ISSUE February 2018

THE ARTS MAGAZINE MAGAZINE OF THE ART STUDIO, INC.

FEBRUARY 2018

‘TASI KID’ IN A CANDY STORE

PAGE 8

INSIDE: BACCHANAL, TANNER, GIST, AND MORE

ISSUE Vol. 24, No. 5 Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Art Studio, Inc. Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy Coughlan Copy Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth Gallaspy Contributing Writers . . . . . . . . . . Caitlin Duerler Contributing Photographers . . . Stephen Malick, . . . . . . . . . John Fulbright, Hannah LeTulle Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Malick

A View From The Top Greg Busceme, TASI Director I am so excited about TASI’s February exhibition featuring the work of Gina Mari Garcia. It is especially significant to me because Gina has been a part of The Studio for so long. As a 15-year old she came to The Studio under the apprentice program. Students would come and mop, dump trash, help with hanging shows, mix clay — lots of clay — and do other chores that would need to be done. She was at our first studio on Neches Street, helped move us to Forsythe and ultimately move to Franklin.

I watched her grow from her impetuous teens to a loving mother of two children, her son Tobin and Paisley, her daughter.

Like her mother, Paisley began to come to The Studio to help with things that needed to be done. In time she also became a teacher in our summer ArtsKool doing Pa-

The Art Studio, Inc. Board of Directors Corporate President . . . . . . . . . . Greg Busceme Corporate Vice-President . . . . . Angela Scheibel Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Winston Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Armitage Members at Large . . . . . . Stephanie Chadwick, . . . . . . . . . Olivia Busceme, John Fulbright, . . . . . . . . Latasha Hagan, Stephan Malick, . . . . . Jes Prince, Sara Tuell, John Roberts, . . . . Michael M. Measell, Marilyn Tennisen Tenant Representative. . . . . . . . . . Kailee Viator Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth French

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 TASI Bacchanal in pictures . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 Tanner at AMSET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6 Gina Marí Garcia’s “Eye Candy” . . . . . . Page 8 Dishman Architect and Collectors. . . . Page 11 Gist at High Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13 PFLAG’s “Rocky Horror” . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13 Around & About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Thoughtcrime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15 Cover photo of Gina Marí Garcia

by Andy Coughlan

pier Maché, and is now learning photography from our board chair, Joe Winston.

This is what The Studio was meant to be — dedicated to the life and proliferation of art in all its forms, we strive to offer the best we can to the artists in our community and, through them, the community itself. I hope all of you come to celebrate Gina’s pure expression of herself and the world around her. It will be a unique experience for a unique individual whom I love very much.

We are playing shuffle with studios as we begin filling the space at the Barn II at 840 Franklin St. Ad Hoc Theatre Company has moved its behemoth of a stage

See VIEW on page 12

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE ART STUDIO

FEBRUARY

MARCH

Eye Candy: Recent Work by Gina Marí Garcia Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 3

Darkroom Friends Photography Group Show Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 3

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ART STUDIO

Name(s) Address

Membership in The Art Studio, Inc., provides invitations to all exhibitions and one year of ISSUE, the monthly arts magazine of The Art Studio. It also gives free eligibility for members to enter the annual membership art exhibition (TASIMJAE) and participate in various exhibitions throughout the year.

City/St/Zip Phone

email

Credit Card Type: Visa MC Amex Disc Number

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:

Exp Date Day Phone

THE ART STUDIO, INC.

email

SUGGESTED MEMBERSHIP AMOUNT

Individual: $35 Family/Group: $50 Friend/Business:$100 Sustaining: $250 New?

Renewal?

Patron: $500 Angel: $1,000 Benefactor $2,000 Life Member: $10,000 Artist?

for office use pd in comp issue thanks

If yes, list medium

The Art Studio, Inc. 720 Franklin, Beaumont 77701

$

4 • ISSUE January 2018

Volume 24, No. 5

Photo by Stephan Malick

Photo by John Fulbright

Togas TASI

&

The Art Studio, Inc. held its annual fundraiser, Bacchanal, Jan. 20. A crowd of revelers dressed for the Roman theme to raise funds for TASI’s art education program and Hurricane Harvey repairs.

