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CONTENTS PLACES
6 7
PEOPLE
Wings Press: The Corazón of San Antonio Literature The Rivard Report
Newest World Heritage Murals Depict Wildlife, Four Seasons The Rivard Report
EVENTS
2 7
4 8
COVER: Someone SArtsy: Angela Fox SArtsy
Artistas Ana Fernandez and Ruth Buentello Carve Out a Legacy of Cultural Understanding The SA Current
EXHIBITIONS
First Friday vs. Second Saturday The SA Current
Restored by Light San Antonio Magazine
EDITOR’S LETTER
2 8
Heaven and Hell: Salvation and Retribution in Pure Land Buddhism The San Antonio Museum of Art
Portraits of famous Latinos Given to San Antonio Musem of Art My San Antonio
DIRECTORY
ALLYSON ARROGANTE Dear Readers of SArtsy, For the first issue of SArtsy I’d like to welcome you to San Antonio’s artsy side! San Antonio is rich with local art, collaboration, culture, and styles that have evolved from the diverse individuals San Antonio has attracted. In this issue, and future issues, we want to shine a spotlight on artists, art events, and exhibitions happening in the fast-growing River City. Featured on the cover is not only a beloved art professor of mine from the University of the Incarnate Word, but also a local artist in San Antonio that has a distinctive style and amazing personality. I’m happy to put Angela Fox on the cover of the first issue and interview her to thank her for her contributions to San Antonio art culture and to my artistic career. I hope you take away from this issue not only a new perspective, but also more knowledge on the emerging San Antonio art culture that’s appearing. As artists, exhibitions, and events appear around town I hope you use this resource to convince yourself to check out what’s happening, to get connected, and to enjoy yourself. Thank you for reading the first issue of SArtsy, Allyson Arrogante Editor-In-Chief
PAGE 2
SEPTEMBER 2017
EDITOR-IN- CHIEF
PROOFREADERS
Allyson Arrogante
Mark David Rodriguez Pena Sofia Guajardo
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
Alfredo Morales
San Antonio Museum of Art The SA Current
SUBSCRIBERS
The Rivard Report
Send subscription
My San Antonio
orders and inquiries to:
San Antonio Magazine
4301 4th Street, San Antonio, Texas,
EDITORS
78209, Suite 424
Mai Thao Nguyen Emily Ruiz
FIND MORE AT sartsy.com
EXHIBITION
HEAVEN AND HELL Salvation and Retribution in Pure Land Buddhism SEP 2017 | San Antonio Museum of Art
ON JUNE 16, the San Antonio Museum of Art will present Heaven and Hell: Salvation and Retribution in Pure Land Buddhism, the first exhibition in the U.S. to explore in detail one of the most popular forms of Buddhism throughout Asia. Featuring approximately 70 works—including paintings, sculpture, and decorative objects—the exhibition contrasts the visions of heaven and hell, ideas that are central to Pure Land Buddhism. Curated by Dr. Emily Sano, PhD, the Coates-Cowden-Brown Senior Advisor for Asian Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, the exhibition features some of the most stunning examples of works created as part of the sect’s devotional and funerary traditions. They are drawn from twenty private collections and institutions across the country and world as well as the Museum’s own Asian collections. Heaven and Hell will be on view through September 10, 2017. Originally developed in West Asia during the early years of the Common Era, Pure Land Buddhism spread across Central Asia to China and into Tibet, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan,
The largest painting of the exhibit premieres at the end to shock most visitors with its color and size
pulling in and incorporating the gods and figures of local faiths in each new culture. One figure, Amitābha, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, remained at the center of the Pure
of both religious narrative and imagery that makes for
Land faith, promising salvation in his heavenly paradise to anyone who simply calls his
compelling viewing, including in rituals that continue to
“HEAVEN AND HELL
name. This promise of salvation and an escape
the present day. The exhibition explores these different
from the pain of hell—even to those who led less
regional approaches, and the evolution of devotional art
than exemplary lives—helped Pure Land Buddhism
as Pure Land Buddhism moved eastwards across Asia.
