If you have read my previous entries, I must apologize for my bad grammar. I was never good in grammar and I will never know how I tested out of college english my HS senior year. I attended the Lopez High School Fine Arts Academy in Brownsville and I mostly took art classes. I was under the instruction of Sue Tarrant I think I must have taken an art class with her every semester until I was a senior. The Lopez Fine Arts Academy is a fine program and in 1996 it was one in 5 schools in the nation that received a humanities grant from the Getty Foundation. I was lucky enough to be a student participant for this program and I found it interesting to write a paper in English class on Titian or an analysis of TLC's "Waterfalls" with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall". I also remember when Ms. Tarrant came into our History course to teach us modern art analysis and how to associate it with our history lessons. You know, it's lessons like these that really open your eyes to the world and to help you understand the humanity behind art and to connect it to your own. I this will always remain a staple of art education at Lopez. It really made me feel like I was a part of something special. Also, check out this recent project the Lopez Art students worked on with The Nature Conservancy.

Hi! Well I was in Brownsville this past Turkey Day weekend and I tried to work in some "research" between eating meals. LOL. I guess that's what every college students does when they go home...Sleep, Eat ALOT, Sleep, Eat ALOT, and the ocassional movie at Movies 16. Well about my research...I went to the Border Patrol office at "El Puente Nuevo-- Viejo"(now outdone by El Puente Viejo--Nuevo and Los Tomates) and I was disappointed to hear that I was not able to collect the clothes refugees leave behind. I was hoping to use them for an installation. The agents were very nice but were puzzled at my request for clothes. It was the same look I got when I went to the Goodwill Blue Hanger at Austin when I paid for mismatched shoes. I will probably not go to the river bank looking for clothes because in reality it does seem like a very dangerous job and I do not want to get shot down by some coyote or mistaken for one by the Border Patrol. Too much danger involved and I think I can recreate a scene for an installation just using items I would collect by a safer means. After I left the Border Patrol, I went scouting the Brownsville neighborhoods for graffitti. Austin has some good graffitti artists and I always think that a community that has a great fine arts venue would also have a counter or underground art community usually occupied by non-traditional artsits like graffitti artists. Please note that when I say graffitti art, I do mean art and not gang graffitti. In larger cities, some gang graffitti may have more of an artistic bent, but as I had noticed in Brownsville, most of the graffitti I saw were scratchy territorial markers by local gangs. I know most Brownsville residents would hate to see a rise of hip-hop graffiti in their community, but I really think that if art is not being expressed through young artists by this mean, then something is amiss in Brownsville art education. Just to clear this through, graffitti has been a part of urban culture since early civilization. From my search, I did not see a concern for aesthetics or conceptualization in Brownsville graffitti. Some how art is still not an embedded presence in the youth culture of Brownsviile. I am still working on my theory, so let me develop more ideas on this before the tomatoes get thrown my way! By the way, I am not a graffiti artist and I don't think I have the guts to be one. I am just aware and appreciative of its presence as an artistic outlet and venue, but I do not support the vandalization of private and public properties. I have added some links about Graffiti to my links list so check them out! It's pretty cool!
Here are some links about graffiti that I want to share. Enjoy!
Graffiti.org
Texas Graffiti
Keith Haring
Jean Michel Basquiat

Okay. So I have added three links to the Blog's link index. The first link goes to Brownsville Visitors and Tourism Bureau's main site. This site will connect you to all that is pretty. The second link is to my website (yes you may call this shameless self-promotion...well yeah maybe it is. But actually a lot of my work for the upcoming months will derive so much from Brownsville, so keep a look as I will add more to my galleries there.) The third link will take you the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art. II know that this museum will bring many good things to the Brownsville community for years to come. I recently heard that they had a fundraiser at the Ytturia Ranch and charged a $100 p/plate. Which for some Brownsvillians costs a pretty penny, but can you just imagine the fundraisers in Hollywood or Washington, DC where people charge $1,000 - $20,000 per plate?! I hope they came closer to their quota as they are trying to raise money to build their new museum space that will be located in the downtown Cultural Mitte District.

Hello welcome to The Art of Brownsville Weblog. This blog is dedicated to the promotion and dialogue of art and artistic endeavors in the Brownsville, Texas area. My name is Mayra and I will be maintaining this blog. You can learn more about your blogmaster at my website. For now enjoy and I will be posting often as I can.