Image: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
The public program 'COUNTING and COLLECTING (Votes and Trash)' is scheduled for October 22 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Ahead of the November 2026 election, the evening will operate as a public forum examining the post-election process, the counting of votes and the persistent civic issue of illegal dumping. Political strategist Evan Choate and conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll organized the forum as part of their career survey at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 'How To Talk Dirty and Influence People,' curated by Rebecca Matalon.
The program brings together elected officials, policymakers, community organizers and activists to consider how policy is enacted, experienced and made visible in Houston and Texas in relation to the national political landscape.
The VOTES discussion looks beyond campaigns and candidates to the largely non-visible infrastructure involved in counting, certifying, administering and interpreting election results. It also considers how votes can be translated into political capital in Houston and Texas, how local and state electoral systems relate to the national election, and what happens when political authority and policy diverge across municipal, county, state and federal governments.
The TRASH discussion examines why illegal dumping persists, which policies and enforcement mechanisms exist and whether they are effective, while asking what continued accumulation reveals about infrastructure, municipal services, environmental justice, enforcement, public investment and political responsibility. Across Houston, illegally dumped construction debris, household waste, tires and other materials accumulate in public spaces, with neighborhoods of color disproportionately confronting the consequences.
Moderated by Texas State Senator Molly Cook, VOTES will include Harris County Clerk and Chief Election Official Teneshia Hudspeth and Harris County Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez. TRASH will be moderated by University of Houston history professor emeritus Martin Melosi and include representatives of Houston’s city government, Clean the Block and the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood.
