Fotofronteras: Photography by Immigrant Youth In Detention and Emergency Shelter.

Fotofronteras is an innovative vocational photography program developed to extend the frontiers of these youths’ lives by opening opportunities for meaningful employment and entrepreneurial activities in the field of photography. Fotofronteras was created and is co-taught by Dianne Monroe and Fadela Castro.

These photos are taken by immigrant youth, overwhelmingly from Central America, currently being held in detention while their immigration status is sorted out. Placed in the care of Child Protective Services, these children live in Emergency Shelters, where they are provided a number of services, including lawyers to help with their immigration hearings, school, and English language instruction.

Approximately 100,000 undocumented immigrants under the age of 18 are stopped at the border each year. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, account for about 85% of the youth detained. Texas hosts 58% of these youth, far more than any other state. Most of the youth taken into custody were attempting to join relatives already living in the U.S. The vast majority will be deported to their home countries, where they face deeply entrenched poverty and limited employment opportunities.

Through photography, Fotofronteras empowers participating youth to document their life stories, expand their personal horizons, and enlarge their vision of what is possible for them to accomplish in their lives.

The Fotofronteras FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibit was made possible by a grant from the Neighborhood Arts Program of the City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs. Fotofronteras is part of The Healing Arts Project, a collaborative managed by Jump-Start Performance Company.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well known in the San Antonio contemporary art circles for many years, attorney Marc Wiegand spearheads an effort that began earlier this year, to present periodic exhibitions of contemporary artists in the law offices of Stumpf Farrimond P.C., where he practices. A collector and patron of the arts, Marc is an enthusiastic promoter and supporter of a wide range of visual artists, and is a natural social connector, always trying to get people to interact and discover common interests.

The FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibit at Stumpf Farrimond, Reality As Metaphor, is organized and curated by Marc Wiegand, and features a selection of works by Robert Ziebell, Ansen Seale and Rick Hunter.

Read the rest of this entry »

As an integral part of Anarte Gallery’s exhibitions program, gallery owner Ana Montoya periodically presents the work of her artists in the elegant, Riverwalk setting of Biga On The Banks, a fine dining destination housed in San Antonio’s International Center building, which overlooks a placid section of the San Antonio River.

On display at for FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA at Biga is Luminarias Del Rio, a series of images by Barbara Jackson. This is what Barbara has to say about her work: In May of 2008, I began a study of light phenomena that occur along the banks of the South Channel of San Antonio Riverwalk. The unique construction and location of the Riverwalk allows the river to limn its walls, gates and bridges with moving lines of reflected light. These transitory light events are what I think of as, Luminarias Del Rio. The luminarias occur when light is reflected off the water’s surface and cast onto its containment walls. Sometimes the reflections pass back and forth between water and walls multiple times, resulting in mysterious lights that seem to hover in the air or glow from beneath the water. The photographs in the Luminarias Del Rio series are the results of my ongoing study and my efforts to document what I’ve seen. It has been my intention to print exactly what I observed while looking through the camera’s lens. With this in mind, the photographs were produced, as much as possible, without digital manipulation or enhancement.

Read the rest of this entry »

Invariably, every time we’re at Gallista Gallery for an opening reception or event, we feel like we just walked into a large, boisterous, fun family reunion, where we run into old friends and colleagues at a time and place that prompt us to feel a deeper kinship with these former partners from various historic endeavors; a kinship that makes us wonder why we don’t meet as frequently any more. And then we wonder as well why our family reunions are not more like this.

Of course, Joe Lopez, South Flores pioneer, artist, and owner of Gallista Gallery and the Gallista complex of art studios and coffee shop; always extends a warm welcoming embrace, which adds to the at-home, at-ease, fuzzy neon glow of the Gallista ambiance. But take a step or two and the warm fuzzies are promptly countered by the full frontal assault of the color, the volume and the vivacity of the Gallista space.

