Here is some info about an opening exhibition in McAllen. I recommend you attend to enjoy the show and support Valley artists!

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"Visions on the Verge"
Premiere exhibition at The Loft Gallery

who: Cande Aguilar, Brian Wedgworth, Rick Casas and Lenard Brown
what: Visions on the Verge
when: Friday May 21, 2004 8:00 p.m.
where: 501 W. Bus. 83, McAllen, TX 78504

Special Concepts At The Loft, Cordially invites you to celebrate the opening of the showroom for contemporary Art, Fashion, and Furnishings. The Loft Gallery presents "Visions on the Verge" a premiere exhibition of contemporary art by artists on the verge of wide spread recognition. Come experience an eclectic collection of contemporary art in mixed media, steel sculpture, print making, and oil paintings by artists Cande Aguilar, Brian Wedgworth, Rick Casas, and Lenard Brown. Special Concepts where the future meets the present!!!!

Gloria Anzaldua
1942-2004

Gloria Anzaldua passed away on May 15th. This woman was a great academic and creative contributor to Chicana literature who was also a native of Edinburg, Texas. For more information about her life, causes, funeral arrangements or if you wish to share your thoughts visit the blog that has been created in her honor. More info below from blog creator Belinda Acosta.

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Dear friends and colleagues, near and far--

As many of you know, Gloria Anzaldua left us May 15. I have heard of several ways to honor her. Some are quick, quick turn around ideas (readings.) Others, long range plans for public tributes. Here is something I can offer in the short term.

I have created space on my Web blog to gather any and all respectful thoughts and remembrances for Gloria. Since there seems to be so many thoughts out there, and many of us can't travel to Texas for her funeral, or attend, or plan some of the other events, I thought this might be a good way to capture those random squeezes of the heart that Gloria's passing brought.

For now, you can go to the site and add your comments to what's there or just read and reflect. I may create authors later. I don't want to worry too much about the management of the blog. I just want it to be open and available to those who want to make good use of it.

Here's the link:

http://mymexicanmom.typepad.com/viva_gloria

Belinda Acosta

A sorta reflective narrative about this past weekend:

Feeling so good but so tired. I feel jet lagged and my body is so out of whack. I haven't felt this way since my flight back from Italy almost two years ago. But I am feeling good. The future looks good from now, even if I am going into the future $22,000 in debt! lol

So Fronteras Cruzadas went very well. Very very well. Though I did wish that more people went, but that is the perfectionist in me, 100 people isn't good enough. lol. Just kidding, I think the turn out went very well. The kids had a great time and we had some friends come all the way from Austin. Hannaha, Susan and Lucy saved our butts when they got into town at 1am on Saturday morning. Frank and I were so far behind and matting was much more trouble than we anticipated. The show went well but we were so sleep deprived and Frank was just getting over a spell of food poisoning. We decided that next time we would definitely not mat the artwork since it is so time consuming and trouble, or atlleast have the kids do it.

We finished setting up the exhibiton around 6am and the girls and I went home to sleep. I got a little less than 2 hours of sleep before my sister woke me up thinking I had slept the whole night. So I woke up, watched a little bit of Disney channel and then got ready. I took two pairs of shoes with me, some flats and my mary jane heels. They both kicked my butt eventually! This makes me even more intent on becoming a shoe designer. My mom was getting the food ready, which turned out so well. Even if there was food for 200 people, all 100 attendants gobbled it up. One of the student's 3-D scultptures kept falling and she was so sad about it. We tried every adhesive we had but it just wouldn't stick. The acrylic paint on the boxes wouldn't let any adhesive keep. Now that I think about it, I would have told her to make some texture marks with a blade on the boxes and then use some Gorilla glue. But you never think about these things when you need to. But Ken Hale commented on how atleast she was disappointed about it rather than indifferent. That goes to show how much she really cared about her work.

The folklorico dancers from Porter HS were also an added plus. The room looked great and I will post photos as soon as I get the chance. All the students work was impressive and some students even got to sell some pieces. How exciting! The evening reception at the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center went very well too. But by then, I was so tired and my attempts to nap before leaving for San Benito failed miserably. I was told I was a bit spacy through out the event, but watching Rose and Joe Perez play their music was so great that I didn't notice my swaying as I was told I was doing.

So after that, I took the girls to South Padre Island to meet with Will, Jay and Angel who came to support Frank. Frank met us there after a while too. We spent about 2 hours at an Irish bar called Kelly's Pub and then hanged out at their hotel room for a bit. After that, we went to the beach around 2am. The beach is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen at night. It felt like I was in the biggest room in the world and up to that point, the waves were soothing me since I had not slept since 9am and my birthday piña colada and half a bottle of Smirnoff were sitting in my tummy making me all warm. The wind was so refreshing as well. I wish I could be there again right now. Will kept saying how the lucky we were to live so close to the beach, and how of all the beaches he has been to SPI was one of the best. And he has been to many beaches he said, but I can't recall what he said but I do remember feeling impressed and proud of my home. I have to agree, I love South Padre when it's all quiet and peaceful. And I have been to to freaking Medittereanean so I know what I am comparing it to. Now I loved the Amalfi Coastline! I have never seen water so blue in my life and the cliffs are breathtaking! But the beaches I have to say were uncomfortable and rocky. I think what makes SPI so great is the vast miles of soft sand and there is nothing quite like home. After that, Lucy drove home as designated driver and we slept for a good 8 hours. The next day, my mom took us to Tiko's in San Benito to celebrate my birthday and afterwards we went to Las Palmas Bakery to buy pan dulce for the girls. It was like we were 6 years old and in a candy store. Then I took the girls to Matamoros to el mercado. They bought some flip flops and then left for Austin around 6pm.

So this weekend was busy busy and fun. Frank and I want to have a little get together with the students when we take th show down in the end of May. It's been great getting to know them and we would love to give them feedback as well as get feedback from them. But for now we have to take it easy. We have graduation in 3 days and tons of thank you notes to send out. ay ay ay!

So I heard down the grapeline that an announcement for Fronteras Cruzadas was on B104 in the Valley. How surreal. I sent them a press release and all, but still, just to know that it was broadcasted to the whole Valley one week before the event is so surreal. This is for real. Frank and I are pulling this exhibition off and it's not some thrown together over-night product. We have worked hard for about 5 months (phone calls, press releases, flyers, meetings, symposiums, letters, e-mails, excel sheets, networking, commuting long distances, budgeting, research, promotion, visits, and more in mass quantities...) and still pulled off our last college semester, part-time jobs and artwork. It is so exciting to know that this is coming together. Craziness!