Photo by John Fulbright

Photo by Andy Coughlan

Photo by Hannah LeTulle

Photo by John Fulbright

Photo by John Fulbright

February 2018 ISSUE • 5

Volume 24, No. 5

Photo by John Fulbright

Photo by Andy Coughlan

Photo by John Fulbright Photo by John Fulbright

6 • ISSUE February 2018

Volume 24, No. 5

‘Master’ing Mythology

AMSET hosts Ellen Tanner’s exploration of classic tales

Ellen Tanner, THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, 2013, oil on panel, 12x16 in., Collection of Ilene and Paul Barr, Austin, Texas

BEAuMoNT MAy NoT HAvE collections of old Masters like in Paris or Florence, but the Bastrop-based painter Ellen Tanner continues their work in the precise handling of her medium and in pushing the boundaries of figurative representation.

Her exhibition, “Fables, Families and Myths,”

Story by Caitlin Duerler

on view now at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, presents a collection of small scale oil paintings and mixed-media displays that range from idyllic fairytale scenes to familiar Greek myths. one painting is perhaps an homage to Northern Renaissance masters in its rendering of the domestic space.

While her works are connected to the old tales

that have been floating around in the collective conscious for the past several thousand years or so, they are rooted in the present with their influence by a different kind of visual art — photography.

Works like “The Eagle and the Red Fox” (2013) explicitly reference a moral tale from Aesop’s Fables. However, Tanner chooses to rep-

February 2018 ISSUE • 7

Volume 24, No. 5 resent the moment that the tragedy — the tree being burned down by the fox in response to the eagle snatching her cub — could have been prevented if only the eagle had returned the cub. “The Fox and The Crow” (2008) is another fable that shows the exact moment the crow opens its mouth to sing and the cheese begins its fall to the mouth of the clever fox below.

While old Master paintings often try to think outside of the box in their representation of common themes, Tanner differs in this photographic influence of “the decisive moment” — capturing the instant that the narrative froze, the moment the story is going to change — often for the worst, such as the case of the death of the eaglets and the crow’s loss of its cheese.

Tanner’s paintings representing subjects from Greek mythology show other decisive moments. one can almost feel the gasp of air of Persephone in “Persephone and Hades” (2017) as she is milliseconds from her forced annual descent into the underworld, bringing with her the end of both the harvest season and the happiness of her mother, Demeter. “Aristaeus, Keeper of the Bees” (2016) is reminiscent of a Botticelli piece in a coastal Italianesque landscape, where one can see mountains and islands in the distance, with three graces dancing in the woods,

and elongated limbs on contraposed figures. Tanner represents the moment the minor god Aristaeus (son of Apollo) slaughtered the fourth bull required as the final sacrifice to Eurydice’s nymphs for chasing Eurydice to her death. This allows the release of his formerly destroyed and beloved bees from the carcasses of the sac-

rificed animals. on the other side of the gallery Tanner’s paintings shrink even more, and their display in hinged and small frames seem to fit in more with the kinds of things one would see in the historic victorian houses than in a contemporary painting exhibition. However, the portraits inside are not of those who reside in historic houses but rather of imaginary characters with made-up stories that reflect the kind of tales we hear about the past. For example, “Jones Family” (2014) features a display case that contains a portrait of Della and mourning embroidery — ringlets of baby hair from her dead siblings are sewn and displayed alongside other family portraits. The Jones were, “A well to do and middle-class couple in Savannah, Georgia” according to Tanner’s gallery guide, and in this narrative it was probably Della, an anthropomorphized pig dressed as a nine year old girl, who did the embroidery.

The fictional representation through animal portraiture can be traced to the psychological notion of the death drive — the desire to be remembered or leave a document of oneself that continues to occupy the present even when one eventually succumbs to death. In the 19th century, photography was a new invention and was not readily available to everyone, usually

just to those who could afford such an expensive technology. After the turn of the 20th century, however, photography became more affordable and available to the masses.

Today, photography is inevitable — we are surveilled most places in public, and we use cell phone cameras daily (and for some hourly). Tanner’s miniature animal portraiture, which at first glance may seem bizarre, is no stranger than our obsession with leaving a trace of ourselves through the click of a button and a lens. The painter’s imagination in this series of victorian animal portraiture, while seemingly boundless, is rooted in our own human anxieties of being remembered after our own demise.

“Fables, Families and Myths” by Ellen Tanner is on view until March 4.

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas is located at 500 Main St. in downtown Beaumont.

For more information, visit amset.org.

