News Roundup, Nov. 4, 2021
Lots of new exhibits are opening or have just opened across the city.
The McNay Art Museum isfeaturing 100 works by the California artist Wayne Thiebaud who is 100 years old. The career-spanning exhibit shows a wide range of artistic interests and subject matter, that also reflect the art trends of a century. Not to be missed! (To learn more about it, see our story from Nov. 1 on this site)
The McNay has also announced the completion of its $6.25M landscape project, the first phase of the museum’s Landscape Master Plan developed by Ford, Powell & Carson architects. Following a press preview in the early afternoon this Sunday, the entire community will be invited to visit the grounds during McNay Free Family Day, from 1-4 p.m. The event includes free admission, performances, live music, lawn games, free prizes, art activities and more, inside the museum and outdoors. Steve Parker’s sound installation, Sanctus, will end the festivities, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. (6000 N. New Braunfels, 78209; 210-824-5368; www.mcnayart.org)
A major exhibit is opening at the Witte Museum as well. Titled Black Cowboys: An American Story, itexplores the lives and work of black men and women, both enslaved and free, who worked on Texas ranches and took part in the legendary cattle drives before the Civil War and for some years after the war. The exhibit includes photographs, artifacts and documents from that time that paint “a more diverse portrait of the American West.” Visitors will be shown how the cowboys tamed and trained horses, tended to livestock and rode with the cattle across the land. Actor and playwright, Eugene Lee, will impersonate Hector Bazy, who wrote his autobiography, describing his cowboy life and work. The exhibition is co-curated by the Witte’s Texas history curator, Bruce Shackelford and University of Texas Ph.D. candidate, Ron Davis. (Black Cowboy opens Nov. 6 and stays on view through April of 2022; included with museum admission; Witte Museum is located at 3801 Broadway, 78209; www.wittemuseum.org)
The DoSeum has a fun new holiday exhibit called The DoSeum Express: Tiny Trains and Trolleys, which consists of unique, whimsical miniature versions of trains, mysterious caverns, trolleys and a “snowy town where mice live and play.” There’s also “a vibrant fairy village.” This miniature world has been created by the museum’s 2021 Artist-in-Residence program winners: Kallie Cheves, Daniel Rivera, Randall Rudd, Linda Vivenza, and Robert Wurzbach & Emily Kinder. (Nov. 6 – Jan. 2, 2022; 2800 Broadway, 78209; 210-212-4453, https://www.thedoseum.org)
Dance lovers, and flamenco lovers, in particular, will have a lot to enjoy this weekend as the 12 Annual WeFlamenco Festival gets underway. The festival opens today, Nov. 4, at the Carmens de la Calle Café, which is one of the organizers, and continues through Nov. 15 with events across the city. The fest, whose mission is “to celebrate, educate and invigorate the local dance community,” includes intimate venue performances, a fashion show, a documentary screening, a flamenco percussion workshop, virtual master classes, and more. It ends with a flamenco flash-mob at the Missions. (To learn more about it, see our article from Nov. 2 on this site. For a listing of events go to www.facebook.com/weflamencofest)
Another festival happening this weekend is the 13th Annual DiwaliSA fest which celebrates Indian culture in San Antonio. Co-hosted by the City of San Antonio and Anuja SA, the event honors San Antonio’s Sister City relationship with the city of Chennai in India. The festivities will take place at the Hemisfair Park and the Tower of the Americas. According to information supplied by the organizers, this festival of lights, represents “the triumph of good versus evil; light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.” The evening will showcase Indian dances and foods, and booths will sell merchandize from different regions of the huge country. BTW, the traditional Indian dance, kathak, is considered the progenitor of flamenco. (Saturday, Nov. 6, 6 – 10 p.m.; Hemisfair Park, a percussion parade will start at 6 p.m. from Alamo St. to the Tower of the Americas. For more info go to www.anujasa.com/diwali-sa/)
For a different kind of music, you have several options. SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s next concert is Reflection on 100 Years of Tango, an homage to the master of the genre, Astor Piazzolla, who died in 1992 but would have turned 100 had he lived. “Piazzolla’s genius is reflected in the infinite ways he stretched the genre of tango” says a SOLI announcement. The concert will feature works by the Argentine composerin new arrangementsby Clarice Assad and a piece by San Antonio composer Aaron Prado, in addition to an “artful selection of Piazzolla’s works, including the playful Bordel 1900, the majestic Le Grand Tango, and the ever-popular Libertango.” (Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., McAllister Home, 203 Terrell Rd. 78209, on the patio. This concert will follow a fundraising “milonga” that starts at 5 p.m. To attend both costs $150; concert alone is $25; go to www.soliensemble.com/reflection/ for tickets.)
