ISSUE February 2020

THE ARTS MAGAZINE OF THE ART STUDIO, INC.

FEBRUARY 2020

INSIDE: OCCURRENCE OF TIME, WASTELAND IN PICTURES, ‘AFTER MOURNING’, AND MORE

ISSUE Vol. 26, No. 5 Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . The Art Studio, Inc.

A View From The Top Greg Busceme, TASI Director

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy Coughlan Contributing Writer. . . . . . . Stephan Malick Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth Gallaspy Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elijah Malick

THE STUDIO IS FORTUNATE to have diverse and disparate supporters, volunteers, board, staff and patrons who so willingly embrace the spirit and the voice that The Studio hopes to reflect.

We are an organization that is feeling our oats, taking risks and expanding our abilities as we expand the offerings of The Studio. It usually looks like some kind of disaster drill as our learning curve lags behind our enthusiasm. Yet, here we are.

A good example is a notice we saw from Kim Steinhagen about the Merry Go Round Stained Glass, Co. looking to donate the contents of their shop. Before I was able to contact MGR, Studio tenant James King was negotiating a deal and brought me up to speed. I then learned that James had taught this craft before and was excited to teach. As of this writing, we are currently moving the vast amounts of glass, lead, solder, tools and trash accumulated during MGR’s 36-year tenure to The Studio annex.

James will begin offering classes in stained and leaded glass as soon as possible. So thank you Kim and James and Merry Go Round for making us an offer we could not refuse — nor did we want to. Give us a few months, and we will have a new op-

The Art Studio, Inc. Board of Directors Corporate President . . . . . . Greg Busceme Corporate Vice-President. . Angela Scheibel Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephan Malick Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laurie Gordon Membership . . . . . . . . Kelly Logan Murphy Members at Large . . . Stephanie Chadwick, . . . . . . Olivia Busceme, Allison Kainer, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Saar, . . . . . . . . Sheila Busceme, Sara Tuell, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Rollins Tenant Representative . . Elizabeth Fontenot Assistant Director. . . . . . . . Stephanie Orta Administrative Assistant . . . . Michelle Cate

The Art Studio, Inc. 720 Franklin Beaumont, TX 77701 409-838-5393 www.artstudio.org info@artstudio.org The ISSUE is a monthly publication of The Art Studio, Inc. Its mission is to publicize The Art Studio and its tenants, and to promote the growth of the arts in Southeast Texas. ISSUE is also charged with informing TASI members of projects, progress, achievements and setbacks in TASI’s well-being. Further, ISSUE strives to promote and distribute the writings of local authors in its “Thoughtcrime” feature.

ISSUE is provided free of charge to members of TASI and is also available, free of charge, at more than 30 locations in Southeast Texas.

Regular features include local artists of note and reputation who are not currently exhibiting at TASI; artists currently or soon to be exhibiting at TASI; Instructional articles for artists; news stories regarding the state of TASI’s organization; and arts news features dealing with general philosophical issues of interest to artists.

Contents Winter Wasteland in pictures . . . . Page 4 TASI 3D Show Call for Entries . . . . Page 6 ‘After Mourning’ Staged Reading . . Page 7 ‘A Common Occurrence of Time’ . . Page 8 BCP Art Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11 Above Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13 Around & About . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Thoughtcrime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15 Cover photo of Kailee Viator and Amanda Barry by Andy Coughlan

portunity for the public to try something different.

As a vacancy came open in the annex, we were able to fill the area with the incoming glass works.

The vacancy will also provide enough room to re-establish the foundry, forge and welding area we had before Hurricane Ike. We offered metal casting workshops and were making good headway when Ike took the building.

Elizabeth Fontenot and I went to look at an intaglio press for printmaking some months ago. We found a wonderful press owned by a man who had used it for many years but was no longer able to do the work.

He wanted someone who would use it, take care of it and keep him in touch with our progress. We have more work to do to surround the press with a full print studio, but this is another beginning.

With this opportunity, we will be able to provide three additional disciplines to the community.

We have several other ideas on the table that are still in the planning stage. As direc-

See VIEW on page 12

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE ART STUDIO FEBRUARY

MARCH

Amanda Barry & Kailee Viator: A Common Occurrence of Time Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 1

Spontaneous Construction: Open Invitation 3D show Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 7

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4 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

Wasteland

February 2020 ISSUE • 5

Volume 26, No. 5

wonders Photos by John Fulbright

Survivors of the Beaux Arts Winter Wonder Wasteland helped TASI reach an all-time attendance and ticket record for a full night of fashion shows, performances, silent auction items, music and dancing. “We had approximately 160 tickets pre-sold, a record for us,” board chairman Stephan Malick said. “People know that The Studio knows how to have a good time, and I think we were successful with all the drag performances and fashion show. The music by Matt Myers was perfect. We couldn’t have pulled it off without a great team put together by our board and event chair Shanna Hawa and her co-pilot Larena Busceme and many, many others that helped decorate and set-up for the event especially Scott Massey and Sheila Busceme. Additionally, our great supporters that provided food and beverages were over the top — thanks to The Avenue Café, Gather Paleo Café & Market, Tacos LaBamba, Abbie’s Imports, Regina Rogers, Rob Clarke, Logon Café, Miller’s Discount Liquor and Del Papa/2-Row Distributing.”