flourish and expand throughout Asia. In contrast,
PROVIDES A DYNAMIC AND IN-DEPTH VIEW OF PURE LAND BUDDHISM,
the more traditional Theravada Buddhism held that
Lenders to the exhibition include the Asian Art Museum
nirvana could only be obtained through devout
of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
study and meditation.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cleveland Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Philadelphia Art Museum,
HIGHLIGHTING THE WAY
“Heaven and Hell provides a dynamic and in-depth
the Brooklyn Museum, the Birmingham Museum of Art,
DIFFERENT CULTURES
view of Pure Land Buddhism, highlighting the way
and the Dallas Museum of Art. Curated by Emily Sano,
different cultures adopted and adapted the faith,” said
PhD, the Coates-Cowden-Brown Senior Advisor for Asian
Sano. “Its adherents found commonality in inspiration
Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the former
and devotion, while also contributing their local beliefs
director of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the
ADOPTED AND ADAPTED THE FAITH”
and imagery to the practice.” The result is a richness
exhibition will also be accompanied by a catalog. «
EVENT
FIRST FRIDAY VS. SECOND SATURDAY FEB 2014 | The SA Current
EVEN WHEN THE STARS ALIGN and they fall
FIRST FRIDAY
SECOND SATURDAY
within the same weekend, First Friday and Second
The mother ship of the Blue Star Arts Complex (1420
As owner and “senior creative co-conspirator” of
Saturday don’t compete but complement one another
S Alamo) and the launchpad for Contemporary Art
FL!GHT, Justin Parr and Ed Saavedra are early
like an eccentric pair of fraternal twins. While both
Month, Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum wrote
instigators of the Second Saturday circus. Anchoring
warrant an exploratory stroll, these are our don’t-
the First Friday book back in ’86 and still champions
Andy Benavides’ pivotal complex at 1906 South
miss picks for both sides of the tracks.
local and regional artists via solo exhibitions and
Flores, the long-running gallery celebrated its
themed group shows (the two-part “San Antonio
11th year in the biz with an ambitious group show
Painters” and the all-female “Texas Tough” stand out
featuring 59 FL!GHT alums including big names
as memorable hits). Since its arrival in the complex in
like Franco Mondini-Ruiz and Vincent Valdez. In
July of 2013, Amada Miller’s buzzy Hello Studio has
its relatively short time on the scene, David “Shek”
provided a welcome blast of creative new energy along
Vega’s Gravelmouth has become a strong contender
with a solid platform for locals (from Ed Saavedra to
for Best Art Gallery in the Current’s annual readers’
Angela Fox) and Austinites (including Brian Phillips
poll and amped up 1906’s street culture cachet. An
and Mark Johnson) alike. With its inaugural 2013
outgrowth of Joe De La Cruz’s screen-printing studio,
exhibition “San Miguel Exposed,” jeweler and pianist
Silkwörm Studio and Gallery—run by Joe (McHug)
Susan Oliver Heard’s Cinnabar set itself apart from
and Jason (Popguy) Ibarra—spotlights up-and-comers
the pack and picked up a pair of awards in the process.
exploring themes of identity and culture. Like 1906,
It’s more of a shop than a gallery, but MockingBird
Joe Lopez’s Gallista Gallery (1913 S Flores) is an
Handprints is overflowing with art. A collaboration
art-filled multiplex but celebrates “Segundo Sabado”
between Jane Bishop and Paula Cox, MockingBird
via receptions (showcasing Chicano artists, DJs and
stocks its shelves with letterpress cards, upcycled
poets) coinciding with happenings at onsite Ladybase
jewelry and whimsical wallpapers. If the local
Gallery (featuring performance- and installation-
glassblowing scene were to elect a guru, it’d be Jake
based works by women and members of the LBGT
Zollie Harper, whose compact Zollie Glass Gallery
community) and 3rd Space Art Gallery (a “distillery of
features both decorative items and functional works
visual arts” curated by Kim Bishop and Luis Valderas).
by Harper and an evolving mix of other artists
Since taking up residence at 107 Gallery (107 Lone
including Justin Parr, Raygun Johns and Adam Pearl.
