Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
First Friday! More than Art!
Where’s the place to be in San Antonio on a Friday evening? Well, if it’s the first Friday of the month, it’s Southtown! That’s right! It’s not the movies and it’s not the ball game! First Friday is home of the art scene in San Antonio. When I say “the art scene,” I mean THE art scene. First Friday is quite remarkable. If you’re not into art, trust me, you will be. Basically, First Friday is a collaboration of artists, galleries, and the San Antonio Community to provide art exhibitions, music, food, and a party.
Every first Friday of each month galleries exhibit artists in the Southtown of San Antonio. Southtown has most of the familiar galleries and vendors for First Friday. The Southtown area includes the famous King William neighborhood and the Blue Star Art Complex. Southtown is known for its historical houses, abandoned warehouses (converted for art space), and artist lofts. What has been called a hotbed of contemporary art, the Blue Star Art Complex is home to dozens of art exhibitions during First Friday. However, it’s more than the art that attracts the community; it’s the music, bars, and restaurants, too. The perfect place to start your First Friday experience is at the well known La Tuna Ice House and Grill. The La Tuna Grill is right at the railroad track on South Alamo just before the Blue Star Art Complex. It is the perfect place to start with a couple of rounds of drinks and some delicious food. First Friday expands over the South Alamo and South Flores intersection and the Durango and South Flores intersection. From there, the Blue Star is just across the tracks and the sightseeing begins. In an interview with much respected Fl!ght Gallery manager Justin Parr, he stated, “San Antonio is broken up into several different art communities and each gallery can have its own view point.” Enticing as he makes it sound, the only true way to appreciate the diversity is to experience the exhibitions along with the crowds. He also helped me on to learn about these galleries day to day routines in preparation for shows. In general, the galleries have a featured artist for a month or so or there are times when several artists share the whole gallery. In the Fl!ght gallery, what they call their “dry goods room” holds works by more than forty different artists! Thankfully, Mr. Parr was glad to state that San Antonio “has a healthy community of artists that support each other’s work.” Many galleries come together to display this vast art show. The Robert Hughes Gallery features over thirty artists from San Antonio, Houston, Lubbock, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Florida, Canada, Nigeria, and China. It was refreshing to see that this particular gallery was very diverse with many pieces from artists who live all over the world. Robert Hughes’ thoughts on First Friday were, “First Friday started as an art walk and has changed over the years. I’d like to see more art galleries and more artists that are not just from San Antonio but from other places. First Friday is an opportunity for people to come down and gain art exposure.” First Friday has changed. It was once a plain art walk and has now become several streets filled with all sorts of vendors and food booths. The houses in the King William district are not just galleries. There are dentist offices and law firms on the stretch. These businesses are closed during First Friday and clearly do not fit into the scheme of the artistic surroundings. One fact is certain, the gallery and community would like to see less of those businesses on South Flores Street and more of the art genre business.
One great point of First Friday is that many times it is the chance for an artist to come out of their shell and be known to the public. Ruth Marlisa Guajardo has been running El Sol Gallery for seven years now. She can say from firsthand experience, “I’ve seen a lot of artist grow because of First Friday; you could not get as much as exposure as you would with First Friday anywhere else in San Antonio.” This is exactly what the art community in San Antonio needs. First Friday is not the only day however, these galleries are open. Hopefully, First Friday is more of a stepping stone into what can grow to be a strong art district with plenty of support and recognition by San Antonio. Many of the gallery owners are the artist at the same time. Painting, drawing, photography, jewelry, and sculpture are just some of the ways the artist express themselves during the shows.
Bringing the crowds to First Friday, the Blue Star Brewery is known for its excellent beer. The brewery usually has a band on the deck during First Friday. Live music and art coincide together in this masterpiece of a gathering. Visitors stand and dance in front of the pub while art lovers travel the winding and narrow halls of the converted warehouse that is now the Blue Star. In the complex, artists are usually sitting in their exhibit room. A great advantage of this homely fair is to be able to see the genius behind the work. A most intriguing interview with a veteran visitor of First Friday, Benecia Flores, gave me an earful on how the average citizen experiences First Friday. Her experiences have been described as pleasant and intellectually satisfying. As many other citizens of San Antonio, she loves that the San Antonio community comes together for the purpose of art. That is a milestone in this fast pace life of technology with very little time to take a breath and look at the beauty or skill in the arts. When asked the mood of First Friday Ms. Flores shared, “It’s always a festive, happy mood when you go to First Friday. You go with people you love and you always enjoy it.” First Friday increases friendly and family bonding mixed with encouraging self expression and a general feeling of content. Visual stimulation is the key of course to the success of First Friday. With so many different types of interesting art and people, First Friday easily becomes number one to the art lover, music lover, and food lover. Not only is there art but well known restaurants. Rosario’s and La Focaccia Italian Grill are just two favorites to dine at before walking the streets. For the musician in you, almost every other gallery or vendor has some local band performing most of the night. It is the place for a well rounded individual; young or old, artist or not.
