The University of Houston Law Center marked its first anniversary in the John M. O’Quinn Law Building with a conference that brought together prominent figures in art, government, and law to explore the impact of social justice in their fields. More than 250 alumni, students, faculty and members of the Houston legal community attended the Law, Community and Social Justice Conference on Sept. 22
“The John M. O’Quinn Law building is a place of inspiration. This conference is designed to make sure that we have a moment where we can celebrate our first anniversary and to provide an opportunity for us, as a convening place, to shed light not heat to issues,” said University of Houston Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes.
Community and Social Justice
The conference commenced with a panel discussion on "The Community and Social Justice," moderated by Jeronimo Cortina, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Director of Faculty Research Initiatives at Population Health, University of Houston. The panelists included Texas State Sen. Royce West (J.D. ‘79) and Texas State Rep. Armando Walle (J.D. ‘14).
Cortina remarked that the John M. O’Quinn Law Building “represents the face of our students that come from many different backgrounds, from many different life experiences and for many different socioeconomic statuses.”
“This law school gave me the chance of a lifetime,” said West, who was the first in his family to graduate from college.
“I am first generation like Senator West,” said Walle. It is important when we are encouraging young people that they see themselves “reflected in positions of authority. They can’t be who they can’t see.”
Cortina posed a question to the panel about how art, community and justice can be used to build a cohesive social fabric.
“Art to me is an expression of creativity,” said West. “We utilize art to symbolize different things” such as telling the stories of communities.
“You are talking about the intersectionality of art, justice, and community,” said Walle. “You have that not far from here in the Third Ward Project Row Houses,” a project designed to enrich the community in a marginalized neighborhood.
Art and Social Justice
The Line by artist and UH Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice Rick Lowe explores the shifting community boundaries of the University of Houston and the Third Ward. The piece, displayed at the John M. O'Quinn Law Building, was discussed during the "Art and Social Justice" conference panel.
The conference continued with a second panel on "Art and Social Justice.” Ryan Dennis, Senior Curator and Director of Public Initiatives of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, led the discussion as the moderator. The panelists for this session included Rick Lowe, Kaneem Smith, Adriana Corral, Luis Alvarez Roure, and Vincent Valdez, all prominent artists.
Lowe, Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice at the Katherine G. McGovern College of the Arts, challenged that there is no traditional art, and creativity should not be confined to any specific category. Through social sculpture, Lowe discovered and reclaimed 22 shotgun houses in downtown Houston, developing a community.
“I consider that an act of social justice, and that project, Project Row Houses, still goes on now,” Lowe said. “It is only about a mile away from here.”
Adriana Corral, an El Paso-born, Houston-based artist, has a “trace” methodology when creating art, often working from a trace while driven to leave a record, documentation or time capsule behind to mark involvement or change for the next generation. “Layers of research and material exploration” structure Corral’s recent work, Latitudes, as she strives to view material from diverse angles and disciplines, such as human rights.
“Art opens the gates for us to dig deeper, asking ‘What is this about?’ encouraging us to know more about an individual or piece for centuries,” said Roure,artist of the Olivas/Reyes Portrait. “To the best of my abilities, I hope this is what I am doing because art has always been able to bring people together and to feel more empathetic toward others.”
“The works that I create are personal,” said Smith, artist of Laborscape. “They're familial and they're always tied to communities and workers — marginalized, displaced people and migrants.”
Valdez, artist of One in a Million, began as a muralist focused on addressing the issues plaguing the housing projects in San Antonio. He talked about the divide between these impoverished communities and the more privileged neighborhoods “less than a mile away, but they might as well have been on different planets.” Valdez made a commitment to devote his life to “being a picture maker for the sole purpose of telling stories about people and for people.”
Luncheon Keynote Speaker: Art, Community and Social Justice
The luncheon keynote address was from Carlotta Ramirez, Museum Counsel at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Ramirez (J.D. ‘92), an alumna of UH Law Center, shared her family's immigration story, describing her father's transformation in pursuit of education, despite facing challenges as a first-generation Mexican American. She also recounted her initial doubts upon entering law school and the perseverance it took to overcome negativity.
“It is a rare breed that can create opportunities for him or herself. Whether it looks like a first-generation Mexican American becoming a physician or a lawyer having the gumption to create her own role, her own job even,” Ramirez said, who became the museum’s first general counsel.
“I still remember walking into class here at the Law Center on the first day of my first year of law school and thinking I may have made a terrible mistake,” said Ramirez. “If you don't have the right kind of enthusiasm and energy, you might just leave it. You might just say this is too much. I can't handle it. But I found that power within myself to just keep going even when I made mistakes even when I thought I didn't know what I was doing. I kept going.”
Ramirez also highlighted the role of museums in social justice, acting as stewards of art from disadvantaged communities and serving as conduits for the voices and stories of marginalized artists and communities.
Celebration of the Scholarship and Career of the late Michael A. Olivas
In the afternoon, the conference paid tribute to the late UH Law Center William B. Bates Chair Emeritus and Professor of Law Michael A. Olivas.
Sandra Guerra Thompson, Newell H. Blakely Professor of Law at the UH Law Center, moderated the panel discussion. The panelists, including Norma Cantu, Rachel Moran, Thomas A. Saenz, and Cheryl Wade, shared their perspectives on the legacy and contributions of Michael Olivas.
“I served on the faculty with Michael Olivas for 33 years,” said Thompson. “He is one of the few people I will probably ever meet and know well who is a historic figure in U.S. American history. He’s the kind of person who ends up in history textbooks.”
“Michael stood out among academics,” said Rachel Moran, Professor of Law at Texas A&M University, School of Law. “Michael fought tirelessly for the rights of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged among us.”
“I became aware of Michael when I was a first-year law student in 1989 because of the Dirty Dozen List,” said Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Olivas helped create the list which “about the dearth of Latino and Latina professors in the academia.”
“My interaction with Michael and the lessons he taught me, even at this late stage in my life, were so profound,” Cheryl Wade, Dean Harold McNeice Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law. “Michael and I connected around the idea of enriching the law with culture. Art can transform lives, and it can transform cultures too.”
“That the place in which one learns affects the quality of education,” said Norma Cantu, Professor of Law and Education, University of Texas, School of Law, adding Olivas believed “that we will prepare students as citizens and leaders, empowering them to improve their lives and their communities through high quality, transformative and affordable learning experiences.”
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