An Eventful Sunday

Today I had the opportunity to attend two cultural arts events. The first event I attended was a presentation by Rogelio Agrasanchez Jr. on the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema at The Brownsville Historical Association. It was an interesting presentation with a really good turn out and some good food if I may add (my mom catered). I also enjoyed the wealth of knowledge and visual resources Mr. Agrasanchez shared and you can learn more about his Mexican film archives by visiting http://www.mexfilmarchive.com. The only thing that I wished he could have done is to focus more on the topic of Mexican films in The Rio Grande Valley. I really would have liked to know more on that subject but he will be back in Brownsville to give a presentation at UTB on October 11th, so maybe then he will give more local insight.

The event was also a bittersweet experience because it was Carmen Zacarias's last event as director of the Brownsvillle Heritage Complex. Carmen will be greatly missed and The Art of Brownsville gives her praises and appreciation for all of the work she has done for the Brownsville community. As director, she was most instrumental in making the Brownsville Heritage Complex an impressive facility dedicated to the history and heritage of our beautiful city and to serving its public. Brownsville is going to be loosing one heck of a community and cultural advocate and I hope Carmen will come back to visit us often! (Thank you so much for everything Carmen!)


Bailamos!
Originally uploaded by artofbrownsville.

After this event, my cousin David and I headed over to San Benito to attend the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center Conjunto Festival. People were enjoying the activity, hearing live music and socializing. I especially enjoyed watching and taking pictures of the couples dancing in front of the stage. We also got a look at the John Dyers "Conjunto" art exhibit and I was so impressed with his color photo technique and of his ability to capture the essence of the musicians he pictured. David and I had a good time trying to decipher what statement the photographed musicians were saying through their expressions and poses. The show will close on October 12th so go see it before it's gone!

I was also happy to see the San Benito square bustling with activity and people and I hope that the City of San Benito will continue to work to make that a much more common occurrence. Truly, this is a community dedicated to local music (you have The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, The Conjunto Hall of Fame and Freddy Fender active in the community). If Austin is the "Live Music Capitol of the World", I would say San Benito is the "Live Music Capitol of the Rio Grande Valley", but to people who love their town, San Benito is "the Center of the Universe". More people should learn from the example of these San Benito community members because we need more support and appreciation of The Rio Grande Valley/Tamaulipas Frontera by its own residents.

To see more pictures of the festival CLICK HERE.
To read Herald coverage of the events click the links below:
Golden Age of Mexican Cinema
Conjunto Festival