Star) in 2012, The Lullwood Group has presented both
Blue Star Arts Complex
solo shows and one-night-only events. «
ISSUE ONE
PAGE 3
JOIN THE SNAKE CLAN FROM
Artist and adjunct professor Angela Fox is a San Antonio artist that has been featured at local events, on the SA Current, and other magazines and exhibitions. In this article is an interview of the painter and illustrator. More of her artwork can be found at www.angelafox.net
PEOPLE/COVER
SOMEONE SARTSY: ANGELA FOX SEP 2017 | SArtsy
Q: WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
I’m Angela Fox. I’m an artist and art instructor at the University of the Incarnate Word and San Antonio College. I’ve taught Design, Drawing, Painting, Color Theory, and Art Appreciation for 9-10 years.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR BACKGROUND? My Masters of Fine Arts concentration was in printmaking, which I no longer do. I traded my printmaking process for painting. Q: DO YOU THINK YOUR BACKGROUND AFFECTS YOUR WORK?
Yes, the graphic quality of my work, flat blocks of color, and limited depth and value stems from my experience with relief printing (mostly woodcuts).
Q: HOW DO YOU WORK?
I’ve always been terrible about having a “studio” space separate from my home. I have a work/studio space in “Blood Lord”
my house. I work best sitting in front of the TV for noise and I’ll pretty much sit and paint for long stretches of time…anywhere between 4 to 10 hours at a time. I also think I need to be close to the refrigerator at all times,
and looking at Greek vases inspired me to think about the
as eating helps me think!
tasks that an initiate takes on in order to become a hero or member of these clans I create.
Q: WHAT THEMES DO YOU PURSUE? Being a creator for these characters and their world through narrative, I naturally moved into creation and initiation stories—how these figures came to be and how they were able to form this tightly-knit gang. I was reading The Secret
Q: IF YOU HAD NO FINANCIAL BOUNDARIES, WHAT WOULD YOUR DREAM PROJECT BE?
since most of my pieces are no larger than 16 inches by
Teachings of All Ages and learning about mystery cults and
20 inches. I’d like to spend a month in a new city working
initiation rites and that influenced the ceremonial aspect of
on a mural.
what the figures are engaging in. I was also watching a ton of Kung Fu movies while working, so that factored into the idea of using a snake to represent the clan and the origin myth as well. In some of my favorite films, the actor’s fighting style is named after and mimics the style of a creature, in
I’d love to take some time to work large scale on a mural,
Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SUPPLIES AND/OR MEDIUMS AND WHY?
My favorite material is gouache paint because it’s so opaque and really suits the flatness of my characters and
addition to exploring how something came to be—how a
patterns. The colors also have a velvety, matte richness
student becomes a master, how one becomes a hero, etc.
that I really enjoy.
So watching Kung Fu movies, reading books on myths,
Q: AS A PROFESSOR, WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE GIVEN A STUDENT?
My best advice is to just show up and make work. Have fun when you make your art, but it’s also a job — take it as seriously as you would a job! Try to work on something everyday.
In this interview, we learn that Angela Fox is an artist and instructor at the University of the Incarnate Word and San Antonio College that creates paintings with gouache. These paintings usually explore her creations, which consists of the Snake Clan and its members. Inspired by mythology and Kung Fu movies she creates stunning, colorful patterns and characters in rituals. Despite her free and and rather casual approach to her students, she works hard and urges students to do the same for their craft. «
“The Empty Pot”
PLACE
WINGS PRESS The Corazón of San Antonio Literature SEP 2017 | San Antonio Museum of Art
NESTLED ON A STREET IN THE HISTORIC
undersung, emerging voices,” Nye said. “Grassroots care
Two San Antonio poet laureates so far have gone on
KING WILLIAM DISTRICT, a few minutes from the
for those people is important to the very original culture
to become Texas poet laureates: Rosemary Catacalos,
bustle of the Blue Star Arts Complex, lies the unassuming
of San Antonio, and Wings certainly provides that.”