6 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

— Call for Entries —

Art Studio to host open 3D exhibit in March The Art Studio, Inc. is calling for entries for “Spontaneous Construction,” a 3D art exhibition, opening March 7. Submissions will be accepted in person, March 3-5, at 720 Franklin St. in downtown Beaumont. Limit is two pieces per artist and entry is free. “‘Spontaneous Construction’ is designed to highlight artists who work in sculpture and 3D,” Michelle Cate, TASI administrative assistant, said. “It’s also a great chance for people who don’t normally work in 3D — painters and photographers, for example — to push themselves in a different direction.”

Submitted works will be on display March 7-27, beginning with a free reception from 7 to 10 p.m., March 7.

“It’s another ‘anything goes’ show, similar to our annual Alternative Show in June, but for 3D,” Cate said.

Works should nor exceed 3 feet in any dimension, and wall pieces should be ready to hang (no sawtooths).

Cate said she is excited to see the diverse interpretations of the theme.

“We are not really restricting people, but

Story by Andy Coughlan

there should be some 3-dimensional element to the work,” she said. “We are leaving it up to people to decide their definition of 3D. Work could be obviously 3D, such as a sculpture or ceramic vase, it could be a relief panel, or even a collage.

“What if it’s a 2D painting of a third dimension? We’d be thrilled if someone did an incredible trompe l’oeil, for example.”

Trompe l’oeil is an artistic visual illusion that tricks the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a 3-dimensional object. The earliest account is found in ancient Greece, where a contest took place between artists Zeuxis and Parrhasius. The legend states that Zeuxis painted grapes so realistic that birds flew down to peck at them.

While there are few restrictions on media, artists should be aware of logistics in terms of weight or movability.

The Art Studio, Inc. is open noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Entries will also be accepted during First Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., March 6.

For more information, call 409-838-5393, visit www.artstudio.org, or the “Spontaneous Construction” Facebook page.

David Smith

A Joseph Cornell shadow box

Ceramics

An example of tompe l’oeil

February 2020 ISSUE • 7

Volume 26, No. 5

Woman behind the Legacy TASI to present ‘After Mourning,’ Van Gogh-inspired play by Mike Czuba THE ART STUDIO, INC. will host a staged reading for the U.S. premiere of “After Mourning,” by Canadian playwright Mike Czuba, about the legacy of what was to become of the work of Vincent Van Gogh after he died in 1890.

The reading will be held at 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 8, at The Studio’s gallery, 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont.

Czuba is writer, director and producer with a BFA and MFA in playwriting, and he is currently a performance instructor at the University of Calgary and founder of the performance collective Dancing Monkey Laboratories. Most recently his play “Reprise” had staged readings at both The Blank Theatre in Los Angeles and The Red Theatre in Chicago.

“It’s great to see a new play being developed from the start,” Michael Saar, TASI event chairperson and board member, said. “This is one of many things the Studio does in fostering art, not just locally, but from wherever new works or who the artist might be.”

When Van Gogh died, he was penniless and virtually unknown beyond a small circle of artists, having sold only a single painting during his lifetime. The entirety of his possessions (all paintings and drawings, numbering more than 600 all told) were left to his brother Theo Van Gogh. Theo was an art dealer in Paris and for most, if not all, of Vincent’s 10 years as a painter, Theo supported him financially, paying for supplies, and subsistence, as well as emotionally through a never-wavering belief in Vincent’s genius. Theo was also sick, and six months after Vincent died so did Theo, from illness due to syphilis.

Johanna Bonger, Theo’s wife of only two years, and their young son, Vincent Willem, 1 year old at the time, were now the custodians of Vincent’s art after the brothers both died, and the remaining family members did not have in interest in Vincent’s work Johanna decided to take up Theo’s work to bring Vincent’s art to the world, fueled by a deep love for her husband, and an inner drive and passion that most underestimated. For 35 years, up to her death in 1925, she was unwavering in her efforts.

Without her, the world would not know the name Vincent Van Gogh beyond a

Story by Stephan Malick

Playwright Mike Czuba

Photo of Johanna Bonger and “Self Portrait” by Vincent Van Gogh

footnote in other artist’s biographies. And they certainly would not know his art. Johanna Bonger is the woman who saved Van Gogh.

“Hopefully, the play gives people a better understanding of Van Gogh’s works and the efforts of Johanna to get the world to see their brilliance,” director Elayne LeTraunik said.

The event evolved from a discussion with long-time TASI patron and member Marilyn Manson-Hayes and TASI board members.

LeTraunik is a recent transplant to Beaumont from Chicago with a strong Southeast Texas connection — her son Brian is an assistant professor of theatre at Lamar University.

“This staged reading of this new play reveals the story of a strong woman who has pretty much been ignored in the history of Van Gogh and his works,” LeTraunik said. “While Vincent’s works are the crux of the issue, Johanna’s struggles really speaks to how women were treated then.”

LeTraunik’s background showcases her talents and skills as a highly acclaimed actress, director and producer in community theater, and for 10 years she was associate artistic director of Genesis Theatrical Productions. She is a member of Actors Equity, the League of Professional Theatre Women and the International Centre of Women Playwrights.

