We had the good fortune of connecting with Leslie Gaworecki & Marlo Saucedo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leslie Gaworecki & Marlo Saucedo, what principle do you value most?
-Bringing people together. Connecting creative disciplines of art and poetry and the creatives involved, is the purpose behind Color:Story. – Making a difference in how people view art, with both of our talents combined.
-Being responsible in our work: In the quality of our collaborative pieces and events, and in the professionalism of our actions surrounding their creation and delivery.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Leslie and I were so inspired by a piece we created together with a poet’s words in 2018, that we decided to create a collaborative community event to bridge poetry and art creative worlds: Color:Story. Color:Story not only brings two communities together but gives a platform for artists to stretch themselves in their creative processes and poets to be seen, heard, and appreciated. Color:Story brings Houston’s poetry/writing and visual arts communities together for one collaborative visual art exhibition. Artists chose a poem to work with, and use their chosen poet’s words in their work.

During the Opening Event, poets read their work next to the art it inspired. Topics chosen poets have performed in past Color:Story events are emotional experiences that cut to the core and are so powerful they affect everyone in the room. The energy at Color:Story openings is unmistakable and powerful. Lives have been changed; poets emboldened and bloomed from these events.

Our third Color:Story event, Color:Story 2023, opened April 8th. The work of 22 Houston artists and nearly 30 national poets is represented in the visual art exhibition, which is up through May 20th at The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Gallery 100.

We will be co-organizing another Color:Story in 2025.

We were honored to have Outspoken Bean with us for the opening night of Color:Story 2023 on the first ever Outspoken Bean Day (April 8th)! Bean has opened for us at all 3 Color:Story events; we have collaborated on artwork using his poetry, and our biggest project yet will come later this year: We are creating art for a gate in the new international arrivals terminal at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport using poetry about Houston from Outspoken Bean! Leslie and I will be creating an atmosphere for Gate D5 including large scale artwork of the skyline and flora and fauna of the Bayou City. We’ll be posting Instagram updates as these elaborate works unfold!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
-Sawyer Yards, for sure – This unique and wonderful place is where we have our studios, in the Silos building. Sawyer Yards is 6 buildings full of artists’ studios – the second largest local artist community in the United States. The artists’ studios are open every Second Saturday of the month from noon to 5PM. Great place to find truly top-notch art and one-of-a-kind pieces- only in Houston. -Holler Brewery is one of our favorites. It’s attached to Sawyer Yards, and is the best place to meet artists after a Second Saturday open studio event!
-The Menil and the Rothko Chapel.
-The new Kinder Building at the MFAH – all of the MFAH buildings, actually-and the very cool tunnel walkways between them.
-Tiny Boxwoods for brunch or lunch.
-In The Woodlands area, rent a kayak or stand up paddle board on huge, wake-free Lake Woodlands and paddle over to Hughes Landing for lunch-then paddle back!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
-Color:Story poets, from all over the world, who have submitted their amazing work to us and offered such inspiration to our artists and the audience here in Houston. -Color:Story artists, from all over Texas, who create such beautiful work for this biennial exhibit.
-Writespace Houston, offering support to writers of every genre, involved since our first event in 2019.
-Writers in the Schools, connecting the next generation to the power of the written and spoken word, who introduced us to Houston Poet Laureate Outspoken Bean.
-Outspoken Bean, who has been involved in all of our events: 2019, 2021, and 2023.

Website: colorstory.com

Instagram: @colorstoryart

Youtube: @colorstoryart

Other: Facebook, individual artist accounts: @lesliegaworeckiart & @marlosaucedo.art Instagram, individual artist accounts: @lesliegaworeckiart & @marlosaucedoart

Image Credits
Leslie Gaworecki/Marlo Saucedo

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.