Ellen Tanner, ARISTAEUS, KEEPER OF BEES, 2016, below, oil on panel, 6x14 in., Collection of Kim and Roy Steinhagen, Beaumont, Texas Ellen Tanner, BAIRD FAMILY (DETAIL), 2015, left, oil on panel in Tramp art frame, oil on panel in thermoplastic Union case, 13 1/4 x 14 x 5 1/4 in. and 3 3/4 x 6 1/4 x 1/4 in. open case, Private Collection, Houston, Texas

8 • ISSUE February 2018

G INA M ARí G ARCIA ’ S Story and photos by Andy Coughlan

Volume 24, No. 5

SoLo ExHIBITIoN MIxES CoLoRFuL CoNFECTIoN WITH SPIRITuAL SouL

oN A CooL JANuARy afternoon, Gina Marí Garcia is working hard, smearing paint on a variety of surfaces.

“I have this terrible habit — I’ll work, work, work, for months before the show and then, maybe a month or two before the show, I’ll paint over everything, start all over fresh,” she says. “I get it all out,

and then I’m more clear when it’s time to create. It’s ready to go, and I’m just tweaking — we still have some more time.”

The petite artist is preparing for her exhibition “Eye Candy,” which opens with a free reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Feb. 3, and will be on display through Feb. 23.

This is Garcia’s first solo show at her “home.” She said her first interaction with The Studio was in fourth grade when TASI founder Greg Busceme and long-time tenant Suzanne Garrett would come to her school as part the Beaumont school district’s young Audiences program.

“I would go crazy and say, ‘Miss Garrett is here.’ I

February 2018 ISSUE • 9

Volume 24, No. 5 would look at her long hair and all her bracelets and know the art lady was there,” she says. “I guess I always wanted to be the art lady when I was little; that’s what I was always draw to — and now I get to be the art lady, and it is super fun.”

Garcia is an “Art Studio Kid.” When she was in sixth or seventh grade at odom Middle School, Busceme visited to do a clay demonstration.

“I went and talked to him, and he said, ‘Come over, we’re always looking for people to help,’” Garcia says. “My friend’s mom was a tenant — we were over at the White House Building then — and we went and I found that’s where I wanted to be and that’s what I wanted to do.

“And then life happened and the plan changed, like it tends to do.”

Garcia got married and had children. until she was 30 she says she was just being a mom — it was a different life. Then, when she was 31, she left her husband.

“It was a very traumatic breakup and I was like, ‘What am I going to do with my life — where am I?’ I tried to be very pure of mind — where was I happiest?” she says. “When was I happy without requiring something out of another person or from the world or materialistically? And I thought being at The Studio and having so much support without having to ask for it.

“So, I came home.”

Garcia’s work is abstract, and she lists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning and Robert Rauschenberg’s assemblages and collages among her influences.

“I don’t work on canvas. I work on wood — I’m very rough,” she says. “I don’t really use brushes. I use palette knives. I use cardboard. I use my hands, big brooms — whatever I find around that can make texture and get more paint on the piece than on me.”

Anyone who has seen Garcia at work knows she fails in that. As she focuses intensely on the work, the paint covers her hands, sometimes streaking across her face as she sweeps her hair back whiles builds the images layer upon layer.

“I am a disgustingly dirty artist, so I don’t want people to see the grossness of my paint station and my brushes,” she says, giggling. “I didn’t even know about brush care until I worked at Painting with a Twist. I didn’t even know that was a thing. I just threw them into a big bucket and when they got so terrible I got new ones.”

This show is not only a literal return to where Garcia grew up artistically, but also a spiritual journey back to when she was in her late teens.

“I went back to my youth and started thinking about what I liked when I was young,” she says. “I was watching old skate videos, surf videos and (listening to) lots of post-punk music. Everything I’ve created people are going to really enjoy because it’s all very eye catching — which leads to ‘Eye Candy’ being the name of the show.”

After Garcia’s divorce, The Studio seemed like the perfect place to find herself.

“I thought, I am going to go to a place where all the men are either too young or too old for me,” she says, laughing. “I am going to a place where I am absolutely safe — I am going to The Studio.”

In 2011, while helping Busceme set up for a show, she met The Studio’s new tenant, who was also a musician.

“I said, ‘oh my god, is that Greg Landry?’ I used to sneak out my window to go see him play at the Nocturnal Lounge when I was 14 or 15 years old.”

Landry offered to let Garcia use his space to create her own work.

See GARCIA on page 10

Gina Marí Garcia, left and above, will present “Eye Candy” at The Art Studio, Inc. in February.

10 • ISSUE February 2018

Volume 24, No. 5

Gina Marí Garcia works in her tenant space at The Art Studio in preparation for her solo exhibition “Eye Candy.”

