SA Monthly Magazine Sept 2018' Special Edition!

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U We have redefined what a socialite is for our city.

It is an individual that is a community leader, has an outward focus on serving others, raises funds for non-profit organizations, and uses her glam, influence and connections to elevate the local community. Gio DiZurita is our choice for 2018. Please read the following pages to understand why...

DM Rodriguez Publisher

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CEO & PUBLISHER DM RODRIGUEZ samonthly@gmail.com

Direct Line: 210-215-3403 _________________ 333 W. Olmos Dr. #117 San Antonio, TX 78212

Creative Editor & Lead Photographer Waldinel (Wally) Lafaiete Business Editor Steven James Sr. Editor JR Fisher Publicity Editors Crystal Henry Emily Reynolds Contributing Editor Rudy Arispe Contributing Writers John Robert Mack Crystal Sepulveda Graphic Designer Juan Lemus Skin Care Editor Crystal Holmes Fashion Editor Lari Nelson

Insurance Editor Gerardo ‘JJ’ Ramirez Jr. Travel/Home Editors Jeanne Albrecht Fiona Arecchi Laura Curtis Fitness/Nutrition Editors Skie Molinar Hope Cowgill Pedraza Lenore Gregson Sherri Braxton Fashion Stylist Editor Jules Aldaz Guerra Social Scene Editors Sherie L. Johnson Sandra Shreve Art Editor Adriana Cisneros Health & Dental Editor Hidayat Nagori Medical Editor Wendy Askew, M.D. Charities/Politics Editor Desiree Serna Social Media Marketing Markell Holland Maria Kristina Health & Wellness Senior Editor Karen Grace Business & Networking Events Editor Katharine McMillan, PhD

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GIOVANNA DIZURITA 2018 SOCIALITE OF THE YEAR!

“It’s the best feeling in the world... knowing you have touched someone’s life.”

Interview by John Robert Mack | Photos by Lafaiete Photography

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rt has no limits and neither does Giovanna DiZurita.

I’ve had the privilege of interviewing her twice, once in February and again in July. In those few months, the growth of this young woman astounded me, professionally, artistically and personally. So much changed.

When we spoke last winter, I was struck, of course, by her intelligence, creativity and ambition. But something changed between visits. For one thing, she was more sophisticated—in a global sense—but something else had transformed, as well.

Last winter, she had accomplished her five-year goals: her own studio and gallery, a diverse line of products based on her artwork, a win in the SA

Current as ‘Art Gallery of the Year’ and the ability to make a living from her art. She was looking ahead to determine the next set of goals.

In general, her accomplishments were amazing, but local. She had a partnership with the San Antonio Zoo as their official artist to paint the animals and sell the pieces, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the zoo.

She had an exhibition in the zoo and another in the Univision building. Yes, she had some buyers around the country and a few abroad, but, in general, the heart of Gio’s business beat in Texas.

Five months later? Freshly returned from a life-changing trip to Paris where she’d immersed herself in the greatest artists from history, her work had moved

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in two directions at once. On the one hand, she dug more deeply into her own psyche and, on the other, she had reached across the globe.

“I don’t want to be an artist just in San Antonio or Texas,” she told me. “I want to be a renowned artist across the globe and carry the pride of my city with me and with my art. I want the world to know how much talent comes from San Antonio.”

And how will she

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“Art is happiness without boundaries.

So make your life art and become a walking masterpiece.”

do this? For one thing, she now has an agent who works with a select number of clients, bringing their work to collectors and galleries worldwide.

“She pushes me to challenge myself, and I love that,” Gio told me. “She wants me to truly tell my own story.”

At her agent’s urging, Gio has begun a series of paintings of a far more personal nature. Every piece she creates contains a little bit of her, of

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10 “Art is the window which unveils my inner thoughts.

My art is the secret language of my dance; portraying every message with the footprints I leave behind on the canvas. Art allows me to jump into the fantasy world within my mind and bring that world into reality.

Art is the evidence that imagination and creation can meet in the same time and space. My color palette is the true definition behind the emotions of my art."

course, but these new works, destined for an exclusive exhibition, will directly explore her life, both the joys and the pains.

From her website: For DiZurita, art was her destiny and salvation, art was the secret language to represent her own emotional roller coaster in her teenage years, after going through the deportation of her parents and staying alone in a strange place. During a time of turbulence, art whispered back to her the secret world where her imagination was the sole creator, giving her the selfvalidation of her abilities and talents as an artist.