Texas’ first Latina poet laureate, and Carmen Tafolla,
heart of San Antonio literature: Wings Press.
both of whom have had books published by Wings. Milligan’s interest in creating space for emergent authors
“I guess it’s surprising to me as a writer that people
also is apparent in his love of San Antonio’s cultural
“The introduction of a voice to the community is
don’t often know what’s going on in their own
roots and his desire to keep them alive and present.
incredibly important, and Bryce has been instrumental
vicinity,” said Naomi Shihab Nye, who describes
in that, time and time again,” LaVilla-Havelin said.
herself as a “wandering poet” who resides in San
“San Antonio has a long history as a cultural crossroads.
“I think if you wanted to talk simply locally, that he’s
Antonio. “Wings Press really is a local treasure.”
Before the Spanish arrived, it was a crossroads for Native
brought us both Rosemary Catacalos and Carmen Tafolla,
Americans,” Milligan said. “So I think an expression of
his place in heaven would be reserved just for that.”
Wings Press has been giving authors a voice for
multiculturalism is sort of a natural San Antonio thing.
more than 40 years, a stretch that local poet Jim
But, LaVilla-Havelin said, Milligan doesn’t simply
LaVilla-Havelin considers “no small feat” for an
“Most [homegrown literature] has to do with indigenous
introduce a new author or an old author to a new
independent publisher.
and Latino culture. There’s an important Chicano writer
community and stop there.
named Alurista, who sort of created the idea of Aztlan The press was founded in 1975 by Joanie Whitebird
as a homeland of Chicano culture, and during the
“If Bryce publishes you, he pushes you and makes
and Joe Lomax in Houston for the production and
movimiento, he said that ‘el corazón de Aztlan’ was
sure the work finds its audience. That’s rare for small
publication of “literature of the nation of Texas.”
in San Antonio. In many ways the [Chicano] literary
publishers,” he said. “The work Bryce does with
Whitebird operated the press until 1995, publishing
movement was centered here. Even though there were
Wings is way more than full-time. Its a labor of love.”
25 volumes, mostly hand-sewn and hand-printed,
bigger events and important writers elsewhere, San
including acclaimed Texas poet Bryce Milligan’s
Antonio was always sort of at the center of things.”
Working the Stone. In 1995, Whitebird passed the
At one point, he produced 20-25 books a year, an overwhelming pace for a lone editor-publisher. These
press on to Milligan, who brought it to San Antonio and serves as Wings’ director, editor, and publisher. “I bought the press for a song and a blood promise, made in the backyard, that I would keep it going,” said Milligan. “Since then, I’ve broadened the mission to publish literature that I think needs to be published and to give a voice to diverse voices, without consideration of whether it’s actually going to make money.” Milligan’s authors range across 28 states and several countries, mostly throughout Latin America. Only about 30% of Wings’ authors are from South Texas, but Milligan values their contribution. “It’s very idiosyncratic,” he said. “I publish what I like,
Milligan with Wings Press’ books
and I don’t publish what I don’t like.” “San Antonio is deeply engrained in what I do, and I have a real appreciation for the city supporting what I do, as idiosyncratic as it is,” he said. “San Antonio has been very good to me.” Milligan is synonymous with Wings, and both overwhelmingly garner praise for their contributions to the literature of San Antonio and beyond. “[Wings Press is] nationally admired for producing consistently quality literary work backed by a deeply
Milligan worked to catalog San Antonio literature’s
days, he sticks to about six a year, which allows time
colorful past in an anthology called Literary San
for his own writing, music, and other projects, like
Antonio, which he edited to be released next year.
making walking sticks for poet laureates. He only rarely
The book covers 300 years of history, beginning with
takes new submissions, and mostly continues to publish
Coahuiltecan chants about the river, narratives from
existing members of the Wings family.