GARCIA from page 9 “He’s always been very encouraging,” she says. “He said, ‘Just come watch me work.’ And when I watched him work I would do little things on the side, and those little things people seemed to like and responded to. Everything was all there to start again, to start painting. It was like I could just jump right in. I didn’t have to go looking for supplies or anything. It was just all at my disposal.”

Garcia was offered a small show at victoria House’s High Street Gallery, then she showed at a group show in Leesville with other TASI tenants, followed by a solo show at Finder’s Fayre. She also had a popup show at The Parlor in Austin.

“Finder’s Fayre was wonderful,” she says. “I sold a lot of work so I was able to create for a while without having to do anything else.”

Garcia and Landry’s art collaboration moved into a life collaboration, and the pair will marry in February.

“We were on a very slow track for that,” she says, laughing.

Garcia’s art has evolved from small drawings and paintings to large abstracts on multi-layered surfaces, a process that has evolved over time.

“The more you do, the more you figure out what you like,” she says. “For me, it has always been more spiritual. I am able to lose myself. When I am able to feel the piece, and I know someone else can feel something, then I know it’s done, it’s ready for viewing.

“I love layers, and I could keep going for days. I like to rip things apart and tear into those layers. It’s all an evolution. When I start a painting and get going it can go on forever.”

Garcia works on multiple pieces at once, shifting from piece to piece as the mood takes her.

“I like to get a nice thickness about my paint, and I don’t like to wait — I’m not a very patient person,” she says.

Garcia uses acrylics and airbrush paints, as well screen-printing inks. She likes to use a variety of paper manipulation, such as tissue and magazine. She also uses muslin, cheesecloth and tulle, although this show will focus more on painting.

“It’s almost like, if I don’t do it every day I feel ill,” she says. “I’ve got to get it out because it’s already in there, and it’s got to be transitioned onto something. And it’s also spiritual because it’s therapeutic — I feel at ease. I’m a very hyper person, an excited person, and that’s the one time I am able to focus and concentrate. When (my

friend) John Rollins came to photograph me, he said, ‘This is so intense; you’re freaking me out.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ because I am never quiet and still.

So I guess that is my quiet and still — it’s my bliss, it’s my happiness. I don’t feel the need to be the person that I am most of the time. I can just be. It’s like speaking without speaking, without words.”

Garcia also lists Alexander Calder’s mobiles among her influences and is drawn to sculpture.

“I actually really enjoyed when the Picasso sculptures came (to Houston),” she says. “I guess I loved the sculptures. When we went to Washington, I was drawn to the sculpture gardens. I love the form, I love everything about it. I love to build giant things, I guess, so I’m even more drawn to that.”

For this show, Garcia is building surfaces that are irregular and that add a three-dimensionality to the paintings.

“My work always feels, when I’m making it, that I want you to pay attention, so this time I am adding three-dimensional things that are coming out at you,” she says. “Everything has a little more shape, a lot more movement.”

Salvador Dali’s influence is found in Garcia’s process.

“His work is so beautiful, and his mind

is just amazing — just even the little things that I read are so interesting and useful,” she says. “I like the thing he said about taking the little tiny naps — I’m a person who loves naps — just taking little tiny naps for that creative boost. When you wake up from that state between awake and asleep you really are vulnerable and childlike.

Sometimes I do come down (to The Studio) and lie around for a bit — it gets kind of intense up there (in my space).

“When I work I get so emotional for myself. I don’t really like to sell my work very much because they’re so much a part of me I don’t want to give them all away.”

Garcia says she hopes that visitors to the show will see the paintings as more than simply “Eye Candy,” despite its name, and connect with the work on a deeper level.

“I want (viewers) to feel something, feel emotionally connected to something in it or something they see in it, something they feel towards it. Even if they don’t like it, at least they’re having a reaction. I would rather they feel something than walk by it and feel nothing.”

Watching Garcia work, the intensity and passion are clear. The paintings are as vibrant as her personality.

The Art Studio,, Inc. is located at 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont.

For more, visit www.artstudio.org.

Dishman exhibits focus on Southeast Texas

February 2018 ISSUE • 11

Volume 24, No. 5

THE DISHMAN ART MuSEuM is hosting a pair of exhibitions, “visionary Architecture and the Legacy of Milton Bell” and “Beaumont Collects 2: Works of Art from Southeast Texas Collections,” on display through March 2.