This latest project will turn that journey into art.

When I first encountered Gio’s art, the diversity, indeed, the eclecticism of her work, struck me immediately. Hang three of her paintings on a wall, and the casual observer might be fooled into thinking they belonged to three different artists. The variety is intentional. Her style, she proudly proclaims, is not to have a single, discernible style.

“Some artists claim they believed the same thing until they found their style,” she told me in obvious disdain. “Well, I’ve been painting for fifteen years, now.” She gestured at the amazing variety of paintings around her. “And this is me, this diversity.”

Studying the masters in Paris only strengthened her commitment to variety.

“When you look at Picasso,” she said, “at the paintings everyone knows, the abstracts:

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14 “I want to be like the eagle, soaring high above everything, where no one can hurt me. And maybe even…”

She smiled. “Maybe even I am the one eating the bugs like a bird.”

all of those happened later, when he was older. When he was young, he painted most beautiful realistic paintings that no one knows, now. It wasn’t until his style changed, until he challenged himself and broke all the rules, that he invented an entirely new form of art.”

The implication is clear: if he had allowed the world to nail him down, he never would have changed the world the way he did.

Nobody will pin Gio down, either.

“Do you see the eagle?” she said to me during our latest visit. Her most recent piece dominated the corner of her studio where we’d met. She pointed. “I want to be like the eagle, soaring high above everything, where no one can hurt me. And maybe even…” She smiled. “Maybe even I am the one eating the bugs like a bird.” She laughed. “I don’t want to be mean,” she explained, “but I don’t want to be the one…” Her eyes stayed focused on the painting.

“You don’t want people to take advantage of you?” I offered.

She nodded, her eyes still on the painting.

“Yes. That. That has happened too much in my life.”

And there it is. The look on her face is the epitome of the change I see in her from February to July. When I met her last winter, she’d told me she wanted to bring beauty into the world. She wanted to create lovely things to bring joy to her clients.

“I still want to make lovely things,” she told me as she gazed at the eagle in her piece,

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“People will tell you to get a practical job if you want money, that you can’t make money as an artist.”

She leaned closer to me as if over an imaginary podium. “They’re lying!”

“but pain can be beautiful, too.”

She holds just a touch of cynicism, now, and a willingness to be true to herself no matter the consequences.

Since my first visit, as Gio’s success has lifted her to a global arena, other artists have become jealous and are eager to criticize her work, even though she had considered them friends.

“But they weren’t really friends at all, then, were they?” she asked. And that disappointment becomes another section of a painting destined for her deeply personal exhibition. “If I don’t push myself to try new things, I’ll continue to make beautiful things.”

She looks around at the lovely items in the studio. “But I’ll end up a product, like all my products.”

She looked at me in surprise, maybe afraid she’d said something bad. “Don’t get me wrong. I love everything we sell…” She shrugged. “But I don’t want to be a product, just one more thing we’re selling.”

She has every successful artist’s ambition of separating her “brand” from her self.

So she is creating a new exhibit to explore her life in art, and she has hired staff to handle the day to day needs of her business while she explores new techniques and works with collectors and exhibits around the world.

This move also allows her time to work on projects like the collection of twelve paintings requested by the San Antonio

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International Airport to hang on walls seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. In a few short months, she has grown from a local celebrity to a sophisticated artist taking her first steps on the world stage.

Mind you, you can take the girl out of San Antonio, but…

“Guess what I just found out!” she cried out shortly after I’d arrived in July. “I’m ‘Visual Artist of the Year’ for the San Antonio Current!

We got ‘Gallery’ last year, but this is even better!”

So much for the cynical eye.

During both meetings, Gio’s eyes shone brightest when she discussed presentations with school children. On my first visit, the subject was a career day she’d attended at a local grade school. All the other speakers had been doctors and lawyers and other people with normal, stable jobs. At first, she’d felt nervous. Would she have anything to say that would matter to the kids?

“Would they be bored?” she wondered, acting out the part of a disinterested kid, rolling her eyes and pretending to twirl make-believe gum.

The theme of her presentation?

“People will tell you to get a practical job if you want money, that you can’t make money as an artist.” She leaned closer to me as if over an imaginary podium.

