The Blaffer Art Museum, an institution run by the University of Houston, is experiencing a period of tumult following the appointment of Laura Augusta as director and chief curator in 2024, according to a report published Texas art magazine Glasstire on Wednesday.
The report stated that the museum fired Erika Mei Chua Holum, who was previously the institution’s associate curator. Artist Ja’Tovia Gary has called off a show at the museum, and Kenneth Tam also told Glasstire that his Blaffer exhibition had been “canceled.” The fate of at least one other show, by Thania Peterson, also appears to hang in the balance.
ARTnews has reached out to a Blaffer spokesperson for comment.
Glasstire previously reported that the Blaffer canceled a Guadalupe Maravilla presentation. That report was published in February, about half a year after a Shahzia Sikander sculpture at the University of Houston was beheaded; at the time, the museum attributed the cancelation to concerns related to the construction of a large-scale sculpture by Maravilla.
Chua Holum, who told Glasstire this week that she was terminated in July, said the sculpture could’ve been constructed. Augusta, the museum’s leader, denied this.
Chua Holum said that the museum had fired her because of her exhibitions’ budgets, which leadership alleged had grown beyond their originally designated amounts. She said that this was not true and that she had worked closely with Steven Matijcio, the museum’s director and chief curator, to determine her budgets. Matijcio told Glasstire that he felt Chua Holum’s budgets were “feasible” when he was the museum’s leader.
Gary, the artist who canceled her Blaffer show, said she pulled her exhibition after negotiations of her budget “broke down.” She reportedly canceled the show on July 18, not long before Chua Holum was fired, according to Glasstire.
Augusta, the current director, told Glasstire that the exhibition “was still in development” at the time and that specificities related to it, like its budget and “scope,” were not set in stone. “It is standard practice for museums to have exhibitions in various stages of development at all times,” Augusta said, adding that the exhibition was “canceled by the artist before it was contracted.”
Tam also described behind-the-scenes turbulence over the details of his show, which he claimed was postponed amid back and forth over its organization. He claimed the exhibition was “canceled”; the Blaffer denied this to Glasstire.
Glasstire also reported that artist Thania Petersen had experienced “difficulty” in her communications with Blaffer staff about her forthcoming show there. Augusta said the exhibition “currently remains in development.”
