The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas) named Houston-based painter Vincent Valdez and Austin-based author KB Brookins recipients of its artists-in-residence program for 2025–26.
As part of the residency, both artists will receive $30,000 each to fund individual projects. They will also work alongside the ACLU of Texas and community leaders to advocate for civil and individual rights within the state.
Valdez plans to paint portraits of local community leaders who are working to inform and challenge the system. He will combine these paintings with Know Your Rights information and archival research to create poster packets that will be distributed statewide.
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Brookins seeks to address pretrial detention in Texas jails, primarily in Harris County, through original compositions, workshops, community organizing, and public presentations. Their work highlights issues of mass incarceration in Texas, where two out of three people are jailed before a court hearing because they can’t afford bail.
“Vincent Valdez and KB Brookins challenge us to experience the world in a different way,” Oni K. Blair, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. “Their work reminds us of our shared humanity and the urgent need to protect the rights of all Texans, no exceptions. I’m thrilled they’ll be collaborating with us to highlight the diverse and sometimes contrasting realities that coexist within our state. At the ACLU of Texas, we believe the arts can reach beyond age, language, and culture to speak truth to power — and imagine a new way forward.”
The pair were selected out of roughly 200 applicants following a statewide open call.
They succeed the artist Kill Joy, who worked with Kitchen Table Puppets & Press to lead a statewide immigrants’ rights tour featuring massive 12- to 15-foot puppets that informed attendees of their constitutional rights amid escalating anti-immigrant policies.
The announcement follows issues of censorship in the state for which the ACLU of Texas fought alongside other civil liberties unions on behalf of Sally Mann, whose work was removed from a group exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.