“They’re lying!” She laughed at the memory. “’Oooh,’ I thought, ‘would the teacher get mad at me?’” But she just laughed more.

After her presentation, many of the kids wanted to talk to her and get an autograph. It shocked her.

“They’d come up shyly and hold out a painting, asking me if I’d sign it.”

Well, she put a pen in their hands and told them to sign it. They were the artists of those pieces, after all! “I’d sign the back for them,” she added.

Many of the kids told her stories about parents and teachers who’d discouraged them from following their dreams of painting or dancing or singing. Gio was the first person these kids had met who’d told them to find their dreams and to make them reality.

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She made sure they knew that if they had a dream, focused on that dream and worked for it, they could make any dream come true.

After a similar story on our second visit, she waved at everything in her studio. “Look at me. I’m an artist. I have my own gallery. I’m creating a new exhibit.

I am selling all over the world, and I have the time to push myself in this new direction.”

Again, her attention is drawn to the eagle in her latest painting.

“I was worried about not giving those kids anything,” she said, “but I hadn’t even thought about how much they would give me.”

She looked at me in surprise.

“They looked at me like I was a… a hero.”

And the way she said that word showed just how astonishing that was to her. But look at it from the point of view of those kids: here was a woman who was fulfilling her dreams, was on the verge of surpassing anything she had ever imagined… and she had encouraged them to follow their dreams. She’d told them not to let anything interfere with their aspirations. How could they not look on her as a kind of hero?

She discussed the people who had encouraged and guided her, and she realized that now she was that person for these kids.

More than anything she had told me about awards, accolades and accomplishments, her stories about children who looked up to her made her shine.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” she told me both times, “knowing you have touched someone’s life.”

This from a woman with more accomplishments than most will garner in a lifetime. What means the most is the way she impacts a child’s life.

Gio touched my life as well. As a writer and a photographer, I have spent the last several years cynically trying to find my market… my niche. What is the best way to sell my work, to make “product”?

After two visits with Giovanna DiZurita, I carefully considered the stories she had shared. It’s time for me to “paint an eagle,” to create art with words and images that truly expresses my life… my soul.

Thank you, Gio. www.dizurita.com

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Giovanna DiZurita has received several awards: 2018 - Visual Artist of the Year 2018 - Official Artist at SA Youth Organization 2018 - Motivational "Artist" Speaker at San Antonio College 2017 - 2018 - Official Artist for River Walk Wyndham 2017 - 2018 - Youth Mentor for FSY Internship Program 2017 - Recipient of the Best Gallery in San Antonio 2016 - 2017 Official Artist for Fiesta Flambeau Parade Organization 2016 - Official Artist for SA Champion City of the Monarch Butterfly

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Giovanna DiZurita has donated her art and time to the following non-profit organizations: SA Youth Organization Eva Longoria Heroes Organization Women Veterans of San Antonio San Antonio Zoo Ride for Reading Organization Child Advocates Association Human Rights Campaign San Antonio Red Cross

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Giovanna DiZurita has been the recipient of multiple

awards and honorary titles. In addition she is a very active member in her community and utilizes her talents to always contribute. Giovanna DiZurita is currently represented internationally by Art Legacy Gallery.

Art Exhibits: 2018 - Group Exhibit at San Antonio International Airport 2018 - Solo Exhibit at Art Legacy Gallery 2018 - Featured Artist for Inspiring Women Book 2017 - Solo Exhibit at Witte Museum (Eva's Heroes Gala) 2017 - Group Exhibit at EVA Gallery 2017 - Solo Exhibit at Gaslyght Modern Gallery 2017 - 2018 - Solo Exhibit at UNIVISION Corporate Offices 2016 - 2018 - Solo Exhibit at San Antonio Zoo Gala Publications: 2018 - Featured Artist for Cover/Cover Story of White Magazine 2018 - Featured Artist for Cover/Cover Story of SA Monthly Magazine 2018 - National Broadcast Interview in Mexico City 2017 - 2018 - Featured Artist for UNIVISION TV 2018 - Featured Artist for Inspiring Women Book 2018 - Featured Artist for Great Day San Antonio 2018 - Featured Artist for La Prensa 2018 - Featured Artist for SA Current 2017 - Featured Artist for Telemundo TV 2016 Celebrity Judge for Fiesta Flambeau Parade

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www.dizurita.com

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Gio - The Artist

By Adriana Cisneros - Art Legacy Texas Gallery

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iovanna DiZurita is a Mexican-American artist that embraces every painting as a new adventure allowing her to fall in love with art.

