Category: Art News

PechaKucha San Antonio presents Vol. 41 at the Tobin Center

PechaKucha San Antonio Vol. 41 will take place at the Tobin Center on October 26, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

PechaKucha San Antonio – the global arts and culture series that hosts speakers who share their passions in a unique format – is excited to announce its Volume 41 to wrap up the series for 2022, coming back with two other events in 2023. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts (100 Auditorium Cir, San Antonio, TX 78205). The night begins with a welcome reception at 6:30 .m., followed by presentations starting at 7:30p.m. (PechaKucha San Antonio, 2022)

Vol. 41 will feature a talented group of locals.

  • Alejandro DeHoyos, Filmmaker
  • Payton G. Kane, Extrovert (also the Emcee for the evening)
  • Mike Long, Builder 
  • Madalyn Mendoza, Reporter
  • Carlos Perez, Small Business Corridor Meme Activator
  • Laura Terrill, President & CEO
  • Bria Woods, Photojournalist

The welcome reception will feature music by local artist Juliet McConkey and complimentary bites curated by local chefs and restaurants including Naco 210 Mexican Eatery & Patio, Howdy Kuya!, Cajun con Arroz, and Sierra Diablo. The event will also feature alcoholic beverages available for purchase. Tickets are $7 in advance or $10 at the door. Advance tickets are available here. 

PechaKucha San Antonio would not be possible without the support of annual sponsors, including Centro Properties, San Antonio Food Bank, Schroeder Art, Lake Flato Architects, San Antonio River Foundation, Zurich International Properties, Southwest School of Art, RYNO General Contractors, and 500 Sixth.

In-Kind sponsors for the event include Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Naco 210 Mexican Eatery & Patio, Howdy Kuya!, Cajun con Arroz, Sierra Diablo, Josh Huskin Photography, Libby Morris, Giant Noise, Sprocket Productions, Gary Sweeney, and Alejandro Dehoyos.

PechaKucha San Antonio is presented in partnership with the Las Casas Foundation. More information about PechaKucha is available here. 

Pronounced “PEH-chuh KOO-chuh,” PechaKucha is a 20 image x 20 second arts and cultures series. We host speakers who share their passions in a unique format: Each presenter gets exactly 20 images, and each slide advances automatically every 20 seconds (for a total time of 6:40). San Antonio’s first quarterly PechaKucha Night was held in February 2011 and now attracts hundreds of attendees to venues throughout San Antonio. It showcases a broad range of individuals, including architects, artists, makers, academics, community leaders and more. PechaKucha (Japanese for “chit chat”) is an event format developed by Tokyo’s Klein Dytham Architecture to encourage creative professionals to share projects and ideas that they are passionate about. Since it began in 2003, PechaKucha has expanded to more than 1200 cities around the world. 

Fall events at the Briscoe Western Art Museum

From exhibitions to events, everything is wild at the Briscoe Western Art Museum this fall. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.

This fall the Briscoe Western Art Museum welcomes Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild, an exhibition containing 40 of the renowned nature photographer’s most significant photographs—images that take viewers on a journey across the West and around the globe. To add another dimension to these fantastic images, the Briscoe is hosting a range of programs for guests of all ages. Whether it is an urban nature walk, a birthday celebration with bison or animal sculpting, there is something for everyone to get wild this fall. Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild will be on view at the Briscoe through January 29, 2023, and is included with museum general admission. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)

A Life In The Wild programming and events include:

  • STEAMing into the WILD West

November 19, December 17, 11a.m. – 1p.m. each day

Families and visitors of all ages are invited to learn about the American West during the museum’s “Full STEAM Ahead” series on the third Saturday of each month. From transportation and weather to animals, astronomy and engineering, each program explores an aspect of life in the West to engage and inspire learning. Full STEAM Ahead is included with museum general admission. Children 12 and under receive free admission to the Briscoe.