“The reading will cover the whole play, and I will be reading stage directions, so the audience can keep up,” she said. “This is very important since the two men play five different roles, and (audiences) have to be able to know immediately who they are playing.”

The staged reading is for one performance only with limited seating at 720 Franklin St. in downtown Beaumont.

There will be light refreshments and craft beer generously provided by Del Papa Distributing and 2-Row Distributing prior to the reading.

Additionally, a discussion after the reading will be led by local playwright, director and actor and TASI-member artist Andy Coughlan.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at The Art Studio at 720 Franklin, or online at artstudio.org — the link is on the home page.

For additional information call 409838-5393 or info@artstudio.org.

8 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

‘A Common Occurrence of Time’

Barry, Viator seek stillness, meaning in chaotic world Amanda Barry, above left, and Kailee Viator will present “A Common Occurrence of Time,” March 7-26, at The Art Studio.

The exhibition will feature new work with Barry’s collection titled, “Quiescence” and Viator’s titled “Yellowing.”

“All We Have is Time II,” right,

by Amanda Barry incorporates ceramics and wood.

Kailee Viator, opposite, works in her space at The Art Studio.

KAILEE VIATOR’S TENANT SPACE at The Art Studio looks chaotic. The area is filled with moss, twigs, paint, discarded bug shells and a plethora of found objects. On this particular day, her friend Amanda Barry is working on an object in the back corner, which only adds to the cramped, chaotic scene.

But out of chaos comes order.

The two friends laugh as they show off various works in progress for “A Common Occurrence of Time,” a joint exhibition on display Feb. 1-28 at TASI. While the pair share the overarching theme, each collection of work has its own title — Viator’s is “Yellowing” and Barry’s is “Quiescence.”

The show’s title is an amalgam of ideas.

“Common, because we share the same concept,” Viator said. “She lives in Houston; I live here. We don’t see each other a lot, but somehow our art really like reflects each other.”

Barry said the pair decided to do a show after Viator visited Barry at Houston Baptist University where she was getting a master’s

Story and photos by Andy Coughlan

in sculpture.

“We hadn’t talked about our art,” she said.

“We hadn’t shown each other our art and, like, I had some birdcage things going on.

And she was like, “Holy shit.”

“Well, we had the same story about a dead bird,” Viator said.

“Oh, that’s right, we did,” Barry said. “A bird died my hand….”

“And I had a bird die in my hand,” Viator said. “So we’ve always, incidentally, shared the same concepts. And both of our bodies of work for the show have a lot to do with time as the main conceptual consideration. So it’s a ‘Common Occurrence of Time.’”

The pair met in a Drawing I class at Lamar University where they earned their undergraduate art degrees. Over time they became

February 2020 ISSUE • 9

Volume 26, No. 5

close friends as well as artistic soul mates.

“We would be married if we liked women,” Barry said.

“And if we wanted to have a very awful relationship,” Viator said. “I don’t think two artists shouldn’t be together.”

“Not like us,” Barry said. “We’re too crazy, and we’re always too busy.”

Listening to the pair in conversation is like listening to a well-oiled double act, banter flying and sharp observations feeding each other’s comments. But their playful nature does not obscure the seriousness of their thoughts about the work.

Barry said her work is meditative.

“Since my life is so chaotic with all the different things that I do, I do things in repetition that can make my brain go into a zen state,” she said. “So that’s really the only time that I allow my brain to rest. There’s a lot of different iterations of time within my own work.”

Viator chipped in.

“So yours would be like the whole metamorphosis like the transitional, like growth, (and) mine would be more kind of looking at how much people waste time,” she said. “The installation portion is very much like a living room setting, and there’s a figure in the installation that’s just staring at this television. And then all this moss overgrowth coming up onto the TV, the chair, the lamp — kind of Earth reclaiming your surroundings while you sit idle.”

“We both can’t stand like people that just don’t do anything with their life — that waste of time,” Barry said.

“Life is so precious, and they just waste away. Mine relates to that in a way not conceptually, but I have remains left behind, like empty shells and empty cicada exoskeletons, empty turtle shells….”

Neither artist is including the actual creature, only their shells, rather than actual life, they are keen to point out.

“All of the shells that we both have in both of our series are all empty,” Viator said. “The thing has passed on, the shell remains. I’ve also been thinking about how objects retain memory.”

“We talked about that,” Barry said. “I said I am more connected to the shell, to the memory that is left behind — Yeah, we’re weird.

“Whenever we planned the show, we knew that we had this connection, and we like told each other, ‘We’re not going to talk about our work. We’re not going to show each other until maybe six months before.’”

“So that way everything was pretty organically naturally done,” Viator said. “And then, of course, we already knew it would be fun. We don’t have to say, ‘OK, this is the overarching concept.’ You do you, I do me — you know, we already had it.”

The two artists will display work that is mixed-media based, but for all their shared philosophy, their works are different.

“I would never call myself like a sculptor,” Viator said.

“You know every now and then there may be some ceramic pieces involved in what I do, but (Barry teaches) ceramics. I’m just attention deficit and can’t stick to a media for anything, which is fine. It’s fine.”

Barry considers herself a mixed-media artist, although her master’s is in sculpture and ceramics, and she teaches ceramics at Galveston College.