For the last four years she has developed a unique style of colorful mixed media compositions on acrylics, ink, oil paints, paper, fabric and meta, her works explores the deepest of the human soul.

On her artistic work she has found a liberating and transformation through her personal spiritual dialogue process. Her inspiration rises from the colors of nature and the beauty of all living organisms, fueled by the everyday connection she gets with all the things that surround her life. Every painting would probably tell you a very different story about DiZurita.

Working from a range of unique interpretations, she is deeply attached with everything that deals with her emotional state and the duality of her internal balance, trying to develop the best version of herself. Each artwork is an invitation into a world where she is always trying to reach inner peace, where there is “always more than what your eyes can see”. Her artwork reaches the emotional connection with the spectator filling him or her with joy and peace. As a young artist, it is of the upmost importance to her to continue developing and diversifying herself and her career. For DiZurita, art was her destiny and her salvation, art was her secret language to represent her own emotional rollercoaster in her teenage years, after going through the deportation of her parents, staying alone in a strange place. During a time of turbulence art whispered back to her the secret world where her imagination was the sole creator, giving her the self-validation of her abilities and talents as an artist.

After following the work of Giovanna for two years, Art Legacy announced the exclusive international representation of the artist on June 2018. Her style and talent are the perfect match for the galley. Last month she was the host artist at the radio show in Mexico City “En Fin” by Mariana Braun on W Radio, Art Legacy is preparing her first solo exhibition on October at Art Legacy Gallery curated by Adriana Cisneros, she will select four art pieces to be promoted and exhibited at Madrid, Spain.

Adriana Cisneros has dedicated her recent years, with great sensibility, to discovering emerging talent that work with universal symbols. She is the founder of Art Legacy dedicated to promoting and supporting the work of first-class artists from across the world. At Art Legacy, they are committed on ensuring collectors obtain the art piece that is right for them, whether the acquisition is based on its intrinsic value, or as an asset class in a diversified investment portfolio providing a positive experience buying art. Art Legacy nourish, inspire, engage, and celebrate partnerships and collaborations between artists, businesses, cultural institutions, our community and the public.

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www.artlegacytx.com

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JANET MONTAGNE 2017 SOCIALITE OF THE YEAR

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anet Montagne is the owner of River

company in charities, such as the Alzheimer’s

City Hospice, a family centered hospice

Association, 2016 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

agency that believes in quality and

Man & Woman of the Year Candidate, 2017 Socialite

compassionate care for those affected

of the Year for SA Monthly Magazine, Children's

by a life limiting terminal illness. River City Hospice

Advocacy Center of Coastal Bend, It's Your Life

strives for a family focused care plan, delivered

Foundation, Salvation Army, St. JP's Children's

by a family of professionals who are thoughtful

Home, American Heart Association, American

and attentive, while providing end of life care with

Cancer Society and The Ferrari Kid.

dignity and compassion.

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It has been such an honor and privilege to have

Janet is undoubtedly one of the most impressive,

been selected as the 2017 SA Monthly Magazine

contemporary healthcare entrepreneurs.

Socialite of the Year. During this last year, there

Throughout her 25 year healthcare career, she has

have been several opportunities, recognitions,

successfully started, managed and operated 28

participation in MD Monthly Magazine - "Style and

healthcare entities. Her experience includes leading

Substance 2017" and Inspiring Women Book of San

the way of start-ups for over 15 hospice and home

Antonio 2018. Fabulous new friendships developed

health agencies throughout Texas, successfully

and a complete lifestyle change that has taken me

bringing the agencies through licensure and

to be a fitter and healthier ME. Also, I have stepped

accreditation followed by rapid expansion into a

out of my healthcare box into new adventures

multi-site operation.

with my best friend Luz Ortiz, owner of Box Beat

Together, Janet and David Montagne have 4 grown children and 5 grandchildren. Janet enjoys spending her free time with her grandchildren, traveling, reading, and involving herself and her

(a boxing gym). With her and our "Luz and Blanca Adventures" (to mention some), we have traveled, become business partners, partners in crime but most of all had fun. All this and our friendship has brought us our latest adventure... we have been cast to participate in an "Untitled San Antonio Project" for BRAVO TV...stay tuned...and let the fun continue....