  • Briscoe Birthday: Day of the Bison

October 22, 10a.m. – 4p.m.

Celebrate the Briscoe’s ninth birthday with a special day of bison fun. An iconic symbol of the American West and part of the Briscoe’s logo, the bison is an indelible part of the wildlife and story of the American West. Enjoy hands-on bison crafts all day and hear Caprock Canyons State Park Superintendent Donald Beard discussing the “Official Bison Herd of the State of Texas.” Roaming more than 10,000 acres in the park, the bison are being restored to their native habitat. Learn about the park’s work as one of the five foundational herds that saved the bison from extinction.

The herd exists thanks to legendary rancher Charles Goodnight, who started the herd on his JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle in 1878 in an attempt to save the animals that had meant so much to him. When the bison were initially donated to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and moved to Caprock Canyons State Park in 1997, it was discovered that their DNA was different, and feature genetics that are not shared by any other bison in North America. In fact, the Official Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock represents the last remaining examples of the Southern Plains variety. The Briscoe Birthday celebration is included with museum admission.

  • Make Prints with the Sun: Cyanotype with Mary Margaret Johnson

October 30, Noon-2p.m.

Cyanotype was one of the first ways of producing photographs and dates back to 1842. This alternative printing process uses UV rays to make prints. Each piece is made by applying the cyanotype solution to the material, arranging items such as flowers, foliage, or objects on the material and exposing it to the sun. After the material is washed with water, the piece turns to a Persian blue. Learn how to make cyanotypes and go home with your own cyanotype bandana. Local artist Mary Margaret Johnson will teach the class. The program is $35 and pre-registration is required via briscoemuseum.org.

  • WILD in Texas: “Deep in the Heart” Film Screening with Producer Katy Bladock

November 10, 6p.m. – 9p.m.

A visually stunning celebration of Texas’ diverse landscapes and remarkable wildlife found nowhere else, “Deep in the Heart” aims to conserve our remaining wild places, to show the connectivity of water and wildlife, and to recognize Texas’ conservation importance on a continental scale. Narrated by Matthew McConaughey and featuring state-of-the-art cinematography, this family-friendly film journeys from the highest peaks in West Texas, through our aquifers, rivers, and bays, and deep into the Gulf of Mexico. Producer Katy Bladock will be present for a post-film discussion and Q&A and guests will be able to view Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In the Wild before the film screening. $12 and pre-registration is recommended via briscoemuseum.org.

  • Celebrating Native American Heritage: Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival

November 19, 10a.m. – 5p.m.

Highlighting the continued vibrancy and artistic traditions of Native American communities, Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival offers a glimpse into traditional and contemporary Native American culture. Featuring Native American artists, musical performances and dancing, this free community event features storytelling, artist demonstrations of painting, printmaking, pottery, weaving and carving, as well as Native American-inspired food. Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival also features workshops and lectures celebrating Native American culture. Admission to the festival and the museum is free throughout the day.

  • Sculpting Animals: Artist Talk with Mick Doellinger

December 3, 11a.m. – Noon

Known best for his animal sculptures, artist Mick Doellinger will share his inspiration and creative process. Doellinger will bring sculptures for guests to explore and discuss how he creates realistic sculptures of Western wildlife. The program is free with museum admission.

The Briscoe is open Thursday through Monday, 10a.m. – 5p.m. and closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission is free for children 12 and under and for active duty military members. The museum is proud to participate in Museums For All, Blue Star Museums and Bank of America Museums on Us. The Briscoe is located on the south end of the River Walk, near the Arneson River Theatre and La Villita, with convenient parking at the Riverbend Garage directly adjacent to the museum or one of many downtown surface lots.