Milton Bell is a renowned Beaumont architect who designed several buildings on the Lamar university campus, including the otho Plummer Administration Building, also known as the “Round Building,” which was recently designated as a historic landmark.

“I’ve had several requests to do a show related to architecture, and when I saw the renderings of the buildings on campus and realized that Milton Bell had created them I thought focusing on Mr. Bell would be a great idea,” museum director Dennis Kiel said. “Plus, Mr. Bell is revered by many people for all he has done for the city of Beaumont.

“Since Mr. Bell was the project manager of the Plummer Building, the show was a good way to let people know that it had been entered in the National Register for Historic Places in 2015.”

The architectural drawings show Bell’s skills as an artist, Kiel said.

“The renderings in the show are original drawings, not reproductions, plus, as Mr. Bell has reminded me, they were hand drawn not computer generated,” Kiel said. “If

Story and photos by Andy Coughlan

Beaumont collector Ramona Young poses with her portrait by renowned artist Jerry Newman from the 1973 South Texas State Fair. The piece is part of the “Beaumont Collects 2” exhibition at the Dishman Art Museum through March 2.

people take the time to really look at the drawings they will see how skillful, and clever, Mr. Bell was. They’re also very charming.

“The Museum of Modern Art in New york put together a ‘Frank Lloyd Wright at 150’ exhibition last summer that included many of Wright’s architectural drawings — enough said.”

Looking at the renderings and the actual buildings reveals a lot about the artistic process, Kiel said.

“If you spend just a little time with any work of art you will make discoveries and see things you never thought were there,” he said. “Parts of some of the renderings have overlays, which I assume were changes or corrections. It’s really fun to discover things like this.”

“Beaumont Collects 2,” in the upstairs gallery, highlights pieces from Southeast Texans’ personal collections.

Kiel said the collectors’ relationships to the art is as interesting as the artwork itself.

“There’s something very exciting about sitting in your home and looking at original art on your walls,” he said.

“My goal with the show has been to show the diversity of the collectors in this area. Collectors have great stories about why and what they collect. Some of the collectors I visited were extremely passionate about certain works and those were the ones I wanted for the exhibition.

Another reason for scheduling the exhibition at this time is to get people excited about Le Grand Bal Auction, a fundraiser for the College of Fine Arts and Communication, which will be held in the Dishman on March 24, Kiel said. Le Grand Bal is an opportunity for people to add to their collections or to start a collection. Art in the auction

Visitors to the opening reception of “Visionary Architecture and the Legacy of Milton Bell,” top, discuss the architectural renderings at the show’s opening, Feb. 19.

The exhibition included the rendering of the Otho Plummer Administration Building, above, which was recently designated a historic landmark. covers a variety of artists from students to professionals, many at affordable prices.

This is the second year of “Beaumont Collects,” and Kiel said that he is still discovering different collections but is always on the lookout for more.

“I know there are a lot of collections out there that I’m unaware of,” he said. “People have called me about their collections in the past, and I encourage them to continue doing so.”

The Dishman Art Museum is located at the corner of East Lavaca and MLK Parkway on the Lamar university campus.

For more information, 409-880-8959.

12 • ISSUE February 2018

VIEW from page 3 and the wood went to Habitat for Humanity. We are so happy they offered the last production of their group where they began, and we hope all the best in their future endeavors.

New artists are moving in and some are moving out. Rachel Wright, Chris Presley and Chris Holmes are occupying studios left by Beau Dumesnil, Maurice Abelman and Neal Pitak. Beau and Maurice are moving to the 840 location along with the SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) to join James King, who is already there. If you are interested in studio space, the best thing you can do is access intermediate space and wait for a spot to open. Based on the idea of need, the person using the studio is more likely to need it than someone who isn’t there.

We are sending out our membership requests soon and hope you will consider becoming a member or renewing your membership this year. Although we have had a great year so far in regard to

Volume 24, No. 5 grants, remember those grants are designated for specific needs and must be spent based on those needs. Bills, invitations, bank notes and payroll do not come under those parameters.

That our membership is strong and our participation at events is well attended is as important as the funds that they provide. Public participation is very important to our mission as it completes the circle of exchange between the public and the creative community.

My last point is about the strength of a community based on its strong cultural network, that is, the collective of galleries, museums, musical groups, theaters, dance ensembles and craft collectives, among others. These are essential components woven in the fabric of progressive, desirable cities.