“A lot of my sculptures are primarily ceramic, but they have a lot of different materials added with them,” she said. “Actually, some of my installation pieces will be primarily found (objects) with just a little bit of ceramic added to them.”

Viator’s degree is in painting, but now she defines the concept of mixed-media artist.

“There were always things attached to (the paintings),” she said. “I’m mixing different things into the paint. And I can’t bring myself to just put paint on something with a brush. Who uses brushes? Cut out the middleman, use your hand.”

Looking at the two bodies of work, one gets the feeling that the media they’ve chosen is simply a foundation from which the work creeps out to encompass other things, to take up other spaces, “I guess painting would be my foundation for what I

do, ceramics is your foundation,” Viator said to Barry.

“While maybe something is mainly a ceramic piece or maybe I actually did something on canvas, it’s like at some point it ceases to be a painting (or) it ceases to be just ceramic work.”

Barry said her subtitle came from her master’s thesis.

“I was talking about a chrysalis, and the definition of a chrysalis is a quiessent pupa,” she said. “So, I looked into like the word quiessence more, and it essentially teaches

See TIME on page 10

10 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

Amanda Barry works on a ceramic base, left, for one of her mixedmedia creations.

Kailee Viator uses found objects to construct her mixedmedia pieces, such as “Cerebrum,” shown bottom left.

TIME from page 9 us about mindfulness, being one with the time that you’re in, being still. So me doing work like that could teach others the same thing. Which kind of goes hand in hand with not wasting time.”

Viator interjects one of the rare contrasts between their work.

“I feel yours is like a passive thing and mine’s an aggressive thing,” she said. “We’re talking about the same concept but from different perspectives.”

“But,” Barry said, “we’re still wanting people to be aware of time in all forms — the preciousness of time.

Not wasting life watching TV, which is terrible.”

Television is OK, the pair said, but like most things, moderation is the key.

“I just can’t personally sit in one place stare at one thing, and my brain just turn off,” Viator said. “It tells me what to think. That’s what my installation is about.”

The subtitle “Yellowing” is about degradation, Viator said. It comes from an Alice in Chains lyric, “Yellowing and green with mold.”

“I love it,” she said. “It’s from ‘Heaven Beside You’ — ‘It’s like pictures in a box at home yellowing and green with mold.’ I love Alice in Chains. They’re my favorite grunge band.”

Viator said her work involves recycling other people’s old stuff.

“Miranda gave me that chair,” she said. “Barry gave me his grandma’s old TV stand. The lamp was in my house. The grandfather clock was in my trailer when we were redoing it — the people that lived in it before left it.

The mirror was left by another tenant of my dad’s.”

Viator said that when she worked as a radiology tech, her lab would print films for certain law firms, and sometimes they would print wrong.

“My boss let me keep the ones that were printed incorrectly as long as I cut patient information,” she said. “So I have stacks of chest X-rays, CT scans, MRIs. I have some mammograms. I’m including them in, I guess you’d call them collages — like within shadow boxes, there’s X-ray films, found objects, little drawings that actually show that I can do very tight detail drawings still when I put my mind to it. Like, I’m am academically trained. There are also some tattoo drawings in the collages.”

Barry said she collects her objects on walks with her geologist partner.

“We go on a lot of trips together, so we’ll hunt for arrowheads and trying to find arrowheads will find bones and rocks,” she said. “As a ceramicist, I mix my own glazes. So I’m very into geology because that’s essentially what ceramics is. It’s like geology and chemistry, you know, fused on the clay, basically. That was actually one

of the first things we bonded over.

“So he’s a collector of objects and so on. He collected bugs growing up, which was really cool. That man knows everything about bugs and nature. I’ve taken some of the bugs that he’s collected and sculpted them there in the show.”

Viator said she uses actual bug shells in her work, whereas Barry will typically sculpt the shells in her work using the real shells as inspiration.

“But there are objects that are glued in, like a lot of like the wood pieces,” Barry said. “I don’t think it makes any sense to make wood out of clay. Wood’s already beautiful on its own. So I usually will take the wood that we find.

There will be like inclusions of little minerals here and there like of the actual object — I have no right making a mineral.”

Ultimately, for all of the conversation and laughter, the work is centered on a sense of stillness. Barry said this body of work is probably the most quiet, minimal work she’s done, even though there is a lot of time involved.

“A lot of it is repetitious things, like I said, to enter that zen state,” she said. “I crave that because we’re so crazy.

Our brains are loud, and our brains are fighting and need to rest.”

However, it takes a lot of work to be minimal. Viator said her installation has “thousands of hours” making it and ripping it apart and remaking it, she said, laughing.

She turns to Barry. “(These are) simple, but you had to make those big complex things to know how to do simple but effective work.”

“A Common Occurrence of Time” promises to be a visual feast that captures the shared personalities of these vibrant artists — so take a quiet moment and find the zen buried in the chaos of the world.

For more information, visit www.artstudio.org, or call 409-838-5393.

February 2020 ISSUE • 11

Volume 26, No. 5

— Call for Entries —

BCP to host lobby art contest inspired by Fats Waller jazz BEAUMONT COMMUNITY PLAYERS IS calling for entries for its “Ain’t Misbehavin’” art show, to be on display during the run of the Fats Waller-inspired musical, April 3-18.