Texas Women for the Arts opens 2023 grant applications

Texas Women for the Arts opens 2023 grant applications in support of statewide arts organizations. Photo: Google

The Texas Cultural Trust is pleased to announce that Texas Women for the Arts (TWA) 2023 grant applications is currently open through December 1, 2022. TWA, a program of the Texas Cultural Trust, is a statewide membership giving circle that unites the financial forces of more than 200 Texas women and whose mission is to “awaken and nurture the artist in every Texas child.” The TWA grants fund arts education programs throughout the state, and have to date increased arts access for nearly 3.5 million Texas children. (Texas Cultural Trust, 2022)

Grants are awarded on an annual basis, in the spring, and are selected following a rigorous review process. Applications, information and guidelines are available online through the Texas Cultural Trust website. In order to be considered for the grant, applicants must have a 501(c)(3) designation, be nominated by a current TWA member, and the program for which applicants are seeking funding must reflect the mission of TWA.

The TWA recipients will be selected based on the following principles: arts access, artistic quality, capability, and impact. The 2023 TWA grant recipients may be invited to attend and accept their awards during the TWA 2023 Annual Meeting. TWA members have funded 318 grants totaling more than $3.7 million since inception in 2005. 

For more information on the Texas Cultural Trust, visit them online or call 512-478-5289. To join Texas Women for the Arts, or to learn more about the program, visit them online or email.

Texas Cultural Trust is 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and increasing access and awareness for the arts across the state. Programs of the Texas Cultural Trust include the Texas Medal of Arts Awards, Art Can, Texas Young Masters, Texas Women for the Arts, Partners in the Arts, and Arts Access. Texas Cultural Trust efforts are amplified by its partners, who are instrumental in the success of leading a cohesive voice for the arts in education, advocacy and economic impact in Texas, spotlighting the artistic excellence of our state.

Briscoe’s new fall exhibition: Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild

The Briscoe Western Art Museum’s new fall exhibition features renowned nature photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen. Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life In The Wild will be on exhibit starting September 30, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Western Art celebrates the American West, including the wild places and wildlife that grace the land. The Briscoe Western Art Museum is transforming into a photographic zoo this fall, showcasing the beauty of the West and the animals that call it home in Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild, an exhibition containing forty of the renowned nature photographer’s most resonant photographs—images that take viewers on a journey across the West and around the globe. The exhibition will be on view at the Briscoe September 30, 2022 – January 29, 2023, and is included with museum general admission. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)

The photographer personally selected forty classic photographs, which he refers to as his legacy photographs, for this retrospective exhibition making its Texas debut in San Antonio. Among photographs which members of the public will certainly be familiar with are “Polar Dance,” of polar bears appearing to dance, “Mountain Outlaw,” a grizzly bear charging through the snow, and “Catch of the Day,” which captures the exact moment that a spawning salmon, trying to leap over a waterfall along Alaska’s Brooks River, soars right into the waiting jaws of a massive brown bear. The image is not only one of the most widely circulated wildlife photographs in history, but also a monumental achievement in photography because it occurred before the advent of digital cameras and involves no digital manipulation.

Not all photographs in the exhibit, some of which measure 10 feet across, are of bears. The exhibition is truly a photographic zoo, with subjects captured in their native Western habitats include American bison, Arctic fox, bald eagle, black bear, bobcat, bohemian and cedar waxwings, brown bear, coyote, great gray owl, grizzly bear, ground squirrel, kestrel, moose, mountain lion, and Sandhill crane. Fantastic landscapes include Alaska’s Denali range and the Great Smoky Mountains, as well as fields of poppies and lupine and forests of redwood and aspen.

One of the most prolific nature photographers of our time, Mangelsen has been described as a spiritual descendant of pioneering American nature photographers Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and Edward Weston. Bill Allen, the now retired Editor-in-Chief of “National Geographic,” considers Mangelsen to be one of the most important nature photographers of his generation.