Spanish explorers, and written accounts from the priests who founded the settlement. The work continues into the first novel written in San Antonio in the 1830s, and to the many writers of the past two centuries who
LaVilla-Havelin said that while he has lived in other
have been captivated by the city, its natural springs,
cities with small presses and more literary renown,
and its people.
Wings is remarkable and uniquely San Antonian in its “artistic cross-breeding” between emerging local and
genuine commitment to their writers,” said Trinity University Press Director Tom Payton in an email.
“I try to cater to my own authors,” Milligan said.
San Antonio’s influence continues to the present day,
established international writers.
Milligan pointed out, with San Antonio’s creation of a Wings Press is known in part for debuting unpublished authors and for working to empower Latino and Latina
city poet laureate in 2012 that has inspired other cities around the state to do the same.
“Wings is about the building of literary community,” LaVilla-Havelin said. «
writers. Wings’ first book under Milligan’s direction was an anthology of six female poets under age 25 from San Antonio. Four of the six poets in the anthology went on to publish their own books. From 1999-2002, Wings published seven titles by Latina poets under age 30 in a series called Premio Poesía Tejana at a time when minority poets statistically had the most difficulty getting a first work published. “Wings is highly representative of our city’s culture in its profound multiculturalism and its attention to the
PAGE 6
SEPTEMBER 2017
“Wings is highly representative of our city’s culture in its profound multiculturalism and its attention to the undersung, emerging voices”
PLACE
NEWEST WORLD HERITAGE MURALS Depict Wildlife, Four Seasons JUL 2017 | The Rivard Report
A SET OF MURALS depicting native wildlife were revealed near
“San Antonio is realizing [that] the original people are still here.
Mission Espada Wednesday as part of the World Heritage Trail
It’s a reversal of extinction, and that’s how we’re bringing it
Public Art Project, organized by the City’s Department of Arts and
back to the present,” he said. “It’s a small gesture of remembering
Culture and the World Heritage Office.
the people of this area, the first inhabitants that welcomed all
One of the missions “restored”
the people who came after, and reconnecting them to the Located at the Southeast Loop 410 underpass on Villamain
community of San Antonio.”
Road, the four murals are organized thematically around the four seasons and place an emphasis on the indigenous plants
“These things have a lot of context for native people,” said
and animals that sustained the livelihoods of Coahuiltecan
Garza, who created the spring mural. He explained the
peoples in South Texas before the arrival of the Spanish.
historical context of each season’s motifs.
“The first people who lived here were hunters and gatherers,”
“[The murals] remind people that we’re more than just what
said Ramon Vasquez, executive director of the American
we see now. We are a continuity of what came before. These
Indians in Texas at the Spanish-Colonial Missions (AITSCM).
things might seem trivial at first glance because they are part
HISTORIANS BELIEVE THAT
“They moved around the area based on the seasons, and each
of our everyday lives, and we take them for granted. But they
WHEN MISSION CONCEPCIÓN
one provided something different. But we know that they
provided us life. It has a lot of spiritual context for me.”
was first dedicated in 1755, its façade
always returned here.”
