Jackson, MS

2004 ’04 Tastemaker Awards – FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE – New York, NY

1992 Jules M. Bodarky Scholarship – MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART – Baltimore, MD

1991 Departmental Scholarship in Printmaking – MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART – Baltimore, MD

1989 2nd Place Award – NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCEMENT IN THE ARTS (YOUNG ARTS) – Miami, FL

Fanny B. Talheimer Scholarship – MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART – Baltimore, MD

Rhode Island School of Design’s Annual Art Award – HSPVA – Houston, TX

CRS, Incorporated Architects Scholarship – HSPVA – Houston, TX