Poor Man's Portable Printing Press at 77 Flea Market

Museo {i}menos presents…
The Poor Man’s Portable Printing Press IX
(a stencil making workshop)
by Museo {i}menos founder {active stencilist / stencil activist} René Z.Garza
museoimenos@gmails.com, 956.534.1997

The workshop includes a brief history of the stenciled image and basic stencil making techniques. Make your own images, freely and ready to reproduce, using this historic, democratic art. We will also make a collective work of art for future exhibition.

This is the nineth of twelve monthly workshops in 2006 held by the Museo to promote independent arts practice (that is to say art with very little resources). Donations are accepted but not required to take part in Museo {i}menos activities. It is our goal to make artistic practice accessible to everyone.

The stencil making workshop will be held

Sunday, September 17, 2006
From Open to Close
77 Flea Market
Brownsville, TX

Directions: East US 83 toward Brownsville becomes US 77, exit Stillman Road / Old Alice. The Flea Market is on the south side here and highly visible.

To participate you will need to attend with posterboard, a #1 exacto-type knife, a can of spray paint, some designs, and something to paint your image on {t-shirts have been popular to the workshop, but just about anything goes}. Also, {i}menos will lend you materials or they may be purchased as they are available.

Museo {i}menos is a different kind of museum without walls, formal attire or admission fees. We pop up wherever we can and even in some places that we can not.

Museo {i}menos ¡Para los que hacen mas con menos!

************
***Note: This will be interesting and fun. The worksop was recently held in Matamoros and covered in The Herald. Check out the article by clicking here.

TAOB Update

Hola loyal TAOB readers! I say loyal, because if you are still coming back after such a lack of updates, then yes, you are a loyal reader...and for your loyalty, many thanks and appreciation go to you! And if by some serendipitous act you ended up here, welcome and we hope you keep coming back!

Like all beginnings to Fall, things just get busier and more is going on and unfortunately, some other aspets of life get less attention...like exercise, or diets, or sleep...or for me...this blog. But alas, TAOB is not forgotten!

The Art of Brownsville events calendar keeps filling up! Check out the various events going on in September alone! Especially the festivals like Cine Sol Film Festival and The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center Conjunto Festival.

Don't see an arts and culture related event you know about or want your event on the calendar? Then send an email with details our way to artofbrownsville@gmail.com.

As for TAOB not being forgotten...this blog has great potential but needs the assistance of contributing writers or web designers. I want to send thanks to our generous sponsors like Jose Hinojosa, Chris Davis and Marilyn Brown. Your donated resources have not been to put to vain and expect some changes to welcome the blog's 3rd anniversary in late November.

For any writers, artists or designers itching to contribute to the blog, please send an email our way to artofbrownsville@gmail.com. Thanks and hope everyone is well and have a great beginning to the Fall season!

A Night of Hope

Aids Survival Project
1st Annual Event: "A Night of Hope"

Where: Gallery 409, 409 E. 13th St., Brownsville, TX 78520
When: Saturday, August 29th from 7pm-11pm
Cost: $5.00 donation at the door, all other donations will be greatly appreciated

All proceeds and donations will benefit the Valley AIDS Council's Education Department. Join the fun and participate in a silent auction and purchase one-of-a-kind art pieces donated by supporting artists. Come enjoy an evening of great art for a great cause.

For more information contact: (956) 459-7762,(956) 465-9313 or aidssurvivalproject@yahoo.com

Art at the Park

Amigos Artistas
"Art at the Park"

Saturday, August 26, 2006
10:00am-5:00pm
Ringgold Civic Pavilion
at Dean Porter Park
(next to Gladys Porter Zoo, exit 6th st, South 77)
Brownsville, Texas

Admission Free!!!

