Galleria 409

The Brownsville Town Company Presents

GALLERIA 409

May 18, 2006 6pm-10pm

Art Gallery Networking Mixer
Wine Tasting
Appetizers
Lice Music
Free Dorado's Season Ticket Givewaway
and many more prizes!

409 E. 13th St. Between Levee and Elizabeth St. Brownsville, TX 78520
Free Admission!
Artwork by Cory Berendzen

Sponsored by ClearChannel Radio and The Brownsville Society for Performing Arts

Artist Rene Hugo Arceo at the NMCAC

Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center
Host: The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center
Location: 225 E. Stenger Street, San Benito, TX View Map
When: Friday, May 19, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Phone: 956-361-0110

You are welcome to join us in an informal conversation with Rene Hugo Arceo. Rene is an experienced artist and arts administrator from Chicago and will speak on the subjects of art education, curating, docent training, per-cent for art programs, and working in grass-roots as well as established arts organizations. Here's a chance to ask questions of someone who's done lots in the visual arts. (www.arceoart.us)

The Narciso will provide coffee, and you are welcome to bring pan de dulce, pastries and/or orange juice. After our meeting we will gather for a dutch treat lunch at Super Antojitos in San Benito - 101 S. Sam Houston (361-7373).

Although admission is free, this is a private event.

For more information on our upcoming art show, "Grafica Popular de Chicago" and the reception and lecture on May 19th, visit
http://brownsvilleart.blogspot.com
or
http://www.geocities.com/nmcacsb/WebPressReleases.htm

Grafica Popular de Chicago at the NMCAC

Mario E. Castillo, Nicolas de Jesus, Hector Duarte, Elvia Rodriguez, Maria Evangelina Soliz, Joel Rendon, Alfredo Martinez, Tony Galigo, Carlos A. Cortez, Mirtes Swiersinsky, Leopoldo Praxedis, Jesus Acuna, Guillermo Delgado, Eufemio Pulido, Edgar Lopez, Tomas Bringas, Gerardo de la Barrera, Carlos Villanueva, Mark Ernst, Rita Marquez, Rene H. Arceo, Benjamin P. Varela

curated by
Benjamin P. Varela, Rene Hugo Arceo, Brian and Aleida Wedgworth

The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center is pleased to announce the opening of an extraordinary exhibition of graphic art from Chicago’s famed El Taller Mexicano de Grabado (Mexican Printmaking Workshop.) Led by acclaimed artist Rene Hugo Arceo, El Taller was a collective experiment formed to teach and promote printmaking among Lationo artists in Chicago. This show will include works of members active from 1990 to 1997.

Opening Reception Friday May 19th at 7:00 PM
Lecture by Rene Hugo Arceo
“100 Years of Mexican Printmaking: from Posada to the Chicano Experience”
8:00 PM

This lecture will demonstrate, from an artist’s perspective, the rich 20th century graphic arts tradition in Mexico.
Highlights include Jose Guadalupe Posada’s influence in shaping the national Mexican identity, the Open Air Schools, the famous Taller de Grafica Popular , the rupture period, 1968 graphics as well as the Chicano experience.

Seating is limited.
225 E. Stenger Street * San Benito, Texas * (956) 361-0110

NMCAC "El Second Weensdee"

The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center celebrates Mother's Day during
 
"El Second Weensdee"
featuring
 Heriberto "Herbie" Lopez
 and guest bajista
Max Baca
 
Wednesday May 10, 2006
7:00 PM
225 E. Stenger Street
San Benito, TX
$5 admission
 
The multi-faceted musician Herbie Lopez is a staple of the late 1960's and early 1970's Tejano Conjunto sound.  Rooted in Robstown, Texas, Herbie was deeply influenced by the conjuntos that performed for the cotton field workers of the Coastal Bend area and the sounds of radio stations such as KUNO of Corpus Christi and KOPY of Alice, Texas.  Herbie taught himself to play piano accordion, but also played rums and bass with rock'n'roll bands.  His conjunto rhythms were perfected when he played with El Conjunto de Beto Martinez but his musical career climaxed between 1968 and 1974 when he played keyboards for the legendary Conjunto Bernal.  Lopez was influenced deeply by accordionists Paulino Bernal and Oscar Hernandez and remembers fondly his days performing with Juan Sifuentes, Eloy Bernal, Beto Salinas, Chacha Jimenez, Joe Ramos, Beto Torres and Joe Solis.  Lopez settled in the Rio Grande Valley in 1982 and taught high school band in Weslaco for twenty years.
 