The photographer is as much a conservationist as he is an artist. He was named the 2011 Conservation Photographer of the Year by “Nature’s Best Photography,” placing his work in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He was named one of the 40 Most Influential Nature Photographers by “Outdoor Photography,” and one of the 100 Most Important People in Photography by “American Photo” magazine. The North American Nature Photography Association has named him Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year, while the British Broadcasting Corporation gave him its coveted, prestigious award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Mangelsen has traveled to the wildest corners of North America, Africa, and beyond, for more than 40 years and produced a body of work second to none. At a time when digital technology is, notoriously, conditioning users to have shorter attention spans, A Life In The Wild stands as a testament to the rewards that can come to those, like him, who get close to nature.

To mark the exhibition’s opening, the Briscoe is hosting a preview party on September 29, followed by an opening weekend event that features an urban nature walk.

Opening weekend events include:

  • Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild Exhibition Preview Party – Thursday, September 29, 6p.m. – 8p.m.

Help the Briscoe kick off a fall steeped in the natural beauty of the American West with Michael Duchemin, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Briscoe. The event includes complimentary beer, wine, specialty cocktails and light bites. The event is $20 for museum members and free for Contributing and President’s Society membership tiers. Museum members may upgrade their membership by calling 210.299.4499. Nonmembers may purchase tickets for $30. Tickets are available online. 

  • A Life In The Wild Urban Nature Walk, Animal Tracks and Pollinator Plants

Saturday, October 1, 10:30a.m. – 11:15a.m. Nature Walk; 11:30a.m. – 12:30p.m., Activity

Discover nature in the heart of San Antonio. Join Mitchell Lake Audubon Center educators as they lead you on a nature walk through the Briscoe Museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden. After the walk, learn about animals you might have seen in your own backyard, how to match them to their tracks, and create your own track to take home. Then learn how pollinator plants help out these animals and other wildlife while making your own paper pot to fill with a nectar plant to benefit the visitors to your space. The nature walk and activities are included with museum general admission.

David J. Wagner, L.L.C, in partnership with Thomas D. Mangelsen, Inc., is producing The Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild tour. This exhibition is supported in part by Jan McCaleb Elliott, the Greehey Family Foundation, and Jessica Elliott Middleton.

September events at San Antonio Museum of Art

San Antonio Museum of Art. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

This September, the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is packed with “can’t miss” events including an Author Talk and book signing, a Japanese Art-inspired lecture, and the highly-anticipated reopening of SAMA’s Latin American Popular Art Gallery. (San Antonio Museum of Art, 2022)

On Tuesday, September 6, 2022 from 6p.m. to 7p.m., visitors can head to the John L. Santikos Auditorium at SAMA for an evening with Anne Elise Urrutia, (SOLD OUT) author of ‘Miraflores: San Antonio’s Mexican Garden of Memory.’ This lecture and book signing will explore SAMA’s Urrutia Arch; its relationship to Dr. Aureliano Urrutia’s historic garden, Miraflores; and the arch’s artists, origins, symbolism, and significance to the city. Her book is available at the Museum Shop for attendees hoping to snag a last minute copy. This free admission, or pay as you wish program, will also be live streamed via Zoom.

The second weekend of September kicks off with the long-awaited return of SAMA’s Latin American Popular Art Gallery, reopening on Friday, September 9, 2022. Formerly known as the Folk Art collection, this internationally recognized gallery is an unmatched experience unique to SAMA. Dr. Lucia Abramovich Sanchez, Associate Curator of Latin American Art, will speak on the reimagined collection with special remarks at 11a.m, with coffee and light bites available from 10a.m. to Noon. The gallery is included in general admission to SAMA. 

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, functionality and sculpture collide at the John L. Santikos Auditorium at SAMA with Listening to Bamboo: An Unrivaled Japanese Art Form. From 6p.m. to 7p.m., Robert T. Coffland, one of the world’s leading experts on Japanese bamboo, will trace the development of this specialized medium and guide guests on a journey to find where practicality became artistry. Admission is free for members and $5 for non-members. 

Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition extends residency in San Antonio

The exhibit, which was originally set to end on September 5, is now on display in San Antonio until September 25, 2022. Photo: TxTroublemaker Photography, used with permission.