We are very fond of Joe and his colorful corner of South Flores. The Gallista Coffee Shop is always buzzing with artists, intellectuals, authors, friends, Chicano activists old and young, veterans who served in the military with Joe; all engaged in conversations muffled or drowned out by music blaring from jukeboxes, large screen TV’s, or DJ’s in the main back gallery, plus maybe a band or two out in the back patio, a patio that is typically covered by thick layers of barbecue smoke, and overrun by visitors of all stripes and ages.

Whenever we stroll through a Gallista event, our spirits are lifted even as our senses are completely overwhelmed. It’s like having a hearty wonderful meal, followed by a big, flavorful cup of Joe. San Antonio’s one and only Gallista Joe.

Exhibiting at Gallista for FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA is Jorge Sandoval, photographer, producer, writer, traveller, and a partner in several of those long-gone historic endeavors mentioned above. His exhibit Wonderlandia/Not Disneyland (De Colores) is a collection of images from ten years of travels to Mexico, Latin America and Asia, and the images do not put the lie to the exhibit’s subtitle (De Colores).

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the original South Flores art spaces pioneers, One9Zero6 Gallery (plus Bz Designs, Benavides Framing, and a bunch of other entities), owned by Andy and Yvette Benavides, is one of San Antonio’s longest running hipster art destination. The Benavides’ also own and operate Alberto Mijangos’ former studio and gallery, which they have renamed The Project Space.

On display at One9Zero6 is the exhibit Light, Form And Color, by photographer Blake Yantis, a series of large-scale color photographs of landscapes and textures, the kind of straightforward, technically accomplished color imagery more prevalent in West Coast galleries, and not as usual in our parts of the country. The exhibit is a welcome esthetic balance for this year’s FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA roster of exhibits.

Blake has focused his camera on the landscape for over 10 years. Today, through his handcrafted prints, he takes great joy in capturing those moments when light itself becomes a subject; moments that many can often miss. For him, it is clear; they are a chance to share his limited understanding of a living Creator.

Blake lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Jennifer. While a student at the University of Texas at Austin he created and operated Sleight of Hand Photography. Today, Yantis’ works hang nationwide in public and private collections across the country. Notable collectors include the Four Seasons, Westin, Marriott, Hilton hotels and TPC.

Read the rest of this entry »

As mentioned in a prior post, the Boerne Convention & Vistors Bureau and the Boerne business community are in effect, engaging an economic development strategy to capitalize on the various art constituencies in Boerne, the uniqueness of its demographics, and its privileged location; to make of this Hill Country city a Creative Industry hub.

A well articulated feature in the August issue of the Boerne Business Monthly clearly indicates the commitment of the Boerne Convention & Vistors Bureau to this initiative. Counting on the presence of Boerne’s three main art organizations: The Boerne Professional Artists Association, The Cibolo Arts Council, and The Second Saturday Artist Group; Boerne CVB President and CEO Larry Woods, is instrumental in coordinating and promoting the Creative Industry agenda.

The exhibit, Diversity X 10, on display at the Boerne Convention & Vistors Bureau, is organized and curated by long-time FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA friend and supporter, Nancy Cavender-Garcia, a resident of New Braunfels, and the owner of The Studio, a photography workshop in New Braunfels. The Studio recognizes the need to develop personal creativity, discovery, learning and growth. To this purpose The Studio offers a wide range of photography classes that help nurture and inspire imaginations of all ages. The classes offer the opportunity to uncover, develop and stretch creative spirits within a supportive community that encourages personal and artistic growth. These classes take place in various off-site locations in the interest of making that learning more accessible. The goal is to teach visual arts and to expand creative potential.

Diversity X 10 features images by artists from The Studio, Kelly Anderson, Nancy Damron, Jennifer Martin, Scot O’Shea, Joyce Seibel, Whitney Smith, Janet Thompson, April Zimmerman, as well as Larry Woods and Nancy Cavendar-Garcia.

Read the rest of this entry »