“We are inviting artists to produce one piece of 2-dimensional art inspired by the jazz of Fats Waller or the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930-‘40s,” John Manfredi, BCP executive director, said. “This is the latest in a series of lobby exhibitions that feature local artists.”

Submissions must be made digitally to john@beaumontcommunityplayers.com. Submission deadline is March 15.

Size is limited to a maximum 30x40 inches and works must be able to stand on an easel.

Jurors will select 10-12 pieces to be displayed in the lobby.

Accepted entries must be delivered in person to BCP, April 1.

“BCP is committed to working with the entire Southeast Texas arts community not just the performing arts,” Manfredi said. “This is just another way to forge these artistic relationships.”

BCP, located at the Betty Greenberg Performing Arts Center, 4155 Laurel in Beaumont, offers eight plays each season and five educational productions each summer.

“The new lobby gallery at BCP is conceived to support our mission to promote an interconnected community and to celebrate all the artistic voices of our region,” Manfredi said.

“They make a visit to the Betty Greenberg Center for Performing Arts a unique opportunity to take in a wealth of art, culture and expression in one location.”

For more information, visit www.beaumontcommunityplayers.com.

Art Studio new and renewing members Margaret Baetrl Brown Paul Bertrand Gail Binagia Alice Boyd Jerome Cabeen Mary Carter Chris & Amy Elliott Michael Garner Bruce Hamilton Michael Kopta Scott Laudano Moriah Manning Ross Marsh Christy & Corey Mendes Rhonda Mitchell Keierah Norman Tina & Bill Novelli Annie Orchard Cissie Owen Sara B Prejean Glen Riley Dena Snelson Laina Sparks Cathy Spence John David Sullivan Aisha Swati Mark & Rachel Taylor Sharon & John Thomas Dorothy Victoria

Chuck & Sue Wright Mary E. “Beth” Dupree Mark Kubala, M.D. Mary Ellen VonNetzer Lynne Lokensgard Jerry Thacker & Rob Clark Dexter S. Augier Sirena & Scott LaBurn Regina Rogers Sarah Boehme Sylvia Clubb Ann Creswell Uliana Trylowsky & Jesse Doiron Lou Ann & Hoke Peacock Kathleen Boudreaux Melinda McWhite Dawn S. Fischer Bill & Nancy DeForest Gayle Pugh Zeb and Judy Hickman Don Eckols Kathleen McFarland Albert & Amy Faggard Paul, Avril & Michelle Falgout Darin Huggins

NEW! 1 Cup at a Time for Keurig Available at Market

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12 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

VIEW from page 3

tor, I have always felt that the age group of 16 to 20-21 who are interested in art have nowhere to go. Most programs cater to younger children, as well they should. But we let go of kids right when they need more formal training and exposure to professional practices, or to improve their abilities through the benefits of practice.

We will continue our summer program, ArtSkool, as this is a wonderful way to introduce the joy of making art to children. I find it a refreshing opportunity each time I show these young people the wonder of ceramics and have the honor to see them grow as creative people year after year. I’d like to see this continue beyond students 15 years of age.

Arts organizations are the keepers of our cultural and artistic legacy. If history is to teach us anything, it is that our cultural heritage, our knowledge, skills and technical advancements will be lost if not exercised. This loss would more likely be from people’s apathy — through the distraction of our daily lives — than any iconoclastic cataclysm from some political upheaval.

We must be ever diligent that the preservation and advancement of the arts are primary in the minds of our leaders, our schools and groups whose job it is to carry this truly human legacy.

If you are seeing a more responsive administration at TASI, a higher visibility on social media and an almost aggressive drive for membership, then look no further than Stephanie Orta, assistant director, and administrative assistant Michelle Cate. They are the first line in making a good impression to new and frequent patrons. I rely heavily on their organizational skills, reliability and consistency. Their selfless dedication and devotion belies the meager pay they receive. Working with our board, volunteers, artists, tenants and CPAs they satisfy the dizzying array of, “What will happen next?” Stephanie and Michelle face the daily challenges with fearless hearts and brilliant minds. Thank you, my colleagues, for the peace of mind and the happy heart you have helped me find again.

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SUPPORTS THE ART STUDIO, INC.

info@signinternational.com 409.832.0117 7398 College St. in Beaumont

FEBRUARY 6 Free Seaport Coffee & drinks (BYOB) • First 2020 Pop-Up Gallery show ‘Sentiment’ by Nathan Jones •

ACTIVITIES BEGIN AT 5 P.M. 720 FRANKLIN IN DOWNTOWN BEAUMONT

February 2020 ISSUE • 13

Volume 26, No. 5

Above Board FOCUS. SUSTAINABILITY. LEGACY. THESE are goals that forward-looking organizations consider when reflecting on their achievements on shortterm, mid-term and longterm outcomes. A new year encourages this, it’s natural.

The Studio had a productive 2019 — with much programming, events and exhibitions, and other plans set in motion that will come to fruition later this year.

I want to recognize our diligent and steadfast Board of Directors: Olivia Busceme, Sheila Busceme, Stephanie Chadwick, Treasurer Laurie Loescher Gordon, Allison Kainer, Kelly Murphy, John Rollins, Michael Saar, Sara Tuell and tenant representative Elizabeth Fontenot.