 

Lighthouse Immersive is excited to announce that Immersive Van Gogh San Antonio is extending its stay in San Antonio until September 25, giving visitors an additional three weeks to see the works of Vincent Van Gogh projected in an immersive lightshow. The venue has been carefully outfitted by a creative team that designed the show to meet the venue’s specifications, creating floor-to-ceiling imagery reflecting the famous artist’s works. Lighthouse Immersive’s Global Creative Director David Korins (best known for his work on the musicals Hamilton and Dear Even Hansen) has also decorated the venue with interactive elements to provide audiences with a richer understanding of Van Gogh. (Lighthouse Immersive, 2022)

Tickets are now available for purchase for the extended dates starting at $39.99 ($24.99 for children 16 or younger), with timed and flexible ticket options available.

Sunday – Thursday: 10a.m. to 8p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 10a.m. to 9p.m.
Tickets to reserve a time slot can be purchased in advance online.

Immersive Van Gogh San Antonio
221 Burleson
San Antonio, TX 78202

Lighthouse Immersive brings together two of Toronto’s preeminent production companies, Starvox Entertainment and Show One Productions to bring the world premiere of Immersive Van Gogh, Immersive Frida Kahlo, and Immersive Klimt: Revolution to over a dozen North American cities. Starvox Entertainment is Canada’s fastest growing live entertainment company responsible for bringing hit shows like The Art of Banksy to Toronto and Show One Productions is a full-service production company presenting concerts with high-profile classical musicians, opera stars, and orchestras. Working directly with the Italian masters of immersive digital art and other leading global creators, Lighthouse Immersive has custom-designed all exhibits to distinctly envelop the various architectural settings they inhabit.

In the last year, the Canadian company has announced or opened new galleries in 21 U.S. cities including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Orlando. To date, Lighthouse Immersive has sold over 4.8 million tickets to Immersive Van Gogh across North America, with Artnet recently commenting on the wave of immersive galleries, calling it “one of the largest coordinated art phenomena of all time.”

 

Three new summer exhibitions at Blue Star Contemporary

Blue Star Contemporary unveils three new summer exhibitions on July 1, 2022. Photo: google

Blue Star Contemporary (BSC), San Antonio’s first and longest- running contemporary art nonprofit, proudly unveils three new summer exhibitions opening to the public on First Friday July 1, 2022 at 6p.m. Andreas Till: De Ami, focuses on the influence of the presence of American troops in artist, Andreas Till’s, hometown Heidelberg, Germany. The Other Side, is a small selection of films by Faezeh Nikoozad, Aki Pao-Chen Chiu, Breech Asher Harani, and Fumiko Kikuchi . Fake Plastic Forest features photographic and lens-based work by France Dubois, Annette Isham, Işık Kaya, and Leigh Merrill. The exhibitions will be on view through October 9, 2022. (Blue Star Contemporary, 2022)

ANDREAS TILL: DE AMI focuses on the influence of the presence of American troops in artist, Andreas Till’s, hometown Heidelberg, Germany and the relationship between Germans and Americans between 1945 and 2013 born out of this presence. His research is based on found material from various archives such as the Rose Library in Atlanta and the Archive of the City of Heidelberg as well as various personal collections. The artist’s personal collection chronicles a lifelong friendship between former editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution, Ralph Emerson McGill and Till’s grandmother Else Volkwein. 

Andreas Till (b. 1984) holds a M.A. in Photographic Studies from the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Germany. In 2010, he received a Fulbright scholarship to the Fine Art Photography and Integrated Media program (M.F.A.) of Ohio University in Athens, OH. He currently lives in Hamburg, Germany where he works as a photo editor.

THE OTHER SIDE brings together a small selection of films referencing ideas of transitions and events that foundationally change someone, i.e., “to be on the other side of something.” Works also allude to ideas of mortality and the spiritual concept of metaphysical selves entering a new plane.