As a special treat, accompanying Lopez on bajo sexto will be one of the most talented bajo sexto players in the music industry, Max Baca.  Best known for his participation with groups such as Flaco Jimenez y su Conjunto, The Texas Tornados, Los Hermanos Baca, Aztex and Los Super Seven, Baca has toured nationally and internationally.  He has participated in three Grammy Award-winning albums and is now the front man of the group Texmaniacs.
 
Herbie Lopez will tell his story and perform with Max Baca at the next "Second Weensdee."  A reception will follow the presentation.
 
"El Second Weensdee" is an oral history series on a local cultural treasure - conjunto music.  The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center preserves, promotes and advances the rich cultural heritage of the "Mexicano" community through programming in the arts.
 
For more information call (956) 361-0110

New Brownsville Blog

Check out my cousin's new Brownsville Blog. Read and contribute to the interesting and thought provoking discussions he has begun there.

In This Corner...Your Talk Around Town

Want to check out other Brownsville Blogs? Click any the links below.

Cafe Brownsville
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Have a Brownsville blog and want to promote it? Send a link by clicking here.

Art School Confidential

From the makers of "Ghost World" and "Bad Santa" comes the movie "Art School Confidential" based on an original comic strip of the same name by the screenplay writer and comic artist Daniel Clowes. This movie is a parody so it will have the obvious art school stereotypes but I couldn't help but laugh and recognize some elements. Ah, I am probably biting my own tongue here. Art school is a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But check out the movie if you ever want to have a laugh and recognize some of those elements as well.

To see the "Art School Confidential" trailers CLICK HERE.

To go to the movie website CLICK HERE.

If you want to share some thoughts on the movie or art school in general feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section linked below this post or CLICK HERE.

UTB/TSC Scorpion Scholars

I know this is not art-related, but this is a great opportunity for our local youth wanting to pursue a higher education.

~~

The deadline is quickly approaching for high school seniors planning to apply for the new UTB/TSC University Scorpion Scholars scholarships.

The new Scorpions Scholar Scholarship (USS) program, available to the top 10 percent of graduating high school seniors residing in the TSC taxing district, offers up to four years of tuition, fees, books and on-campus housing.

The USS scholarship will cover tuition and fees for 15 or more college credits; $500 per fall and spring semesters for books and supplies, plus $1,150 per fall and spring semesters for on-campus housing on a space available basis.

Students have until 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 10 to submit their scholarship applications to the Financial Aid Office. The scholarship is limited to 115 students.

Award letters will be mailed out the recipients the week of May 15-19.

Under the old Scorpions Scholar program, $600 was awarded annually to the top five and 10 percent of graduating high school seniors for their first year at UTB/TSC.

For more information, call the Financial Aid Office at 882-8277

Support the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art

As Brownsville Museum of Fine Art nears completion at 7th and Ringgold, Brownsville, the entire community is coming together to bring the project to fruition. "We are $500,000 short of our capital campaign goal" said Mary Carey, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art Board Member "All together it will be a 3 million project.

To assist in the fundraising, International Bank of Commerce is sponsoring an art show by sculpture, Victor Gutiérrez, Thursday, May 25th at the Bank's main branch 1600 FM 802. Doors will open at 6:00 for the wine & cheese ($25 per person) with the artwork of Sculpture Victor Gutiérrez on display and for sale. The artist Gutierrez, currently touring in Europe is the creator of the renowned " El Angel in Mexico City."

He will be in Brownsville for the exhibit and has donated a bronze to be raffled at the event. Raffle tickets are $100 each. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art Building Fund.

On June 2, 2006, at the current Brownsville Museum of Fine Art photography by Dr. Jose Castañeda will be exhibited. "The COLORS of Brownsville" is a collection of forty photographs of botanicals from the lawns in and around Brownsville. Again, all proceeds will benefit the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art Building Fund.

"We are very honored at the commitment of Dr. Jose Castaneda and others" said Carol DeMoss, Executive Director with the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art. "This is several years of outstanding work Dr. Castañeda has donated. Many times, Dr. Castaneda would go to a home as many as twenty times to meet owners and ask permission to photograph a plant or flower. His images are exquisite."

A U.S. Multi -Regional Impact Assessment System statement indicates:

The nonprofit arts sector is the incubator for the vast role of cultural activity in the economy. For every $1 spent on those activities more than $2.98 of cultural impact on the economy occurs. The contribution of the cultural arts as traditionally measured has a substantial impact on the economy of Texas including 63.7 billion in total expenditures, $31.5 billion in Gross Product, $18.7 billion in Personal Income and over 600,000 Permanent jobs.

For anyone wishing more information regarding the Building Fund or the any of the upcoming art shows to benefit the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art contact the museum at (967) 542-0941.