This board, these people, bring passion and knowledge to our group and work to help TASI deliver on its mission to bring art to the SETX community.

Their efforts are on a volunteer basis — often on weeknights after their jobs and on weekends — to plan and secure the resources the organization needs for programming.

TASI hosted nine major art exhibits — including one juried show — congratulations Sajeela Siddiq for winning the TASIMJAE show and earning a solo exhibition premiering May 2. We also hosted nine BandNites, First Thursdays and some extra rental music events, kids’ summer ArtSkool and additional adult classes. Also, several smaller arts groups and individuals use TASI’s space frequently — which we often provide at no cost — to meet and organize.

We hosted a very successful fundraiser at Madison’s in November. A challenge for TASI is always to sustain operations, and our members, community friends and sponsors have supported us with these efforts consistently. Our relationships are the bedrock of our efforts. Seldom can any one group create a community’s culture. We all must do it together.

I know I’m missing some events and programming.

It goes to show how much activity is associated with TASI and its people. People who complain about a lack of activities in Beaumont are wrong — there’s plenty going on — and not just at TASI. Executive director Greg Busceme and many Studio tenants are frequently asked to participate in demonstrations, book spaces at art festivals, enter art contests and to donate works to charitable events all around the area. Greg and our tenants never hesitate to respond to these requests, even when they are at a moment’s notice.

One of the prime missions for TASI is furnishing affordable studio space to originating artists and our tenants. The ability for artists to have affordable spaces is a challenge, and our tenants help foster the TASI mission to achieve that.

How did we manage this? We have been very for-

Stephan Malick, TASI Board Chairman

tunate to have two wonderful ladies come into the TASI fold — I’ve been saving the best for last — assistant director Stephanie Orta and administrative assistant Michelle Cate. They have been persistent in their efforts, every day, to organize and execute office operations and do much of the very important detail work that keeps an organization running.

In addition to Sajeela Siddiq’s show mentioned above we will have four other shows to finish out our 2019-2020 exhibition season, at least four more BandNites and numerous other events.

Just passed was our crowning annual event — the Beaux Arts Ball Winter Wonder Wasteland fundraiser chaired by Shanna Hawa with Larena Busceme as her co-pilot. We exceeded our expectations, and we hope we exceeded yours, too. We have so many talented creatives that plan, perform, decorate and support the event. This singular event supports several yearly programs at TASI. February is a busy month with Amanda Barry and Kailee Viator’s exhibition, “A Common Occurrence of Time,” debuting Feb. 1, and the US premiere of “After Mourning” on Feb. 8, directed by Elayne LeTraunik and written by Canadian playwright Mike Szuba.

You can read more about those events in this ISSUE

Executive Director Greg Busceme Sr. and TASI board president Stephan Malick were invited to the Sisterhood of Temple Emanuel luncheon Jan. 15 to present a talk about the “Clayman’s Trip to Japan” in 2019 and to discuss the programming and events at The Studio.

and online at www.artstudio.org.

And, of course, we finish the month with BandNite — if you’re reading this, you missed the “Toast Show” that closed out January. Yes, we have great music and, occasionally, all you can eat toast. All. In. One. Night. See, you can’t find these things just anywhere.

That is what The Studio brings — originality, creativity and a positive experience.

This brings us back to how I started — Focus. Sustainability. Legacy. The board serves The Art Studio, Inc. We’re always interested in your feedback about TASI, and our monthly meetings, held the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., are open to the public. To speak or present to the board for official business contact The Studio or me on Facebook to discuss your request. General comments are welcome, and limited time is available at the conclusion of “new business” in the official agenda for the board meeting.

The Year of the Rat 2020 bodes to be another great year. We’re here, waiting for you…not in a creepy way, but in the way we want to see your face and have you enjoy some of the great fun we have going on.

14 • ISSUE February 2020

Volume 26, No. 5

Around & About If you come across any interesting exhibitions, museums or other places on your travels, share them with us. Call 409-838-5393, or contact us through our website at www.artstudio.org. Be sure to include the location and dates of the subject, as well as any costs.

Lamar University art professor and artist PRINCE VARUGHESE THOMAS will give a talk about the ART MUSEUM OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS’s winter exhibitions, EMILY PEACOCK: PURE COMEDY and DAVID MCGEE: BLACK PAINTINGS, as part of the TASTE OF THE ARTS LECTURE SERIES, Feb. 12, at 11:30 a.m.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the galleries with a Dutch treat lunch to follow in the Two Magnolias café.

Thomas received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his M.F.A. from the University of Houston. He is currently a professor at Lamar University and is a multidisciplinary artist. He is an Art Prize 7 award recipient in time-based media and is a Texas Biennial Artist. His work has been included in over 200 solo and group exhibitions at museums, galleries and alternative spaces nationally and internationally, including his most recent exhibition held at AMSET, the Legacy of Narcissus. He is currently represented by Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Houston, Texas. ”Emily Peacock: Pure Comedy” transforms the artist’s personal journeys through loss, motherhood and family tragedy into photographs, film and sculpture depicting objects and images that exist in a space between the familiar and the absurd. Born in Port Arthur, Peacock is currently a professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and lives in Houston. By fantastically documenting her own transition into motherhood, Peacock allows others to open up about their own experiences without fear or shame, in an attempt to de-stigmatize these.