"Life is Too Short...Not to Have Fun..."

Janet Montagne

During this amazing journey this last year, my little three pound four year old Toy Yorkie, "Coco" has been right there by my side.

I love San Antonio and the culture that has made it what it is today. It is the people that make San Antonio such an amazing and fabulous city. I have made many loyal and supportive friends through my years of living here. I am happy to call them Mi Familia....Viva San Antonio!

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Photography by Jason Roberts

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LORENA MONROE 2016 SOCIALITE OF THE YEAR

L

orena Hernandez Monroe, also known as Bonita,

entrepreneur Carolina Ruiz, owner of “Shape Ur Body,” which

has a beautiful story: a lifetime of bringing

carries a variety of body shaping garments for both men and

loveliness into the world. When she takes on a

women. For Fashion Week, Zita and Carolina have teamed

new challenge, she meets it directly and invests

up to create amazing runway-worthy fashions using the body

all her energy. She is the kind of woman who commands the

shapers as the base. Rather than undergarments, the shapers

attention of everyone she meets, whether strolling through

will be part of the dresses themselves!

the fashion districts in Rome selecting fabric for a client’s dress, hobnobbing with Kiki Ricki in New York, or simply sitting with a client in her home, discussing the fresh start her client desires after a life-changing event. She always creates close

service. She is passionate about helping other women feel as beautiful as she is.”

relationships with her clients and follows the ups and downs of

Bonita’s first goal is to introduce these talented women to

their personal lives. Bonita finds herself acting as counselor as

the world. But, of course, the "Voice of Fashion" has her own

often as she does personal shopper.

contributions to make. “Bonita Bling” is launching two exclusive

From the ultra-fabulous to the personal, Bonita’s life is always exciting. Trust me, you’ll always want to know more. Having followed her life for a while now, as her personal writer and friend, I can tell you that every day is a new adventure.

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“What I love about Carolina,” Bonita says, “is her customer

Right now, I’m sitting with her in one of her newest projects, the colorful and stylish production studio of “Follow Bonita.”

Featuring top-of-the-line equipment, her studios include a green screen set as well as a second studio for a cozy talk show Bonita will host herself.

lines on the runways of Fashion Week in Vegas. The first is a line of incredible one-of-a-kind clutches designed by ZitaBarbara and manufactured in New York. And even though each purse is a one-of-a-kind stone-encrusted work of art, they are all priced under $500 because Bonita likes to ensure that most anyone can afford her bling.

The second line also contains one-of-a-kind creations designed by Bonita herself. The necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings sparkle and are dazzling in the light. And they aren’t made from basic glass; the stones in all her jewelry are

There’s a full salon for hair and makeup, as well multiple

indistinguishable from the real thing without a microscope. I

production rooms, a meeting room and, in the near future, a

can’t wait to see how they look under the runway lights.

sound recording studio as well. As with everything she does, “Follow Bonita” is a business that intends to help everyone.

As the Voice of Fashion, Bonita will promote local artists and entrepreneurs of all varieties, enabling them to rise to the next level of success. She has a full production company with plenty of options to ensure polished shows while only charging a 20% retainer for goods sold through her channel.

Speaking of runways, in early 2019 men and women in San Antonio will have an opportunity to vie for a contract with world-class modelling agencies thanks to Bonita. She is currently in negotiation with major agencies around the world and lining up international designers, stylists, photographers and modeling coaches to work with the competitors in her Bonita Natural Fashion Competition. Winners will also receive a

One of her most exciting events is the upcoming Fashion Week

professional photo shoot in New York City! The show will be at

in fabulous Las Vegas in February 2019, where she will be

SAMSAT and will also function as a children’s benefit. Interested

representing the heart of Texas with two amazing women who

models can enter at: http://www.bonitanatural.com/model-

have a passion for fashion.

search.html

Zita-Barbara is a local artist and fashion designer who has an

As always, Bonita, the "Voice of Fashion", brings the world of

amazing talent and impeccable eye for color. Bonita fell in love

fashion to her home, San Antonio.

with her designs and her passion. “And you should hear this girl sing!” she exclaimed. Bonita has paired Zita with dedicated Text by John Robert Mack | Photo by Lafaiete Photography

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www.gotkara.com

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