Many potential new residents in cities where we live consider a strong fine arts and diverse cultural presence as a necessary facet in their decision to become permanent residents. Corporations looking for attractive locations to build also have a high re-

gard for a strong cultural network and seek that profile before they choose a community that they find appropriate for their workers to live. The Art Studio and other groups are paramount toward the quality of life most young adults expect in their current or future communities.

It would be hard to imagine what life in Southeast Texas would be like without the range of arts offered by The Art Studio that serve the aesthetic and educational well-being of our community. As an established arts group, the community has historically provided valuable support to The Art Studio, and we hope you continue this tradition.

Community support is not only a monetary exchange but also an investment in your quality of life. Although this region might be regarded for its negative traits, humidity and parasites or flooding and storms, we boast a thriving creative community that promises to bring arts and culture to our region that has a positive effect on every facet of our lives.

SUPPORTS THE ART STUDIO, INC.

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

Volume 24, No. 5

High Street Gallery to host Ryan Gist exhibit, Feb. 2 February 2018 ISSUE • 13

THE HIGH STREET GALLERy will host an exhibition of paintings by Ryan Gist, 7-10 p.m., Feb 2. The gallery is located in victoria House, 2110 victoria St. in Beaumont.

“Ryan has largely been known as one of the area’s most beloved musicians, so I’m very excited that we get to show the visual side of his artwork during this exhibition,” olivia Busceme, gallery director, said.

Works on display will include ink and marker porBENITA, by Ryan Gist will be on display as part of his solo show, “The Mighty Lion” at High Street Gallery, Feb. 2

RECENT ART STUDIO DONORS, NEW OR RENEWING MEMBERS

Lisa Baumer Michael Cacioppo Lynn Castle Pete Churton and Beth Gallaspy Karen Corwin Caitlin Duerler Edaren Foundation Mark Eagle Foundation for Southeast Texas Charles Gierman Alan and Cherrie Hefty Chris Holmes Scott LaBurn Mark Low Paulette Martin Steve Moore James and Elaine Morris Pamela o’Neil Pollack-Krasner Foundation Stephen Rousset Joan Steinman Ludmyla Syler Billy Tomlinson

traits, large paintings on panels, and a few wall sculptures, which the artist describes as “a fun swirl of contemporary abstract expressionist folk art.”

The title of the exhibition is “Portraits of the Mighty Lion” because the portraits were inspired by the lyrics of songs on Gist’s 2005 musical album “The Mighty Lion.”

Beaumont native Gist’s work is influenced by other artists such as Diego Rivera, MC Escher, Amedeo Modigliani, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, vincent van Gogh, vladimir Kush, R. Crumb, Jean-Michel Basquiat

and Wassily Kandinsky.

“My mother has painted all my life and inspired me to be creative,” Gist said. “I’ve also taken some classes at The Art Studio and with artists Summer Lydic and Lorenzo Chavez.”

Entry is free and the work will be for sale. Refreshments will be available at the event.

“I’d love for folks to pick up drawing and painting if they haven’t already. It’s so good for the soul!”

For more information, email victoriahousetx@gmail. com, or visit the High Street Gallery Facebook page.

Beaumont PFLAG to present ‘Rocky Horror’ fundraiser, Feb. 10

IT’S JuST A JuMP to the left — and a step to the right — into The Gig, located at 240 Crockett St. in downtown Beaumont, for a screening of the gender-bending, sex-positive, cult-classic, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” complete with a fully costumed shadow cast.

Seasoned community theater director Donny Avery said this is a perfect fundraiser to support Pride Fest 2018 because there are so many fans in the area.

“This is a fantastic fundraiser because so many people absolutely adore the movie,” Avery said. “They grew up with and connected to it on many levels because it is so different.”

He said the film has had an impact on the LGBTQIA community in particular.

“It speaks to the LGBTQIA community because of its themes of camp, musical and the truly bizarre,” Avery said. “We relate to it, have history with it and probably met a lot of our friends because of it — friends who probably became like family.”

Avery said he is excited to direct the first shadow cast production in the area — having the unique opportunity to combine both performance and cinema.

“Audiences will watch the movie while seeing actors

perform — that hasn’t been done in this area before,” he said. “Also, the cast is so diverse. Eddie, Dr. Frank-nFurter, and Rocky are all being played by women, and we have a cast full of various ages — I love that we get to do that.”

Producing a shadow cast screening of “Rocky Horror” has been a passion project for olivia Busceme, Pride Fest entertainment chair.