RGV Film Commission Call for Volunteers and Artists

The Rio Grande Valley Film Commission’s Executive Committee headed by Nancy Millar of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce (Chair), Evana Vleck of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, Martha Noell of the Mission Chamber of Commerce, Iliana Cortez of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce and Chelsea Benham of the University of Texas Pan American, requests a “call” for artists and technicians interested in working or volunteering in the film industry.

If you are interested in serving as a director of photography, light technician, actor, extra or other position in the film industry, your name, resume and contact information will be placed on a major contact list The list will be utilized for interested area and out of area film makers who make the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) their film project destination and are looking for individuals who have experience or who express an interest in the entertainment industry.

The Rio Grande Film Commission is a coop organization consisting of local Chamber’s in the RGV and other interested individuals and organizations that wish to promote the film industry. The Film Commission is dedicated to attracting film projects and serving as a liaison to assist film makers in having their film projects run as smoothly as possible. The Film Commission is interested in welcoming all film makers into the RGVand is currently working on creating a database of potential film locations, studios, actors, film techs and other individuals with expertise in industries relating to the film making process.

For more information and to register your name on the contact list, please contact Evana Vleck of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce at 956-383-4974 or via email at marketing@edinburg.com. There is no cost to participate.

The Art of Brownsville Events Calendar!!!

Take a look at the new Art of Brownsville Events Calendar!
The calendar's URL is: http://freecal.brownbearsw.com/artofbrownsville

Want to see your RGV/Northern Tamaulipas arts or cultural related event on the Art of Brownsville Events Calendar? Email information to artofbrownsville@gmail.com

***Blog Note:The calendar is very basic and I will work my way up to developing a better one---but for now this one is more than suffice. It has been a concern of mine that much of the space on the blog has been used up on promoting events. While I have no issue with that, I would like the blog to focus more on documenting and commenting on local arts and culture. Keep coming back to see more additions and changes to The Art of Brownsville!

CineSol 36 Hour Film Race

Brownsville, Texas (Rio Grande Valley) – September 1-3, 2006 — CineSol 36 Hour Film Race, a 36-hour filmmaking competition, has announced a call to entries. CineSol 36 is the first competition of its kind in the U.S., and will take place Labor Day Weekend September 1-3 in Brownsville, Texas. Both novice and seasoned filmmakers will have the chance to compete in this fast paced movie-making contest. Participants, whose completed movies must be no more than ten (10) minutes long, will have their movies reviewed and judged by moviemaking professionals. On Sunday, September 3, 2006 the Top Ten (10) films will be officially unveiled and premiered at the Camille Lightner Playhouse. At the end of the evening, the winning team will receive “CineSol 36 – Bravo Award 2006” title and an industry package worth about $3,000. Other Awards and Recognition will be for the following:

Audience Choice, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Music, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Script

Best Under 18's Film - To be eligible for the “CineSol 36 – Bravo II Award 2006”, and an industry package worth about $500.00 (two- thirds of the team members must be under 18 years of age).

Participants in this inaugural CineSol 36 Hour Film Race will plunge into the world’s most extreme filmmaking. Filmmakers, musicians, and actors of all ages are invited to take part in CineSol 36 Hour Film Race. Interested parties should visit http://www.cinesol.com. Information and Entry Forms can be downloaded from the site.

“This event will bring the best rookie and experienced filmmakers of the region together in Brownsville to compete in a non-stop weekend of action and fun,” says Nancy Russell, CineSol Film Festival Chairperson. Russell, who welcomes inquiries from additional sponsors, expects CineSol 36 Hour Film Race to draw several hundred competitors to Brownsville. Early interest in the event has been extremely high. “Brownsville is the ideal place to have the first 36-hour filmmaking contest of its kind in the area,” says Peter Goodman with Brownsville Border Film Commission, “because of the city’s high percentage of students, artists, entrepreneurs, and local companies eager to support such a unique event.”