The Agarita Chamber Players ensemble seems to be in a hurry to fulfill its promise to offer a free Humble Hall performance to all ten of the city’s districts before the end of the year. This weekend that means Districts 4 and 5. Both concerts are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 7, the first at 11 a.m. in Pearsall Park (5102 Old Pearsall Rd.), and the second at 3 p.m. in Roosevelt Park (331 Roosevelt Ave.) Both are free.
This Sunday, you can also attend a concert by the Austin Baroque Orchestra at St. John’s Lutheran Church spotlighting the music of 18th century Spain and Portugal. This is the ensemble’s first in-person appearance since 2020. They will present Fernando y Barbara, a title that refers to the period of Spain’s most musical royal couple, Ferdinand VI and Barbara de Braganza. The players use period-appropriate performance practices and replicas of early instruments. This sounds interesting to us. How often do you get a chance to experience “history” or at least the sounds of history in the 21st century? (Nov. 7 at 3 p.m.; 502 E. Nueva St, 78205; tickets at the door or online; some tickets are “pay as you are able.” https://austinbaroqueorchestra.org)
And for yet another style of music, attend The Soul Rebels’ concert at the Carver Community Cultural Center. The Rebels are “the innovative, soulful, and globally recognized eight-piece sensation from New Orleans who are riding high after garnering national attention with their latest album, Poetry in Motion.”
(8 p.m. Nov. 6; 226 N. Hackberry, 78202; 210-207-7211; www.Thesoulrebels.com; tickets through Ticketmaster or purchase at the Carver’s box office; $34)
And there’s more: jazz composer and trumpeter, Chris Botti will be at the Tobin Center (Sunday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.; $36:50) and a mix of several bands, including Pinata Protest, will play at Paper Tiger (Saturday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.; $23). Also, superstar Enrique Iglesias’ show, that was cancelled twice before, is apparently back on at the AT&T Center (Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.)
We recently featured belly-dance artist and Karavan Studio principal teacher, Karen Barbee Adkisson, in our Interview Express section. Well, here’s a chance to see her and her team perform, in fact two chances: Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Mediterranean Grill (8507 McCullough, 78216) and Sunday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. at Decco Pizzeria (1815 Fredericksburg Rd., 78201) The dancers will perform with Dallas-based Badrawn ensemble on Saturday, and with Bexar Brass Band on Sunday.
GALLERY NEWS
San Antonio artist, Margaret Craig, is showing her work at the Gallery 100 at Palo Alto College. She creates work “that will engender thought about the relationship between humans and their surroundings,” says her artist statement, a goal she achieves in an aesthetically effective way. She uses plastic to communicate her message, a very appropriate material, given the huge problems caused by discarded plastic items gathering in the oceans. (On view through Dec. 2; other artists in the same space are Lacey Mills and Dinah Coakley; reception Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.; open to the community; Concho Hall, Palo Alto College, 1400 W. Villaret Blvd., 78224)
Bihl Haus Arts will host a gallery talk by UTSA professor, Patrick Gallagher on the Belize Barrier Reef, in conjunction with the exhibition Below and Above the Waves which features images of coastal Belize fish and anemones by photographer Mark Mayfield. (Free and open to the public; 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6; 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., inside the gates of the Sorrento Apartment complex.; www.BihlHausArts.org)