This group of films was selected from Darmstädter Sezession’s 2021 prize shortlist for its collaborative Projection/Projektion grants and screenings programs with BSC. This will be the first screening of these films in San Antonio. 

Featured Films 
Asb by Faezeh Nikoozad 
Translating Erasure by Aki Pao-Chen Chiu
BINTANA (Window) by Breech Asher Harani
I know where you are right now by Fumiko Kikuchi

FAKE PLASTIC FOREST features the work of France Dubois, Annette Isham, Işık Kaya, and Leigh Merrill; contemporary photographers and lens-based artists dealing with themes of artifice, truth and fiction, and the theatricality of our interactions with nature. Collectively these themes relate to ideas of preservation, the transcendent practice of experiencing nature, and seeking representations of nature to process and release intense events and emotions such as fear and grief. Our various relationships with nature are revealing of personal and collective selves. The urgency to reflect on these relationships is ever-present as we globally contend with humanity’s impact on our environment and consider transnational identities. The selected artists can be considered in the context of numerous other female photographers throughout the history of the medium who have used their environments, both natural and human made, as the site/studio where the work is made, and a part of the subject. These artists used the context of vast landscape, forests, and trees as well as fabricated, nature-inspired spaces, as sites and pivotal subjects for addressing themes such as psychology and mysticism.

Blue Star Contemporary, 116 Blue Star, San Antonio, TX 78204

Blue Star Contemporary is an anchoring cultural institution in San Antonio and a destination for residents and tourists alike. Located along the banks of the San Antonio Riverwalk, BSC is a central highlight between the bustle of downtown and the UNESCO World Heritage San Antonio Missions. BSC has remained true to its artist-centric foundation alongside this fiscal and programmatic growth. BSC is San Antonio’s first WAGE-certified organization, committed to transparent and equitable payments to artists for their creative contributions to BSC’s exhibitions and education outreach programs. Through its commitment to artists with a social practice, tuition-free youth arts education programs, and community-centric fundraising, BSC is dedicated to equity and social justice in all its endeavors.

Free Family Saturday at Blue Star Contemporary

Free fun and art making for families at Blue Star Contemporary’s Family Saturday. Photo: google

Blue Star Contemporary (BSC), San Antonio’s first and longest- running contemporary art nonprofit, welcomes the public on Saturday, June 25 for Free Family Saturday. From 1p.m. to 4p.m., families with children of all ages are invited to enjoy free hands-on art making activities, led by artists on view Jenn Hassin, Sarah Sudhoff, and Jill Ewing with Bihl Haus Arts. Also in attendance will be Vicki Johnson, who will be leading a letter writing activity with Operation Gratitude, a nation-wide nonprofit dedicated to providing people across our great country with opportunities for hands-on volunteerism to say ‘thank you’ to our Military, Veterans, and First Responders. (Blue Star Contemporary, 2022)

This free family event focuses on BSC’s current exhibitions and gives families an opportunity to interact with local artists and community organizations. The artworks on view inspire art making that encourages children to look deeply and understand contemporary art better through fun activities. Families are invited to enjoy BSC’s exhibitions as well as complimentary food and refreshments.

On View at Blue Star Contemporary
BSC’s main gallery features Travel Distance, curated by independent curator and interdisciplinary artist Amber Zora. The exhibition features the work of Miridith Campbell (Kiowa), Joe Devera, Claudia Hare, Jenn Hassin, Gina Herrera, Monte Little (Diné), Jessica Putnam–Phillips, Daniel Rios Rodriguez, Renee Romero, and Sarah Sudhoff. The artworks featured represent how veterans and their families have processed, moved through, purged, and reclaimed their experience around military service.