Artist Beth Fedigan at the BHC

Brownsville-South Padre Island artist Beth Fedigan will be one of the featured artists in the exhibition Hecho a Mano: A Heartfelt Tradition at the Brownsville Heritage Complex. The exhibition opens at 6:30 pm on August 10, 2006 with a reception. The reception is free to the public. The exhibition runs through October 9, 2006 and is included with general admission to the Brownsville Heritage Complex.

Fedigan, who is well-known for her watercolors of fish and beach life, will feature her hand-made baskets which are made from local materials found around South Padre Island.

According to Fedigan, “My work is strongly influenced by texture. Texture is surface enrichment. It’s manipulative; and by staining, scratching, weathering, and whatever else we can do to surfaces, it makes the piece beautiful. We live in a primarily visual world. I feel that the more ways we find to express our ideas and reactions to the world, the more effectively we will respond to the stimulation we receive from our immediate environment. Art is a form of communication, and/or self reflection. Art should make a viewer think, but it shouldn’t tell a viewer what to think. For me, the act of creating is spiritual; it is communicating with the creative forces that drive me. Ultimately, art allows me to express things through visual means that cannot be communicated with words.”

Hecho a Mano: A Heartfelt Tradition explores the hand-made traditions of South Texas and Northern Mexico.

Along with Fedigan’s original baskets, Mission artist Julian Rodriguez will showcase his ceramic bowls, plates and cups, as well as his more sculptural folk-saint series. McAllen artist Raquel Hinojosa will display her paper mache art.

Also on display will be paper crafts, local hand-made piñatas, and textiles of Mexico from the private collection of UTPA Special Collections Librarian George R. Gause.

Through the duration of the exhibition, workshops and public demonstrations are scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition.

The Brownsville Heritage Complex is located in historic downtown Brownsville at 1325 E. Washington St. The Brownsville Heritage Complex includes: The Stillman House Museum, The Brownsville Heritage Museum, The Aiken Education Center, The Heritage Resource Center and the Children's Heritage and Cultural Learning Center.

For more information please call 956-541-5560 or email info@brownsvillehistory.org.

EL Second Weensdee

The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center
presents

"El Second Weensdee"
with

FLAVIO LONGORIA
and special guest Max Baca

Wednesday August 9, 2006 at 7:00 pm

In preparation for the 15th Annual Narciso Martinez Conjunto Festival,
"the Chicho" will feature accordionist Flavio Longoria at the next "El Second Weensdee." The Conjunto Kingz de Flavio Longoria will perform at the Conjunto Festival on Friday September 15, and this "Second Weensdee" conjunto fans will have the perfect opportunity to get to know this rising accordion star.

Longoria is destined to a life of music following his famous father's footsteps, Texas conjunto pioneer Valerio Longoria. The young Flavio learned music quickly, playing accordion, saxophone, bass guitar, drums, singing and recording with his father's band. Together they toured nationally, but one of Flavio's most fond memories is performing with him in 1985 when Don Valerio was honored with a National Heritage Award and proclaimed a National Treasure. With his new group, the Conjunto Kingz, Flavio is committed to keeping his father's style and musical legacy alive, a talent he has keenly inherited, especially with those beautiful and romantic boleros that continue to resonate in the hearts of the Chicano people.

To the delight of "Second Weensdee" fans, the highly acclaimed bajista Max Baca will once again appear at "the Chicho's" stage. Best known for his participation with groups such as Flaco Jimenez, The Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven, Baca has toured nationally and internationally. Baca has participated in three Grammy Award-winning albums and is now the front man of the group Los Texmaniacs, which will also perform at this year's Conjunto Festival.

a reception follows the presentation

$5 admission
225 E. Stenger Street, San Benito, TX 78586
(956) 361-0110

Sad Mac

Sorry for the lack of updates folks. I don't have access to the internet through my Mac and so I have been stuck with my lame old PC that has the equivalent processing capacity of churning butter. I love RoadRunner service but Time Warner needs to train their techs to know how to install Macs...punto! Then the PC just about freaks out for any command I ask it do that involves running two programs at the same time. It's not that I am an anti-PC fascist...I use a very efficient PC at work, pero...I gotta tell you folks...once you go Mac, it's hard to go back!
I am going to see if I can install wireless in my house so I can once again be whole with my Mac, but untill then please bare with me. The Art of Brownsville is still here...aguitada pero con ganas!