“The film’s overt sexual content combined with its extreme campiness make it a fun experience for anyone willing to not take themselves too seriously,” she said.

“This production will also be gender-swapping many of the roles, which should only lend to the non-heteronormative themes which are crucial to the plot of this queer cult classic.”

This event is 18 years and older. Cash bar available for those 21 and older. Prop bags available onsite for $5 Reduced priced tickets may be purchased at brownpa pertickets.com. Search the title, “PFLAG Beaumont Presents ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’.”

All proceeds to fund PFLAG Beaumont’s Pride Fest.

PFLAG Beaumont is a local chapter of a national organization and a registered nonprofit organization.

14 • ISSUE February 2018

Volume 24, 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 web site at www.artstudio.org. Be sure to include the location and dates of the subject, as well as any costs.

Feb. 17, at the Music Studio.

Abelman crowd sourced ideas on the topic of what is the "Tree of Knowledge" and invited the public to collaborate with him on generating ideas, visuals and concepts. The exhibition will be the result of the collaboration.

The Music Studio is located at 215 orleans St, Suite 400B, in downtown Beaumont.

For more information, visit the Tree of Knowledge Facebook page. ________

The STARK MUSEUM OF ART is hosting a new exhibit LONG SHADOW: THE LUTCHER-STARK LUMBER DYNASTY. The exhibition features historic photographs and documents from the Eunice R. Benckenstein Library & Archive. “The exhibit grew out of the recent publication of the same name,” said Jenniffer Hudson Connors, M anager of the Library & Archive. It tells the story of the Lutcher and Stark families at work, in the community and at home.

Many of these items from the collection have not been on public view before and will be on display in this exhibition for the first time.

Stark Museum of Art is located at 712 Green Ave. in orange and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more, visit starkmuseum.org. ________

The BEAUMONT ART LEAGUE will host LONG PROMISED ROAD-AN ARTISTS' PERSPECTIVE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPE-

RIENCE, Feb. 24 to March 17, with a reception set for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Feb. 24 BAL is located at 2675 Gulf St. For more, visit www.beaumontart league.com, or call 409-833-4179. ________ MAURICE ABELMAN will present THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, a special installation project, noon to 8 p.m.,

KAILEE VIATOR’s latest body of work entitled “Eggs Filled with Honey” opens Feb. 1, 5-9 p.m., at Finder’s Fayre Antiques. The show will feature a soft, dreamy array of works combining painting, ink drawings, ceramic sculpture, and collage elements. Nature plays a major role in her themes with birds and bees as the central subjects, further explored through their respective habitats and the commodities they yield: eggs and honey.

The show is part of the FINDER’S FAYRE’s Show Series, “CLASS.” Finder’s Fayre is located in the Mildred Building on the corner of Calder Avenue and MLK Parkway in Beaumont.

For more, visit www.findersfayre.com.

Kailee Viator

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 nonprofit 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

Volume 24, 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:

A Storm is coming

Threatening clouds are forming as I walk this faithful day And though the rain of mortal man Is not so far away I massive wave of evilness Wash over us like a flood I block the deluge of angry fists Their clubs are stain with blood

I’m not alone. They’re more with me And we are not deterred.

My shield from this approaching storm Is God’s unchanging word.

you see…my friends and I are no Strangers to the enemy’s hateful wrath Like gale force winds they knock us down undaunted is our path.

Dark clouds are overhead now It’s raining hate and fear Pain is running rampant The street is wet with tears Lightning flash and thunder roar Even though the sky is clear.

God sends the storms. He sends the rain But not this wretched kind.

These words that Jesus uttered were Soon quickly brought to mind.

As I lie here on the Sabbath This verse I know rings true “Father…forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Dorothy Sells Clover

ISSUE, 720 Franklin, 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.

Grief I am the most constant being in your entire existence, yet you make me the most difficult to accept. you refuse to stomach me like a pill too big to swallow, but I am not optional.

Every corner you turn to avoid me is another dead end.

I am not an option.

When you yearn to see their lips pulled cheek to cheek.

When the rhythm of their laughter has lost beat.

When you stare with misty eyes at a reflecting marble stone with their name and date engraved in white. you will be young and waste time; you will be old and grieve for the moments lost.

That is when you embrace me! you will try to find a solution at the bottom of a bottle, Well I am that bottle. you will stare at the wall in silence, But I am that silence.

They will tell you that I am a process and that I will end, But they will lie!