EVENT
RESTORED BY LIGHT SEP 2017 | San Antonio Magazine
was decorated with multicolored frescoes,
Local artists Joe de la Cruz, Albert Garza, Chris Montoya,
Sosa, who painted the winter mural, talked about the
murals that were added to the exterior
connections the project has to her own life.
surface before it had fully dried. The
and Cristina Sosa Noriega convened with historians and the
colors have long since faded from the
AITSCM to create murals that reflect the
“These icons were selected with a
historic church and its fellow World
local history and culture of the landscape.
purpose, and they have deep meaning,”
Heritage Site missions, but visitors can
she said. “My grandmother was a pecan
see the art recreated on Sept. 8, when
sheller in the 1920s. When I was a child,
the city’s Office of Historic Preservation
that’s all grandmas wanted to do: take
uses projection technology and light to
us out and pick pecans … And even now,
depict what Mission Concepción may
my two daughters on the way to school
have looked like some 250 years ago.
are always picking them up and eating
Along with projections of the frescoes,
them. It’s just deeply engrained in the
this year’s show also will include tidbits
culture here.”
about the mission’s history as well as
“It’s something
The public art project was created to enrich visitors’ experience of the Mission Trail by tying the area together with 10 murals – all created by local artists.
we’re all celebrating together,” Viagran said. “… We have a lot of
“This is about telling the stories of San Antonio, the stories of the neighborhoods
stories still to tell.”
and the communities,” said Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran (D3), noting that the
music by DJ Steven Lee Moya. Shanon
murals will make the area more inviting to locals and tourists
Sosa said she attended the first public meeting at Stinson
Shea Miller, director of the Office of
while discouraging the underpass’ use for nefarious purposes.
Airport because she wanted to help beautify the Mission Trail,
Historic Preservation, says the event is
recalling bike rides around the missions with her father that
just a precursor to the 2018 Tricentennial
she continues today with her own children.
when projection light shows will be held
“It allows people in the neighborhood [who are] biking and driving by to see the history of the area,” she added, “and it
at each of the historic missions except
brings the larger community together by highlighting local
Viagran added that there will be plenty of opportunities for more
the Alamo. “Imagine showing up 250-
artists through public art.”
community input before the end of year – just before San Antonio’s
plus years ago after you’ve been on the
Tricentennial celebrations begin. Two more community meetings
road and all of the sudden you see this
Mural designs have taken into account community input
are planned for Aug. 15 and 18 at the Presa Community Center
beautiful, elaborately painted church
through nine official public meetings and several neighborhood
regarding the four murals at Highway 90.
façade rising up out of nowhere,” she
association meetings, which began on Jan. 25. “It’s something we’re all celebrating together,” Viagran said. The first mural for the public art project was presented
“… We have a lot of stories still to tell.”
says. “It would have been amazing.” «
«
in May at the Stinson Municipal Airport and celebrates the achievements of women in aviation. Of the remaining five, one will be on the Southeast Military underpass on Mission Parkway, and four will be on the U.S. Highway 90 underpasses at Steves Avenue, Mission Road, Roosevelt Avenue, and Presa Street. During the unveiling Wednesday, Cruz and World Heritage Office Director Colleen Swain commended the community support the project has received and highlighted the involvement of SMART, a local arts organization that collaborated on the project’s vision. The inclusion of animals alongside flora and fauna in the Villamain Road murals came on the heels of one local’s suggestion, officials said. “The images represent plants and animals that would have interacted with the native peoples and early settlers,” Vasquez said after the unveiling. “They all served a purpose whether for food, medicine, or spiritual values.” Vasquez went on to describe the vitality of life represented by the icons and the renewed public interest in restoring some aspects of San Antonio’s natural ecology. Restoration efforts have caused some local wildlife, like native black bears and mountain lions, to return to the area. For Vasquez, this goes along with an appreciation for indigenous culture.
