Tag: Artists

PechaKucha San Antonio Vol. 37

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Olivia Ortiz, activist, educator and CEO of Burnt Nopal, will be one of the presenters this week at PechaKucha San Antonio Vol. 37.  Photo: Josh Huskin, 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 the lineup for its Volume 37 edition, scheduled for Thursday, February 20, 2020, for the first time at Hermann Sons Ballroom. The night begins with a welcome reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by presentations starting at 7:30 p.m. (PechaKucha San Antonio, 2020)

San Antonio will be one of multiple cities across the world celebrating “International PechaKucha Day” on 2/20/20. This day will be celebrated globally with hundreds of events and thousands of presentations worldwide. Vol. 37 will also be dedicated to the memory of local artist Katie Pell, who lost her battle with cancer recently and participated in San Antonio’s PechaKucha Vol. 4 in 2011.

Vol. 37 will feature a talented group of locals. The six presenters include:

  • Beto Altamirano, Social Entrepreneur
  • Nicholas Frank, Artist
  • Lacey B. Mills, Fer Quezada, and Daniel Espinoza, Teen Studio Intensive
  • Laura Molinar, Health Advocate
  • Olivia Ortiz, La Jefa
  • Joel Rivas, Founder

Emcee for the evening will be local filmmaker Angela Walley. The welcome reception will feature live music by Noah Harris and complimentary bites curated by local chefs and restaurants. Tickets are $7 per person and are available online. PechaKucha San Antonio is presented in partnership with the Las Casas Foundation.

Pronounced “PEH-chuh KOO-chuh,” PechaKucha is a 20 image x 20 second arts and cultures series. It hosts 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 1000 cities around the world.

Hermann Sons Ballroom
515 S St Mary’s St.
San Antonio, TX 78205

Gary Sweeney book signing at Blue Star Contemporary

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San Antonio artist Gary Sweeney will be having a book signing at Blue Star Contemporary on Friday September 7. Photo: Gary Sweeney, used with permission. 

Gary Sweeney, a San Antonio-established artist known for his humorous text-based work and art installations throughout the United States, debuts his new book, ‘Manhattan Beach Memoir: Artist Gary Sweeney Says Goodbye to His Childhood Home,’ based on his most popular art installation, A Manhattan Beach Memoir: 1945-2015. The actual on-site piece was in Manhattan Beach throughout February 2016. Sweeney will debut his book and host a book signing at his art showcase at Blue Star Contemporary on Friday, September 7 from 6p.m. to 9p.m. (Blue Star Contemporary, 2018)

‘Manhattan Beach Memoir’ documents the installation at 320 35th Street, made as a tribute to his family who owned and occupied it for over 70 years. The site-specific installation pays homage to his upbringing, family, and the Manhattan Beach of the past. The photography exhibit consisted of 80 large-scale graphics of personal family photos, which were printed on MDO plywood and cover the outside of the artist’s childhood home.

The first 100 copies of “Manhattan Beach Memoir: Artist Gary Sweeney Says Goodbye to His Childhood Home” will be available exclusively at the book signing for $35 plus tax. Sweeney’s memoir is also available for purchase on Amazon presale starting at $45.

Gary Sweeney is an artist who works in many forms—from photography to painting to sculpting, resulting in a body of work ranging from neon signs, billboards and murals to wooden furniture, books and flower arrangements. Born into the fertile artistic climate of 1950s Southern California, Sweeney was surrounded by art and artists. He has become known for his appealingly nostalgic and humorous artwork and gained notability for his project Post-Obsessive, where he mailed more than 20,000 personalized, handwritten postcards that were altered with witty images, clippings and quotes taken from newspapers around the country. He also has permanent collections on view including America, Why I Love Her at the Denver International Airport, which is inspired by family road trips and bizarre monuments and roadside attractions, and Nostalgia, Texas at the San Antonio International Airport, where Sweeney designed neo-retro tourist posters with tongue-in-cheek slogans.

Blue Star Contemporary
116 Blue Star
San Antonio TX 78204