The Learning Lab at BSC presents The Veterans Book Project, a library of books authored collaboratively by artist Monica Haller and dozens of people who have been affected by, and have archives of, the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In their printed format, the books provide a place, or “container,” that slows down and materializes the great quantity of ephemeral image files that live on veterans’ hard drives and in their heads. Each book re-deploys volatile images with the aim of rearticulating and refashioning memories. It stands both independent of and in concert with the larger collection.

These exhibitions coincide with the Blue Star Museums program, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums. Running from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2022, museums across the United States offer free general admission to active-duty military personnel and their families. BSC participates in this program in an effort to say “thank you” to our military community.

Opening on July 1, Andreas Till: De Ami, focuses on the influence of the presence of American troops in artist Andreas Till’s hometown Heidelberg, Germany and the relationship between Germans and Americans between 1945 and 2013 born out of this presence. The Other Side, is a selection of films referencing ideas of transitions and events that foundationally change someone, i.e. “to be on the other side of something.” The video works also allude to ideas of mortality and the spiritual concept of metaphysical selves entering a new plane. The films were selected from Darmstadt Sezession’s 2021 prize shortlist for our collaborative Projection/Projektion grants and screenings program, and feature the work of Faezeh Nikoozad, Aki Pao-Chen Chiu, Breech Asher Harani, and Fumiko Kikuchi. Fake Plastic Forest features the work of France Dubois, Annette Isham, Işık Kaya, and Leigh Merrill, contemporary photographers and lens-based artists dealing with themes of artifice, truth and fiction, and the theatricality of our interactions with nature.

BSC presents exhibitions with artists from San Antonio and around the world sharing their global perspectives that encourage understanding, empathy, change, and action, fulfilling our mission to inspire, nurture, and innovate. Like most non-collecting contemporary art spaces, BSC contributes fresh insight and perspective on larger issues affecting society and culture by highlighting trends, movements, and conversations happening in art.

BSC was founded for artists by artists in 1986 in a grassroots movement sparked by the cancellation of the first major museum exhibition of contemporary art in San Antonio. Six arts supporters and artists founded Contemporary Art for San Antonio to provide an exhibition venue for artists and the public. With the support of a handful of donors and property developers, the founders, artists, and volunteers converted an abandoned warehouse into a gallery for the first annual Blue Star Exhibition. Over the years, BSC has grown to encompass a professional staff, a robust calendar of onsite and offsite exhibitions, community collaborations, creative youth development programs, international exchange opportunities for artists, and public art projects.

Free Family Saturday at Blue Star Contemporary. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Texas Women for the Arts awards grants to arts organizations

Texas Women for the Arts awards 33 arts organizations with $171K in grants at 16th annual meeting in San Antonio. Photo: google

Texas Women for the Arts, a program of the Texas Cultural Trust (TXCT), has selected 33 arts programs across the state to receive nearly $170,000 in grants at their 16th Annual Meeting that took place on April 25 – 26, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. Texas Women for the Arts (TWA) is one of TXCT’s statewide giving circle, with nearly 200 members from all over Texas. Through their collective generosity, TWA invests in the arts and arts education with the mission of increasing access to the arts for all Texas children. TWA grant applications for 2023 will open for submission on October 1, 2022 and will close December 1, 2022. For more information on the Texas Cultural Trust and their Texas Women for the Arts program, please visit Texas Cultural Trust. (Texas Cultural Trust, 2022)

“Since its inception in 2005, Texas Women for the Arts has awarded 318 grants, totaling nearly $3.7 million to arts programs across the state of Texas, and we are honored to continue this legacy in 2022.” – Heidi Marquez Smith, Executive Director of Texas Cultural Trust

On Tuesday, April 26, day two of their annual meeting, Texas Women for the Arts granted Leslie D.
Blanton the Donna Axum Whitworth Champion of the Arts Award for her continued support, promotion, and generosity for arts and culture in the state of Texas. Blanton currently serves as Chairman of the Governing Council for the Shepherd Society of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She is a member of the Liberal Arts Development Board and the National Leadership Board of the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas. Blanton is also a long-time member of the Texas Cultural Trust Board of Directors, serving in various capacities including Board Chairman and Co-Chairman of the 2019 Texas Medal of the Arts Awards and is a founding member of Texas Women for the Arts, of which she previously chaired and will chair again in 2022-2023.

