Authenticity over Perfection

On this episode, we continue to explore the marketing psychology of Gen Z, typically defined as people born between 1997 and 2012. This demographic represents anyone between the age of 14 to 29 years old in 2026. According to various marketing surveys, Gen Z as a demographic, inherently values authenticity over perfection. Because Gen Z is the first generation of digital natives, its members have developed an algorithmic sense of filtering through imposed societal pressures to appear perfect. During this conversation, we learn that Gen Z values genuine connections and authentic messaging in both the physical and digital world. We also learn valuable strategies on how to build relationships through messaging, tone and context.Throughout our conversation we explore what authenticity means for Gen Z, and how we at the Blaffer Art Museum can develop marketing campaigns that rely on relationships rather than metrics. This episode features a musical highlight from Desiderium, a Houston based rock band. Follow them on IG, see their covers and learn their story.

This episode’s conversation centers on the creative iteration of Gen Z focused marketing campaigns.  We hear directly from business and finance majors from the CT Bauer School of Business who completed a three-month partnership with the Blaffer, wherein they created marketing campaigns focused on increasing the familiarity and visibility of the Blaffer Art Museum for students on the University of Houston campus.Music by: Oleksandr Savochka

This episode's conversation centers on the importance of mentorship, the value of community and serves as a testimonial to the city of Houston and its vibrant, experimental art scene.The 48th University of Houston School of Art, Master of Fine Art Thesis Exhibition, where each spring Blaffer and the UH School of Art proudly present the work of the Masters of Fine Arts degree candidates from the school’s five studio programs: Graphic Design, Interdisciplinary Practices and Emerging Forms, Painting, Photography/Digital Media, and Sculpture. The exhibition showcases bodies of work produced in a studio intensive environment over a three-year degree program.Artists: Hannah Bull, 
Stephanie Cuyubamba Kong
, Xinyu Dai
, Jai España
Liz Hayes
, Ashley Herndon
, Charlie King Erica Reed Lee
, Jade Mellor, 
Taylor Rebel
, Sierra Rose, Alejandro Sescosse
, Charles Vanmeter
 and Sarah WelchGuest Links:Aaron Parazette | First Edition MonographHannah Bull | Website | IGErica Reed Lee | Website | IG

On our fourth episode of the Blaffer Courtyard, we invite a group of young Gen Z entrepreneurs from the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston to discuss their collaborative marketing project, titled Dynamic Marketing at the Blaffer Art Museum.Timestamps:0:00 Episode Introduction1:30 Introduction Bauer College of Business Project team members6:25 What was your knowledge of the Blaffer Art Museum before this project?11:00 How did assign project roles?13:00 What makes a business major choose marketing for an Art Museum?17:20 Marketing Project Survey – How was it shared and what were its findings?23:30 What is your one recommendation to improve Blaffer’s visibility and notoriety?28:40 Social media | What posting strategies work to increase student engagement?29:20 Who has more visitors, art museums or sports competitions?30:20 Cool marketing stats from Hubspot.32:00 Review of key social media metrics.33:00 Social Media post review, “The Red Block Bash”36:30 The importance of high-quality images on social media.38:15 How as a museum do we strike a balance between tradition and technology?41:00 Should post content captions and copy be translated?43:40 Review of Social Media deliverables and higher than typical engagement for 18-24/Gen Z audiences. 45:40 Review of a social media reel inspired by MTV Cribs and Meet the Kardashians.53:15-Final Comments and lessons learned.56:00-Episode ConclusionThrough this project, the Blaffer commissioned a student-led marketing partnership focused on the development of dynamic marking assets across a variety of mediums. The project focused on the student-body at the University of Houston, and the designed assets were created to both increase and sustain student participation and involvement within the museum’s physical and virtual spaces. Situated within the University of Houston and showcasing exhibitions of contemporary art, one of the Blaffer Art Museum’s goals is to establish the museum as an intellectual and social center for UH students. To achieve this objective, the Blaffer, seeks to increase its visibility amongst the student population through BAMSA, the Blaffer Art Museum Student Association, as well as a blend of unique marketing initiatives, engaging exhibition programming and student-focused events. Throughout today’s discussion, we hear from the Bauer College team as they share insights about the overall campaign. We also review engagement analytics and examine the numbers behind their design strategies. Additionally, we discover what the team learned about the Blaffer over the course of the project, and what recommendations they can offer towards increasing visibility for the Blaffer and we move to develop more engaging marketing campaigns, particularly for younger audiences.

Honduras based artist Adán Vallecillo joins Laura Augusta for intimate talk about art, friendships and the slow yet important process of building integral support networks across cultures. Adán Vallecillo makes site-responsive and research-driven projects, many of which think about political economies and the natural world. Trained in visual art and sociology, Vallecillo considers the connections between abstraction and daily experience in his work, untangling the visual and historical relationships between Central America and the West.

Our second episode features a discussion on the exhibition “away to mend” with Artist/Curator Doug Welsh and Blaffer Art Museum Curator of Education Katherine Veneman.We discuss the emotions and excitement surrounding the formulation, construction and approaching conclusion of the exhibition, which presents recent work by 19 Gulf Coast artists whose work engages relationships between abstraction and landscape, and whose practices connect art with processes ofhealing.The exhibition features work by Isela Aguirre, Forrest Bess,Sebastien Boncy, Crasis (Andy P. Davis and Anne Lukins), Julie DeVries, Garrett Griffin, Stephanie Gonzalez, Shangyi Hua, Jonathan Paul Jackson, Terrell James, Emily Peacock, Mitch Pengra, Alexis Pye, Gerardo Rosales, JR Roykovich, EricSchnell, Adrienne Simmons and Benji Stiles.The exhibition also includes analytic and poetic texts bywriters Clare Elliott, Sarah Fisher, Liz Gates, Adam Marnie, and Emma Timbers.

On our inaugural episode, we celebrate fresh starts and new beginnings with University of Houston undergrads Kalyn, Bosola and Wura.We speak about the exciting prospect of graduation, finding answers for the career conundrum, their Blaffer internships as well as their thoughts on how New Beginnings are expressed in our present exhibitions. We touch on their sleeping habits, school/work/play balance and how the arts can help business majors. We shared a few laughs and explored how a Duchamp-esque ready-made composed of a baseball and zip ties can help viewer reconsider their artistic assumptions.This episode's music is provided by DLC-ninja.Please visit our website for more info on hours, events and exhibitions.