By Jennifer Litz
Editor
March 12, 2008
Thursday’s first San Angelo Downtown Art Walk is a chance for patrons to enjoy the city’s eclectic art community—plus snacks, drinks, networking, and transportation—for free. The event kicks off at 5 p.m. at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, and meanders among several downtown studios until 8 p.m.
For those who don’t want to walk, trolleys will provide free transportation. “They call it the ‘Art Walk,’” says Ruiz Studio owner Raul Ruiz. “But really, it may be difficult to walk—we’re having a trolley car pick [people] up at the Museum.” Ruiz’s gallery is one of 10-plus that will be featured in the tour. The internationally renowned artist features his own and other artists’ cowboy bronze pieces, as well as landscapes, and other West Texas art.
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Ruiz recalls an earlier attempt at an art walk a few years ago. “We had one on the Fourth of July,” he says. “It was on a Sunday and 106 degrees that day. It was terrible. But this time, the weather’s going to be beautiful—in the 70s or 80s. Most people are decorating their galleries.”
The Art Walk’s starting point, SAMFA, will feature free admission, docent-led tours, and a family scavenger hunt. Some galleries plan to offer adult beverages to lure patrons; the museum will serve free popcorn, cookies, and lemonade to the mixed-age crowd.
In the Coop Gallery to the front of the museum, Ben Sum and Cycris Ho will present “FigureOut,” a body of figurative drawings and portraitures in various media. One work presents a large, realistic charcoal drawing of artist Ben Sum by both the artist himself and his wife, Cycris.
San Angelo art group Art in Uncommon Places will also host a private reception to unveil their brochure of art around San Angelo in places both conventional and not. Town & Country Food Stores funded the group’s efforts to print a definitive guide to art around the city, from obvious galleries to hidden treasures. For example, secreted between the Wells Fargo Bank and a nearby insurance company lies a garden facing Beauregard containing more than locals may know.
“It’s called ‘Secret Garden,’” says Julie Raymond, the group’s co-president. “It’s a little niche, with some wire sculptures by Anthony Fuentes, of cat burglars scaling the side of the wall.” The guide also lists the piece “Art Opens Doors,” Where 17 local artists were commissioned to paint scenes—some of them relevant to local history—on doors now showcased in a cluster at JB Automotive.
The brochures will be available at the Convention Bureau, Eggemeyer’s General Store, and Town and Country.
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Duane Fisher’s Fisher Arts Gallery and Studio is one stop on the Art Walk tour. Fisher specializes in “investment-type” prints by Dali and Picasso, and a wide selection of other well-known artists. He also displays his own work. He calls his line-up “strange.”
“I was planning on having hot wine,” Fisher says, “but now I think I’ll have some cold sangria; cookies; Cokes.”
The Black Swan Fine Art and Glass Gallery’s Susan Daniels plans on Champagne and cheese. “I’ve only been open since January,” Daniels says, “so it’s kind of a new experience for me. My gallery is national and international contemporary artists; I carry all originals, and limited edition pieces.”
The whole initiative—including stops at Signature Fine Art Gallery, Okon Studio, the Kendall Art Gallery, the Concho Art Gallery and more—was masterminded by Downtown San Angelo Inc. Executive Director Del Velasquez. Velasquez took note of a similar event in Abilene and thought it a natural for this art-rich city.
“San Angelo is well known for its artistic interests,” Velasquez says. “The community talent that’s here has gotten a bit of exposure around the state, and people tell me that San Angelo is becoming a little Austin, Texas.
“The San Angelo Fine Arts Museum is internationally known. There’s a book on museums, and [ours] is highlighted as one of the most renowned in the country. Then individually we have a lot of artists—Rene Alvarado, and Raul Ruiz is another example—[that] have received international [acclaim]. Raul was commissioned to do some work in Australia. He’s known for his portraits of sheep, and working with sheep shearing. And his gallery—it’s unbelievable some of the work he’s done.”
Velasquez says it wasn’t hard getting artists to participate once the proverbial ball was rolling.
“We knew there were artists—the galleries that were downtown, we had identified them, and many of them are involved with helping support he revitalization of downtown,” he says. “It’s a community that started with Roger Allen and the Chicken Farm Art Center. In that circle of people, everybody knows everybody. So it was real easy to identify who to call, and the interest level kept rising.”
Of course, the Chicken Farm Art Center is off the beaten path of downtown. Allen’s venture is actually hosting its own second Thursday music series—featuring Terry Mills and Larry Ward, and burgers from Silo House Restaurant—almost concurrently, at 6:30 p.m.
The Art Walk should be a recurring event in the ongoing revitalization of downtown. Velasquez plans to repeat the event on each month’s third Thursday in the future.
He also mentions other promising downtown goings-on, from outside venture capitalist investments to local expansions and endeavors. The latest on the latter includes The Deadhorse owners Rex and Lanie Rogers having bought the building next to them; Velasquez doesn’t know if they’ll expand their current operation, or place something else in the location.
Nor can he tell exactly how Angelo State University president Dr. Joseph Rallo will establish the campus’s physical presence downtown. But Velasquez says the university president and Downtown Inc. board member has said that such a presence would help with recruiting efforts. A vibrant downtown, Velasquez affirms, reflects a rich cultural scene and standard of living.
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Thank You for your support and all San Angelo LIVE is doing for the revitalization of Downtown San Angelo!!! Excellent information and well done article.
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