“David McGee: Black Paintings” is an exhibition where the ongoing “Urban Dread” series serves as a visual and symbolic focal point to reconsider paintings spanning 26 years of the artist’s career.

McGee, who was born in Lockhart, Louisiana, and currently resides in Houston, addresses “urban dread” as a conflict between inner cities and suburban angst, depicting abstracted images of ropes, cuffs, crosses, targets, police vehicle coloration, hoods, land separation, hospitals and weapons. These and other paintings present McGee’s most powerful exhibition to date, challenging viewers to consider the neighborhoods they live in and pass

through, and how color affects each emotion, memory and human interaction.

For more information, visit www.amset.org, or call 409-832-3432. _______________ The BEAUMONT ART LEAGUE will present THE LAND OF HOPES AND DREAMS: A VISUAL LOOK AT AMERICA, opening 7 to 9 p.m., Feb. 8.

Admission is free.

BAL is located at 2675 Gulf St. in Beaumont.

For information, call 409-347-6166, or visit their Facebook page. _______________ The MENIL COLLECTION will present PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE SURREAL IMAGINATION, Feb. 5 to June 14.

This exhibition presents the wide reach of the surreal imagination in modern and contemporary photography. Anchored in historical Surrealism, it explores photography’s central tension between documentation and invention, a generative force for artists connected to that movement. These artists produced images that teeter between truth and suggestion, reality and its invented double.

Drawn from the Menil’s holdings and Houston collections, the exhibition demonstrates how this vision of photography continues to hold sway and how artists have used the camera to reshape, question and disturb the way we see the world.

The presentation begins with an examination of the transformation of the everyday through the lens in a tradition that recasts the world as an enigmatic theater, from Eugène Atget’s shots of Old Paris to Allison Janae Hamilton’s haunted folklore of the American South.

Photographs in the exhibition also foreground the exploration of the body, including Hans Bellmer’s images of deconstructed dolls and Cindy Sherman’s cinematographic self-staging, among other depictions of costumed, distorted, fragmented figures. Lastly, the show considers the manipulation of the image. It highlights artists from Man Ray to Lorna Simpson, all of whom turned the photographic surface into a collision of pictorial fragments that questions the nature of representation.

Photography and the Surreal Imagination is curated by Natalie Dupêcher, assistant curator of modern art, and will coincide with the FotoFest Biennial 2020.

The Menil Collection is located at 1533 Sul Ross St. in Houston.

For more information, visit www.menil.org. _______________ The MENIL DRAWING INSTITUTE will present THINK OF THEM AS SPACES: BRICE MARDEN'S DRAWINGS, Feb. 21 to June 14.

The exhibition is an exploration of the artist’s draftsmanship and the catalytic role the medium plays within his practice. In a 1979 written statement, Marden asked that his drawings be thought of “as spaces.” This comment suggests, for him, drawing is a medium that not only exists in more than two dimensions, but also is capable of reflecting the spirit and experience of a particular place. As seen throughout his work, Marden’s expansive vision explores how landscape, architecture and objects found in nature shape one’s way of understanding the world.

This exhibition presents six series of drawings that span nearly the entirety of Marden’s ongoing career, highlighting the processes of invention and permutation that occur as he works and thinks on paper. One series — composed of 12 works with dense layers of pigmentation — revisits geographies and methods crucial to his early work, namely the architectural forms of ancient Greece and the heavily worked and opaque surfaces made of wax and graphite that first brought him to prominence. Additionally, the presentation maps how the artist’s two watershed series, The Seasons and Cold Mountain, have reverberated within his practice and have evolved over decades. Drawing as a means of study, a quality that runs throughout his oeuvre, is particularly apparent in his examinations of proportion and ratio as well as in works taken from sketchbooks that Marden completed while traveling.

The Menil Drawing Institute is located at 1412 W. Main St. in Houston.

For information, visit www.menil.org.

Mission Statement Founded in 1983, The Art Studio, Inc. is devoted to: providing opportunities for interaction between the public and the Southeast Texas community of artists; furnishing affordable studio space to originating artists of every medium; promoting cultural growth and diversity of all art forms in Southeast Texas; and providing art educational opportunities to everyone, of every age, regardless of income level, race, national origin, sex or religion.

PURPOSE The purpose of The Art Studio, Inc. is to (1) provide educational opportunities between the general public and the community of artists and (2) to offer sustained support for the artist by operating a non-profit cooperative to provide studio space and exhibition space to working artists and crafts people, and to provide an area for group work sessions for those artists and crafts people to jointly offer their labor, ideas, and enthusiasm to each other.

