Invasive Species 2 is an October program with a group exhibition, film screenings, and a literary panel at two East Austin venues. Curated by Alexis Hunter, the exhibition opened Friday, October 9, at Future Front House and runs through October 31; the film and literary events take place earlier in the month.
The sequel's expansion traces directly back to money. As reported by The Austin Chronicle, Hunter received an Elevate Grant from the Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment department, which the Chronicle reports enabled her to expand Invasive Species 2 and bring on community partners beyond the original gallery setup. For 2026, Elevate grants ranged from $4,000 to $80,000, according to the City of Austin. Separately, in March, Austin's ACME department announced more than $24 million in total cultural grant awards, its largest investment since the department was established, funded primarily by municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, per the City of Austin.
From One Gallery Room to a Spider Web of Venues
The original Invasive Species exhibition opened at ICOSA Gallery in June 2023, co-curated by Hunter and Jacqueline Overby and featuring 14 other women artists, The Austin Chronicle reports. For the sequel, the group exhibition at Future Front House features nine women's works exploring queer, disabled, Black, and immigrant women's experiences, according to the same reporting.
Hunter created the painting series Haven't I Given Enough in response to the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to The Austin Chronicle. Texas's Human Life Protection Act, known as HB 1280, took effect that August, criminalizing abortion with penalties of up to 99 years in prison, according to Courthouse News Service.
Hyperreal Film Club Brings a Week of Feminist Horror
Starting Monday and running through October 16, Hyperreal Film Club presents a weeklong feminist horror block programmed by Faiza Kracheni, who works at Austin School of Film, and Cynthia Muñoz, who works at the Museum of Human Achievement, the Chronicle reports. The block includes creepy classic screenings alongside short-film showcases. Hyperreal Film Club was founded in 2016 as a pop-up screening series before opening a permanent East Austin space at 301 Chicon Street in August 2024, where it runs non-profit, sliding-scale independent and local film programming, according to Atlas Obscura.
On October 17, the series shifts to the written word when Host Publications presents a panel discussion at Future Front House, moderated by Annar Veröld with participants Jasmine Games, Julie Poole, and Katy Horan, per the Chronicle's reporting. Host Publications is a women-led independent press established in 1988 that publishes LGBTQ+, BIPOC, feminist, and immigrant writers, according to the Poetry Foundation.
Why a Gallery Show Keeps Citing Museum Statistics
Promotional materials for the exhibition cite a 2019 study of 18 major U.S. art museums, which found that women represented 12.6% of artists in their collections, according to the Visit Austin event listing. The exhibition uses the statistic to frame women's participation in a field where they have been underrepresented. The Future Front House exhibition also includes tactile graphics created in partnership with the Clovernook Center for the Blind to make the gallery experience accessible to visitors with visual impairments, according to a listing from Planomato.
Cultural Landmarks in the District
The City of Austin’s East 11th and 12th Streets Urban Renewal Plan identifies the Dedrick-Hamilton House and the African American Cultural and Heritage Facility as flagship buildings for the African American Cultural Heritage District, according to the City of Austin.
Future Front House, at 1900 East 12th Street, hosts both the group exhibition and the literary panel. The organization behind it is Future Front Texas. The exhibition remains open through October 31, while the film and literary programming wraps up mid-month.