The first weekend of next month, make no plans to go to the lake; do not buy tickets to the ballet and the movie that just came out can wait. Instead, attend the ever growing First Friday of Southtown in San Antonio. Take your friends and bring your family because this is it. Dress up or dress down; stay for an hour or stay for five because this Friday will be yours to remember! Then you can say, “HeyI’ve been to First Friday.”
Where’s the place to be in San Antonio on a Friday evening? Well, if it’s the first Friday of the month, it’s Southtown! That’s right! It’s not the movies and it’s not the ball game! First Friday is home of the art scene in San Antonio. When I say “the art scene,” I mean THE art scene. First Friday is quite remarkable. If you’re not into art, trust me, you will be. Basically, First Friday is a collaboration of artists, galleries, and the San Antonio Community to provide art exhibitions, music, food, and a party.
Every first Friday of each month galleries exhibit artists in the Southtown of San Antonio. Southtown has most of the familiar galleries and vendors for First Friday. The Southtown area includes the famous King William neighborhood and the Blue Star Art Complex. Southtown is known for its historical houses, abandoned warehouses (converted for art space), and artist lofts. What has been called a hotbed of contemporary art, the Blue Star Art Complex is home to dozens of art exhibitions during First Friday. However, it’s more than the art that attracts the community; it’s the music, bars, and restaurants, too. The perfect place to start your First Friday experience is at the well known La Tuna Ice House and Grill. The La Tuna Grill is right at the railroad track on South Alamo just before the Blue Star Art Complex. It is the perfect place to start with a couple of rounds of drinks and some delicious food. First Friday expands over the South Alamo and South Flores intersection and the Durango and South Flores intersection. From there, the Blue Star is just across the tracks and the sightseeing begins. In an interview with much respected Fl!ght Gallery manager Justin Parr, he stated, “San Antonio is broken up into several different art communities and each gallery can have its own view point.” Enticing as he makes it sound, the only true way to appreciate the diversity is to experience the exhibitions along with the crowds. He also helped me on to learn about these galleries day to day routines in preparation for shows. In general, the galleries have a featured artist for a month or so or there are times when several artists share the whole gallery. In the Fl!ght gallery, what they call their “dry goods room” holds works by more than forty different artists! Thankfully, Mr. Parr was glad to state that San Antonio “has a healthy community of artists that support each other’s work.” Many galleries come together to display this vast art show. The Robert Hughes Gallery features over thirty artists from San Antonio, Houston, Lubbock, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Florida, Canada, Nigeria, and China. It was refreshing to see that this particular gallery was very diverse with many pieces from artists who live all over the world. Robert Hughes’ thoughts on First Friday were, “First Friday started as an art walk and has changed over the years. I’d like to see more art galleries and more artists that are not just from San Antonio but from other places. First Friday is an opportunity for people to come down and gain art exposure.” First Friday has changed. It was once a plain art walk and has now become several streets filled with all sorts of vendors and food booths. The houses in the King William district are not just galleries. There are dentist offices and law firms on the stretch. These businesses are closed during First Friday and clearly do not fit into the scheme of the artistic surroundings. One fact is certain, the gallery and community would like to see less of those businesses on South Flores Street and more of the art genre business.
One great point of First Friday is that many times it is the chance for an artist to come out of their shell and be known to the public. Ruth Marlisa Guajardo has been running El Sol Gallery for seven years now. She can say from firsthand experience, “I’ve seen a lot of artist grow because of First Friday; you could not get as much as exposure as you would with First Friday anywhere else in San Antonio.” This is exactly what the art community in San Antonio needs. First Friday is not the only day however, these galleries are open. Hopefully, First Friday is more of a stepping stone into what can grow to be a strong art district with plenty of support and recognition by San Antonio. Many of the gallery owners are the artist at the same time. Painting, drawing, photography, jewelry, and sculpture are just some of the ways the artist express themselves during the shows.