The 2022 Texas Women for the Arts Impact Grantees are:
• Creative Kids, El Paso
• Art Center of Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi
• Artpace San Antonio, San Antonio
• Hope Stone, Inc., Houston
• Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport
• Texas Ballet Theater, Inc., Fort Worth
• Ellen Noel Art Museum of the Permian Basin, Odessa
• Imagination Fort Worth, Fort Worth
• Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association Inc., Fort Worth
• El Paso Symphony Orchestra Assn., Inc., El Paso
• Art League Houston, Houston
• Harris County Cultural Arts Council, Houston
• Victoria Ballet Theatre, Victoria
• The Kindness Campaign, Austin
• Lubbock Community Theatre, Lubbock
• Magik Theatre, San Antonio
• Contemporary Art Museum Plainview, Plainview
• Jewish Federation of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, Fort Worth
• Gillespie County Children’s Foundation, Fredericksburg
• Alcorta’s Folklórico Diamante, Inc., Corpus Christi
• Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Austin
• Amphibian Productions, Inc., Fort Worth
• Cypress Creek Fine Arts Association, Spring
• Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo
• Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview
• Kids Excel El Paso, Inc., El Paso
• Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi
• The Citadelle Art Foundation, Canadian
• Amarillo Symphony, Inc., Amarillo
• Austin Classical Guitar, Austin
• Texas Book Festival, Austin
• Young Audiences of Northeast Texas, Tyler
• Ballet Austin Incorporated, Austin

Texas Cultural Trust is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and increasing access and awareness for the arts across the state. Programs of the Texas Cultural Trust include the Texas Medal of Arts Awards, Art Can, Texas Young Masters, Texas Women for the Arts, Partners in the Arts, and Arts Access. Texas Cultural Trust efforts are amplified by its partners who are instrumental in the success of leading a cohesive voice for the arts in education, advocacy, and economic impact in Texas, spotlighting the artistic excellence of our state.

Texas Women for the Arts (TWA) is a statewide giving circle and membership program with nearly 200 members from across Texas. Since its inception in 2005, this philanthropic force and champion for the arts in education has awarded 318 grants totaling nearly $3.7 million, impacting nearly 3.5 million Texas children.

Free admission to San Antonio Museum of Art for military members and their families

A Blue Star Museum partner, SAMA will extend free admission for eligible families for up to five guests. Photo: San Antonio Museum of Art, used with permission.

Kicking off this Memorial Day, active-duty military members (including National Guard and Reserve) and their families of up to five people can enjoy free admission to the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA). As a designated Blue Star Museum, SAMA offers this free admission for service members who present their military ID from Memorial Day through Labor Day each year, so those who cannot make it in May will still have ample opportunity to enjoy all that SAMA has to offer all summer long. More information on SAMA or the Blue Star Museums program is available online. (San Antonio Museum of Art, 2022)

Offer is valid Monday, May 30, 2022 – Monday, September 5, 2022 for active-Duty Military Members and their families.

San Antonio Museum of Art
200 West Jones Avenue
San Antonio, TX 78215

The San Antonio Museum of Art serves as a forum to explore and connect with art that spans the world’s geographies, artistic periods, genres, and cultures. Its collection contains nearly 30,000 words representing 5,000 years of history in the historic former Lone Star Brewery on the Museum Reach of San Antonio’s River Walk, the San Antonio Museum of Art is committed to promoting the rich cultural heritage and life of the city. The Museum hosts hundreds of events and public programs each year, including concerts, performances, tours, lectures, symposia, and interactive experiences. As an active civic leader, the Museum is dedicated to enriching the cultural life of the city and the region, and to supporting its creative community.