A speech at one of the murals
ISSUE ONE
PAGE 7
EXHIBITION
PORTRAITS OF FAMOUS LATINOS Given to San Antonio Museum of Art JUL 2017 | My San Antonio
THE SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART has announced it will receive 31 portraits from photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sander’s “Latino List” series, including images of former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, author Sandra Cisneros and actress Eva Longoria. Promised by Houston-based art dealer and collector Hiram Butler and his spouse, Andrew Spindler-Roesle, the gift comprises the entirety of “The Latino List: Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders,” an exhibit which will go on view at the museum in October. “Giving the Latino List to the San Antonio Museum of Art memorializes old friendships and shared values,” Butler said in a statement. “This group of photographs is especially important to me, as I grew up in Eagle Pass speaking Spanish, and San Antonio was my connection to the larger world of culture. Museum Trustee Banks Smith and I have known each other since we entered the University of Texas in 1970, while Timothy GreenfieldSanders and I have been friends and worked together since 1979.” The “Latino List” features images of prominent Latinos in the arts, business, politics and sports. Others photographed for the series include actress America Ferrera, labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and professional golfer Chi Chi Rodríguez. Greenfield-Sanders’ previous work includes his “Black List,” a series of portraits of notable African Americans, and “The Boomer List,” a series of portraits of influential baby boomers. “The gift of ‘The Latino List’ is important to the museum, because it demonstrates our deepening commitment to contemporary art and honors leaders in many areas of American life,” said Katie Luber, director of the museum. “The stories told through the exhibition resonate with all of us,
One portrait includes writer Sandra Cisneros
and we’re excited to share them with San Antonio.” «
PEOPLE
ANA FERNANDEZ AND RUTH BUENTELLO Carving Out a Legacy AUG 2017 | The SA Current
WHEN ANA FERNANDEZ AND RUTH LEONELA
But by painting narrative works that showcase the
“[Experiences] from around the house; some about joy,
BUENTELLO paint, they’re not just creating art —
intimate inner-workings of Latin@ life, the San Antonio-
some about health, coping with family issues and just
they’re shaping a legacy. For so long, Latin@s in America
based artistas are constructing a lasting space where
the things that we do together.”
have felt a gaping hole where the genuine representation
their stories can be passed on without interruption.
of their culture should be. All too often, there’s a marked
Buentello’s work, recognized for its cultural richness,
discrepancy between their voices and the voices speaking
“The one thing that I hope other [Latin@s] will see
depicts the most intimate layers of Latin@ domestic
over them.
when they look at my work is, really, themselves,”
life — from daily struggles with mental wellness and
says Fernandez, known for her detailed depictions
gender roles, to her own Chicana identity. In art school,
of Chican@-centered environments, as well as her
Buentello’s mentors often discouraged her from creating
popular food truck Chamoy City Limits. “We haven’t
pieces that addressed these issues for fear of being
been represented,” she explains. “We’re overlooked.
“boxed in” by her identity. However, she has since come
We’re erased … And because we’ve been erased for
to realize that it is through this identity that she finds
so long, I want to make portraits through [the] landscape
her strength as an artist. “You have the power to relate
of [Latin@] entrepreneurs, as [they] exist today.”
to other people’s stories,” she says. “As Latinos, we have this connection with other Latinos. We’re different,
As an entrepreneur herself, Fernandez understands
but we all have similar experiences.”
the spirit of hard work and resilience behind the success of small-scale Latin@ businesses. Because she’s “living
Although it may seem impossible to hear Latin@ and
and breathing” the kind of business-centered lifestyle
minority voices above all the white noise in America
depicted in her work, the scenes she paints are especially
today, this doesn’t mean that no one is listening. Because
visceral to her. In her upcoming exhibition “Eastside
of artists like Fernandez and Buentello, a legacy of
Westside,” she paints what the “American Dream” looks
cultural understanding is being constructed, where
like for Latin@s in South Texas, and draws from her own
pivotal experiences are shared and validated through
experiences to help document the authentic perspectives
solidarity with one another. «
of her San Antonio community. The inspiration behind Ruth Buentello’s exhibition “Domestic Narratives” is mined from her everyday life A painting from the “Domestic Narratives” exhibition
PAGE 8
SEPTEMBER 2017
as a Chicana. “The biggest influence [in my work] has been these experiences with my family,” she explains.
“The one thing that I hope other [Latin@s] will see when they look at my work is, really, themselves.”