Bringing the crowds to First Friday, the Blue Star Brewery is known for its excellent beer. The brewery usually has a band on the deck during First Friday. Live music and art coincide together in this masterpiece of a gathering. Visitors stand and dance in front of the pub while art lovers travel the winding and narrow halls of the converted warehouse that is now the Blue Star. In the complex, artists are usually sitting in their exhibit room. A great advantage of this homely fair is to be able to see the genius behind the work. A most intriguing interview with a veteran visitor of First Friday, Benecia Flores, gave me an earful on how the average citizen experiences First Friday. Her experiences have been described as pleasant and intellectually satisfying. As many other citizens of San Antonio, she loves that the San Antonio community comes together for the purpose of art. That is a milestone in this fast pace life of technology with very little time to take a breath and look at the beauty or skill in the arts. When asked the mood of First Friday Ms. Flores shared, “It’s always a festive, happy mood when you go to First Friday. You go with people you love and you always enjoy it.” First Friday increases friendly and family bonding mixed with encouraging self expression and a general feeling of content. Visual stimulation is the key of course to the success of First Friday. With so many different types of interesting art and people, First Friday easily becomes number one to the art lover, music lover, and food lover. Not only is there art but well known restaurants. Rosario’s and La Focaccia Italian Grill are just two favorites to dine at before walking the streets. For the musician in you, almost every other gallery or vendor has some local band performing most of the night. It is the place for a well rounded individual; young or old, artist or not.
The first weekend of next month, make no plans to go to the lake; do not buy tickets to the ballet and the movie that just came out can wait. Instead, attend the ever growing First Friday of Southtown in San Antonio. Take your friends and bring your family because this is it. Dress up or dress down; stay for an hour or stay for five because this Friday will be yours to remember! Then you can say, “HeyI’ve been to First Friday.”
Monday, December 3, 2007
¡Little Joe y La Familia!
The musical genre of Tejano is very important to anyone with a South Texas background. One major contributor to this music is the famous artist Little Joe y La Familia. Little did I know before this essay but Little Joe signed my father’s copy of one of his album’s “Para La Gente.” I need not tell my parents about my research essay on Little Joe. They told me about the well known artist and were obviously great fans. My parents were definitely impacted by Little Joe y La Familia. These are just two South Texans with first hand knowledge of Little Joe. With time and some research, I came to meet many elder Chicanos around my parent’s age who were affected by Little Joe’s music and loved it very much.
Little Joe was born Jose Maria DeLeon Hernandez in Temple, Texas in 1940. Amazingly, he was seventh out of thirteen children. He began playing music with his cousins in 1953. His first paid performance was at a high school dance in Cameron, Texas. There was nowhere to go but up from this point on. Chicanos in Texas at that time wanted a new sound to their Conjunto music. They wanted a sound that represents their biculturalism. Little Joe y La Familia was the answer to their prayers!
He started small, but after his little brother Jesse died in a car wreck in 1964, he vowed to go commercial. Little Joe relied on small independent labels at first then started two of his own labels. He started Buena Suerte for recordings in Spanish and Good Luck for recordings in English. Later he made a third label, Leona Records. During the 1970’s, Little Joe’s music changed. He became infatuated with “Latinismo,” and this was the official time he changed his band name and added the “y la familia.” It took awhile but in 1985, Little Joe signed on with the first major recording label, WEA International. After doing two albums with WEA, Little Joe switched to SONY International. Little Joe stayed there until 1993 and then launched his fifth label, Tejano Discos. This was of extreme importance in his musical career because the first release on this label, “Que Paso,” earned him his third Grammy nomination.
Little Joe y La Familia created one of the first sounds of a new bimusical style which synthesized ranchero and jaiton. He is Tejano royalty and everyone knows it. I listened to his “Para La Gente” album and actually recognized most of the songs. I have grown up listening to this legendary artist and have never known about his history. This has helped me to relate to the music more and realize just what contributions he gave to Tejano.
The musical genre of Tejano is very important to anyone with a South Texas background. One major contributor to this music is the famous artist Little Joe y La Familia. Little did I know before this essay but Little Joe signed my father’s copy of one of his album’s “Para La Gente.” I need not tell my parents about my research essay on Little Joe. They told me about the well known artist and were obviously great fans. My parents were definitely impacted by Little Joe y La Familia. These are just two South Texans with first hand knowledge of Little Joe. With time and some research, I came to meet many elder Chicanos around my parent’s age who were affected by Little Joe’s music and loved it very much.
Little Joe was born Jose Maria DeLeon Hernandez in Temple, Texas in 1940. Amazingly, he was seventh out of thirteen children. He began playing music with his cousins in 1953. His first paid performance was at a high school dance in Cameron, Texas. There was nowhere to go but up from this point on. Chicanos in Texas at that time wanted a new sound to their Conjunto music. They wanted a sound that represents their biculturalism. Little Joe y La Familia was the answer to their prayers!