Chilangolandia vs. The Big Apple

Coming Soon... Check out the impressions of one Brownsvillian's visits to Mexico City and New York City.

"The David" in Weslaco

Weslaco I.S.D. art teachers worked together to purchase an exact replica of Michelangelo Buonarroti's "David". The art teachers raised money through donations from children, parents, teachers, doctors, and private donations from Weslaco families. The replica was created directly from a master mold of the famous sculpture housed at the Galleria Dell' Academia, Florence.

The sculpture will be presented to the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce on September 18,2006 and will be dedicated to the youth of Weslaco. The public will have free acces to the sculpture to admire and study year round.

For more information, please contact James Miller, Head Organizer for Project David
at coolartclasses@yahoo.com or contact Weslaco Chamber of Commerce toll free at 888-968-102.

******

Note: Very cool news! To have a mold of Michaelangelo's most famous work in the Valley will be a great cultural and educational resource for all, especially for art students who can study the piece to help them develop and improve their drawing and/or sculpture technique. I vaguely remember a Simpsons episode where the Springfield citizens protested the viewing of the sculpture. I am glad to see that this is not the case here in the Valley.

Luis Jimenez Sculpture at Brownsville-SPI Airport

Luis Jimenez Sculpture at Brownsville-SPI Airport
Originally uploaded by artofbrownsville.

A while back I was waiting to catch a flight to Houston and my eye happened to catch the sight of this sculpture at the Brownsville-South Padre Island Airport. One name flashed through my mind, "Luis Jimenez". "NAAHHHHH..." Him, his work??... here? In Brownsville? In the airport? The Brownsville airport???

I was in disbelief. (I must admit, even though Brownsville has grown so much, the small town mentality still sticks). But it was no illusion...before me was his signature and unmistakable style as proof. The sculpture was protected only by three rope barracades. "Uff!"...If people didn't know what this was, they could pass it for Dean Porter Park's newest playground installation. "Wait.", I thought, "Do people know what this sculpture is? Do they know who made it? What it means to art? What it means to representation of our culture?" Then I saw a sign near by, "PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW CHILDREN TO CLIMB"....OK, so my guess most people don't know.

I left the airport thinking, I have to take a picture one day and put it on the blog! Well, like many good intentions...the thought stayed well intended and was not brought to fruitation. Then a week ago came the sad news that Luis Jimenez died from an accident involving one of his pieces. Read the story by clicking here.

I remember one time in art school, my sculpture professor mentioned that Luis Jimenez attended and taught at UT. I was like, "Wow! When? I want the chance to be his student!" The magnificent thing about visual art though is that even though the the artist may no longer be with us, the artist's work is nearly immortal! We can continue to learn from the artist!

In respect to Luis Jimenez, I encourage you to learn from Luis Jimenez's life and work. As a Mexican-American artist from El Paso, he worked to express and share our culture on La Frontera. Thank you Mr. Jimenez for all you have done for art and for our frontera culture!

PS: If anyone may know who owns the piece or how it arrived to be placed the airport please comment below. It would be most interesting to know the story.

Sad Day

More info to be posted soon....

***************************************************************

Studio Accident Kills Well-known Sculptor
Austin American Statesman

Hondo, N.M.

Luis Jimenez, a University of Texas graduate whose sculptures have been displayed at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Modern Art, died Tuesday in what authorities are calling an industrial accident. He was 65.

Part of a sculture was being moved with a hoist at Jimenez's Hondo studio when it came loose and struck the artist, pinning him against a steel support....He was taken to the Lincoln County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Love and Passion

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

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