I am the last flicker of light before the dark.

I am everywhere.

I am the most constant being in your entire existence.

I am not optional.

Wyatt Curry

February 2018 ISSUE • 15 How

I’ve been done wrong Kicked like a dog My heart was torn Is this what demons do?

I’ve risen from the ground Just like Lazarus, with strength I’ve found It’s not about forgiving Everything has been burnt and stolen The demons left everything molten I take back what I can To pour and mold myself Back into a man The crucible is set Will I be ready again?

When will I need to know now?

Will I need to know how?

Stephan Malick

The exhilaration of taking off High into blue skies Coinciding with loss of breath An unexplainable sensation Result of distance Beginning to part souls And hearts Though physically traveling My mind, heart and soul Has been on a journey of its own With amazing highs And astonishing lows Never imagined In all of the emotions and awareness Experienced in my lifetime That I could feel quite this way As I take off again High into the blue skies I have to catch my breath And remind my heart And my soul That physical distance Means nothing As there is a strong and beautiful Exhilarating constant connection That neither time Nor distance Could ever sever Chrissie Mouton

720 Franklin, Beaumont, Texas 77701

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

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

INSIDE • GINA MARÍ GARCIA • THOUGHTCRIME: MUSINGS FROM AREA POETS • BACCHANAL IN PICTURES • TANNER AT AMSET

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.

JOIN US

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 Terri Fox Michelle Falgout Stacey Haynes Joe Winston John Fulbright Mark Jacobson Nathaniel Welch Gina Garcia Jack Hays Tyler Hargraves Aslinn Garcia Paisley Polk Zoe Williams Rana Matthews Caroline Badon David Granitz Latasha Hagan 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

FOR ART OPENINGS ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

THIS MONTH:

Recent work by Gina Marí Garcia

OPENING RECEPTION IS FEBRUARY 3, 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.

ISSUE

DISTRIBUTION POINTS

DOWNTOWN THE ART STuDIo, INC. 720 FRANKLIN ART MuSEuM oF SouTHEAST TExAS 500 MAIN BABE DIDRIKSoN ZAHARIAS MuSEuM 1750 IH-10E BEAuMoNT CoNvENTIoN & vISIToRS BuREAu 801 MAIN BEAuMoNT ART LEAGuE (FAIRGRouNDS) 2675 GuLF ST NEW yoRK PIZZA & PASTA 790 NECHES SETAC 701 NoRTH STREET, STE. 1 STARBuCKS EDISoN PLAZA TExAS ENERGy MuSEuM 600 MAIN SOUTH END/LAMAR UNIVERSITY CARLITo’S RESTAuRANT 890 AMARILLo @ CoLLEGE SuNRISE 2425 S 11TH JERuSALEM HooKAH CAFé 3035 CoLLEGE SWICEGooD MuSIC Co. 3685 CoLLEGE Lu ART DEPARTMENT DISHMAN ART MuSEuM uNIvERSITy PRESS 202 CARL PARKER BuILDING OLD TOWN ALDEN HouSE SALoN 2415 CALDER ANNA’S MExICAN BAKERy 2570 CALDER JAvELINA TATToo 2510 CALDER CHAPAS TAMALES 2305 CALDER BETTy SMITH CREATIvE WoRKS 2485 CALDER THE BREW SHoP 2410 CALDER JASoN’S DELI 112 GATEWAy SHoP CNTR KATHARINE & Co. 1495 CALDER TACoS LA BAMBA 2005 CALDER RAo’S BAKERy 2596 CALDER CENTRAL/WEST END BAR LoCAL 6358 PHELAN CoLoNNADE CENTER SMALL ToWN vINyL 6356 PHELAN CoLoNNADE CENTER BASIC FooDS 6220 PHELAN BEAuMoNT CoMMuNITy PLAyERS 4155 LAuREL BEAuMoNT vISIToRS BuREAu IH-10 CoLoRADo CANyoN 6119 FoLSoM KATHARINE & Co. CARRy-ouT CuISINE 4455 CALDER GuITAR & BANJo STuDIo 4381 CALDER LoGoN CAFE 3805 CALDER RED B4 BooKS 4495 CALDER REED’S LAuNDRy 6025A PHELAN @ PEyToN ICoN 6372 CoLoNNADE CENTER THIRSTy’S 229 DoWLEN PARKDALE RAo’S BAKERy 4440 DoWLEN ORANGE STARK MuSEuM oF ART 712 GREEN AvE.