He started small, but after his little brother Jesse died in a car wreck in 1964, he vowed to go commercial. Little Joe relied on small independent labels at first then started two of his own labels. He started Buena Suerte for recordings in Spanish and Good Luck for recordings in English. Later he made a third label, Leona Records. During the 1970’s, Little Joe’s music changed. He became infatuated with “Latinismo,” and this was the official time he changed his band name and added the “y la familia.” It took awhile but in 1985, Little Joe signed on with the first major recording label, WEA International. After doing two albums with WEA, Little Joe switched to SONY International. Little Joe stayed there until 1993 and then launched his fifth label, Tejano Discos. This was of extreme importance in his musical career because the first release on this label, “Que Paso,” earned him his third Grammy nomination.
Little Joe y La Familia created one of the first sounds of a new bimusical style which synthesized ranchero and jaiton. He is Tejano royalty and everyone knows it. I listened to his “Para La Gente” album and actually recognized most of the songs. I have grown up listening to this legendary artist and have never known about his history. This has helped me to relate to the music more and realize just what contributions he gave to Tejano.
A Visit from Juan Tejada!
Juan Tejada visited our humanities class on Wednesday and I was just star struck! He works at Palo Alto College as an instructor for, get this, the only Conjunto organization at the community college level in San Antonio. He was hired at Palo Alto specifically to accomplish the task of building a well known organization that teaches about Conjunto music. His job has been keeping alive the respected ancestral music of Conjunto or Tejano. If you ask anyone at Palo Alto I think they would tell you he has been doing a terrific job!
Juan Tejada calls himself a Chicano. In his eyes, this label is exceedingly important because it defines who is his ethnically and culturally. Being Latin has many different names such as: Chicano, Mexican American, Hispanic, Latin, Mexican, or American. These are cultural identifiers and finding the right label for you is really important. Or at least Juan Tejada thinks so. He explained how some of the labels were extremely general and did not specify enough where the roots came from. Others just were not Mr. Tejada. He said that as a result from attending and graduating from University of Texas in Austin, he became a Chicano.
His education was very impressive. With a Bachelor in Chicano Studies and a Masters in similar Mexican histories, who can argue this man knows what he is talking about? When listening to his presentation the one feeling I received the most was passion. Passion was oozing out of his ears when he spoke Mexican and Texan history. It was really amazing.
When he finally got to the music part of the presentation he explained there are three major styles of border music: Corrido, Conjunto, and Orquesta Tejano or as some say, Tejano. He ended with outstanding performances of various styles and tunes. He played a special type of flute, a shell horn, a special drum, and of course, an accordion. Juan introduced us to an ancient style of music that the Aztecs would play. He sang a poem with the flute in three different languages! Before class ended, he finished with a variety of Conjunto/Tejano performances on his accordion. The only word I can think to say about this man, and I hardly think it will say enough, is WOW. I can honestly say I hope he can visit again.
Juan Tejada visited our humanities class on Wednesday and I was just star struck! He works at Palo Alto College as an instructor for, get this, the only Conjunto organization at the community college level in San Antonio. He was hired at Palo Alto specifically to accomplish the task of building a well known organization that teaches about Conjunto music. His job has been keeping alive the respected ancestral music of Conjunto or Tejano. If you ask anyone at Palo Alto I think they would tell you he has been doing a terrific job!
Juan Tejada calls himself a Chicano. In his eyes, this label is exceedingly important because it defines who is his ethnically and culturally. Being Latin has many different names such as: Chicano, Mexican American, Hispanic, Latin, Mexican, or American. These are cultural identifiers and finding the right label for you is really important. Or at least Juan Tejada thinks so. He explained how some of the labels were extremely general and did not specify enough where the roots came from. Others just were not Mr. Tejada. He said that as a result from attending and graduating from University of Texas in Austin, he became a Chicano.
His education was very impressive. With a Bachelor in Chicano Studies and a Masters in similar Mexican histories, who can argue this man knows what he is talking about? When listening to his presentation the one feeling I received the most was passion. Passion was oozing out of his ears when he spoke Mexican and Texan history. It was really amazing.
When he finally got to the music part of the presentation he explained there are three major styles of border music: Corrido, Conjunto, and Orquesta Tejano or as some say, Tejano. He ended with outstanding performances of various styles and tunes. He played a special type of flute, a shell horn, a special drum, and of course, an accordion. Juan introduced us to an ancient style of music that the Aztecs would play. He sang a poem with the flute in three different languages! Before class ended, he finished with a variety of Conjunto/Tejano performances on his accordion. The only word I can think to say about this man, and I hardly think it will say enough, is WOW. I can honestly say I hope he can visit again.
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