GOALS 1. To present public exhibitions 2. To provide educational opportunities 3. To provide accessible equipment for artists 4. To provide peer feedback through association with other artists and crafts people OBJECTIVES 1. To present nine art exhibitions per year 2. To maintain equipment for artists in a safe working environment 3. To provide better access to artists for the public 4. To offer regularly scheduled adult and children’s classes 5. To develop and maintain public activities with all sectors of the community 6. To develop and maintain equipment to aid artists in their work 7. To provide a display retail outlet for artists 8. To expand programming and activities with increased facility space

February 2020 ISSUE • 15

Volume 26, No. 5

Thoughtcrime Submission Guidelines and Disclaimer ISSUE solicits and publishes the work of local authors. Poetry, short fiction, scholarly works and opinion pieces may be submitted for review. All works must be typed and may be sent to TASI by email or by messaging the ISSUE Facebook page. The opinions expressed in “Thoughtcrime” do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TASI, its Board of Directors, ISSUE’s editorial staff, or donors to TASI. Send typed works to: ISSUE 720 Franklin St. Beaumont, TX 77701 or e-mail info@artstudio.org Authors must submit a daytime telephone number and email along with all submissions. Pen names are acceptable, but authors must supply real names for verification.

All printed works are protected by copyright. The author retains rights to any published work. ISSUE does not notify rejection by mail or telephone.

Late November

part 1

“What season is it now?” he asked, as if to say he’d been asleep so long as to forget.

“Why, winter, Daddy dear, It’s late November now, you know, and frost is full upon the panes.”

“That’s what I see, or what I cannot see,” he answered me.

“The ice has covered all the glass.”

Hue Are You?

Made of Stardust “Shall I wipe the windows for you?”

Hue are you? Color I mean…

Women of color run the gamut…

Ranging from as black as an egg plant glistening

I can feel the earth wake every morning.

I inquired and rose to go,

Lying in bed with my eyes closed,

prepared to clear the view.”

The weight of night lifts off my body Each day before I ever see a glimpse of light.

In a rain drenched patch To… as white as the petals of a magnolia tree Shades of tan, shades of brown, shades of bronze To describe them is to compare them…

It's as if I feel a change in the magnetic energy.

Something physically happens to me I cannot sleep despite it still being dark.

I'm connected to the earth, the sun, and the moon.

Sandpaper sister…steamy, sensual

My atoms were made by the collision of stars

Have men behaving like kids

not there – somewhere in between.”

“The sky is very blue,” I told him.

“And the neighbors still have snow

Paper bag beauty….strong, yet demure

Cocoa brown…honey brown…brown sugar

now, soft light that is not here,

As the day breaks from the night.

High yellow lady…proud and stately

Teasing tan teens, strutin’ and steppin’ high

“No, no. This is how it should be

on the north side of their trees.”

Passed through the expanse of the universe and time.

Matter cannot be created nor destroyed so my molecules have seen it all.

Late November

p. 2

In a candy store Honeysuckle red …seductive and sexy Dirty red (what the name implies) Red as East Texas clay on a dusty country road Grandma was part Indian with black wavy hair New penny skin tone, pecan colored babes

It is no wonder that we are all connected with the energy that binds Electrons to a nucleus without them crashing.

We can let go and spin in circles And still orbit without falling.

Kate Ellen

Chocolate diva (when she smiles you see nothing but teeth) Tar baby…spankin’ black…shiny black

What hue are you?

Dorothy Sells Clover

the trees have on their limbs?”

“Oh yes,” I said, “a week or so,

still there – the north side shade.”

“That long. That long. What season Syllables

Beautiful black, magnificent black, bodacious black Be proud of your black… WOMEN!

“The snow, I mean. Is it old snow

and not dropped much away at all –

Cinnamon sweetheart…hot and spicy Caramel cutie…dimples so deep

“From yesterday? Last night?” he asked.

Wond’ring about words.

did you say?” he asked again.

And then, we once again began.

Are they two syllables or three?

Is’t how you say ’em?

“Winter. It’s late November now.”

Andy Coughlan

Jesse Doiron

720 Franklin, Beaumont, Texas 77701

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit #135 Beaumont, TX

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

INSIDE • ‘A COMMON OCCURRENCE OF TIME’ • THOUGHTCRIME: MUSINGS FROM AREA POETS • ‘WINTER WASTELAND’ IN PICTURES • ‘AFTER MOURNING’ VAN GOGH PLAY

When you support The Art Studio with your membership, you receive ISSUE, Southeast Texas’ and Southwest Louisiana’s alternative press, as well as class schedules, invitations to opening receptions and various Studio functions.

Volunteers These people are the life blood of our organization.

WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU! To volunteer, drop by The Art Studio, Inc., or call 409-838-5393.

Elizabeth Fontenot Bryan Castino Heather & Adam Butler Rhonda Rodman Sue Wright Rhonda McNally John Roberts Beau Dumesnil Karen Dumesnil Sheila Busceme Kailee Viator Stephan Malick Michelle Falgout Stacey Haynes Joe Winston John Fulbright Mark Jacobson Nathaniel Welch Gina Garcia Jack Hays Aslinn Garcia Paisley Polk Zoe Williams Rana Matthews Caroline Badon James King Madison Rose Stuckey Dawn S. Fischer Madison Bonds Chris Garcia Taylor VanDevender Jaycie Henderson Nathan West Kay O'Neal Olivia Busceme Chad Barrows John Rollins

JOIN US FOR ART OPENINGS ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

THIS MONTH:

A Common Occurrence of Time Amanda Barry and Kailee Viator

OPENING RECEPTION IS FEBRUARY 1, 7-10 P.M.

This project was funded in part by the B.A. & E.W. Steinhagen Benevolent Trust through the Southeast Texas Arts Council.

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