Hope takes flight in award-winning art installation
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Video by Tripp Films
Cindee Travis Klement’s(opens in new window) studio is an unassuming building on a lot tucked away in Houston’s Acers Homes. Once filled with manicured greenery, the land has been transformed, now featuring tall grasses, native plants, and the buzz of a living landscape. Inside, the building reflects this metamorphosis, promoting a conversation about the intersection of ecology, urban life, and collective action.
We were invited to visit on a mid-March morning and immediately became immersed in Klement’s ecological interests. Just inside the door, we were greeted by her work, Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus(opens in new window), a bison sculpture with hide made of locally sourced native grasses and sedges, seeds, and pods. To our right, turtle shells, fossils, and driftwood were artfully displayed.
But we were most excited to see Klement’s latest work—Unfolding Hope—displayed in the middle of the studio. The piece was created specifically for the 2026 Jones Artist Awards Program, a Houston Endowment initiative created in 2023 to recognize local artists, reflect the many stories and perspectives of the region’s residents, and strengthen the ability of individual artists to build a thriving artistic career in Greater Houston.
“At Houston Endowment, we believe that individual artists play a vital role in helping our region better understand itself,” said Bao-Long Chu, Houston Endowment’s Arts & Culture program director. “I hope that the program helps the artists push the boundaries of creativity and grow their practice, and at the end of the day, understand that Houston is a place where their stories matter.”
As a recipient, Klement earned a solo installation at the Houston Endowment office as well as support to strengthen her practice.
“Environmental scientists note that our issue is not solely ecological, but also social,” said Klement. “This award gives me a platform to address these social concerns. It enables me to elevate solutions and emphasize the importance of new perspectives on our relationship with the natural world. This award will benefit my practice for years to come.”
More than 100 artists responded to the 2026 Jones Artist Awards Program open call, and through a selection process between Houston Endowment and Weingarten Art Group, Klement received recognition alongside fellow Houston creatives Keliy Anderson-Staley(opens in new window), Brian Edwards Jr.(opens in new window), Jessica Carolina González(opens in new window), Hillerbrand + Magsamen(opens in new window), Ahra Cho(opens in new window), Virginia Lee Montgomery(opens in new window), Katrina Moorhead(opens in new window), and Carole F. Smith(opens in new window).
Each artist submitted work that reflected on what hope means to them, how it endures, and how it lives within their communities, inspired by poet Jane Hirshfield’s line “Hope is the hardest love we carry,” from her poem, Hope and Love.
“As an artist committed to social change, I focus my work on cultivating hope. Hope demands conscious effort and a willingness to remain open to possibilities, even in the face of difficult circumstances or the unknown,” Klement said. “It is fueled by a passion born of a deep connection to something beyond oneself.”
Four panels, one story
Unfolding Hope spans nearly 30 feet and consists of four sections—Quiet Estuary, Life’s Stubborn March, Courtship Dance, and Knowledge is the Bridge—and depicts early morning scenes of a coastal estuary where cranes wade, fly, and move through the wetlands.
The work began as a large-scale pencil drawing on Stonehenge paper that was later torn apart and collaged together. Color was added as Klement worked across the relief surface with watercolor and ink, later spraying it with water so paint fell in transparent washes and ran between crevices of the torn paper, a practice she demonstrated during our visit.
The completed piece features vertical drips of blue and green paint contrasting with horizontal lines of the collage and bright red crowns of the cranes. Birds are in various states: animated in flight, congregated at the water, or standing still.
How art leads to action
Embedded throughout the work is Klement’s poem, Unfolding Hope inspired by Jane Hirshfield. Looking up close, we read the phrases “roots drinking the sky” and “the prairie held her breath.”
But beyond the single poem, the work shares a much greater narrative: the return of sandhill cranes from an existence of an estimated 25 breeding pairs in the 1930s to thousands today.
“Being an eco-artist means I don’t make art about problems—I make art about possibility… I want viewers to feel the full arc—from blindness to sight, from sight to love, and from love to protection,” she said. “Most of all, I want [people] to leave knowing that what was nearly lost can be held again—because it already has been.”
Klement points to a Marshland Elegy, a 1937 essay by conservationist Aldo Leopold, as a model for how art can lead to action. The essay brought broad attention to the crane’s decline and ultimately catalyzed conservation efforts. Similarly, Unfolding Hope uses the story to encourage conservation efforts.
“The things that artists make, the beautiful things, they’re not frivolous,” said Chu. “They are actually a part of how we live in a community, how we share our stories, and how we connect and commune with one another.”
The program unfolds
Unfolding Hope is on display at Houston Endowment through Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. The work is viewable to the public online.
The 2026 Jones Artist Awards Program will conclude with a group installation, Earth & Ether, featuring Ahra Cho(opens in new window), Virginia Lee Montgomery(opens in new window), Katrina Moorhead(opens in new window), and Carole F. Smith(opens in new window). Artists interested in participating in the 2027 program can apply through Weingarten Art Group’s RFP process that launches Monday, June 29.
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