Arts Alive San Antonio

By Phil Houseal, Contributor

       There are few towns the size of Fredericksburg that embrace art as deeply as this Hill Country destination does. On the first Friday of every month, up to a dozen art venues throw open their doors to welcome the public with wine, cheese and works of art.. from fine art to folk art.

       “People coming here don’t realize we have such a thriving art culture,” said McKensie Moellering, Communication Associate at the Fredericksburg Conventions & Visitors Bureau.

       Yet original art has always been part of Fredericksburg’s story, with the modern era dating back to the 1980s, and earlier when the town was home to artists such as Charles Beckendorf and G. Harvey, who both ran local studios with international followings.

       By 2002, enough new galleries had opened that they came together to promote Art Past Dark, now known as First Friday Artwalk. It’s a delightful, democratic way for anyone with an interest in art to enjoy it, even if they don’t happen to have a budget to buy it. Indeed, First Friday Artwalk is about more than selling art, according to Elizabeth Harris, who, with her husband, Stephen, owns the InSight Gallery in town. The gallery represents a select group of painters and sculptors offering “the highest quality of fine art,” including Western Art, landscape, figurative and wildlife.

       “I think we are lucky to be in a position to inspire people and hopefully to get the next generation involved in art,” noted Harris. “In this age of social media, it’s really nice for them to look at something that someone created, is perfect as it is, and hasn’t been altered by photo software. It’s something that holds true throughout time. It gives them a sense of peace and a way of looking at something that just is what it is.”

       For Harris, who graduated from Baylor University with a degree focused on interior design and studio art, the rewards of working in the art industry go beyond what’s hanging on the walls.
“I have always been very creative, but I never thought of it only as something that I can make a living doing. I probably could have majored in art therapy. I would have loved to have done some sort of art as healing, not just for kids, but with adults, too. I would still love to do that.”

       Across town at the non-profit Fredericksburg Art Guild, using art as a form of therapy is a large part of their mission: to educate, encourage, promote, and cultivate the creation of fine arts throughout the Texas Hill Country. Instructor, Nan Henke, assists painters of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels, to advance from wherever they begin.

“We want to encourage our students to do more than just come and have fun in class,” Henke said. “We want them to learn how to be in a show, how to present their art professionally, how to follow the rules, and how to have the courage to be judged. It is important to have that interaction with other people, especially other artists who are farther along the road. It’s a real growth experience,” she explained while mixing with her students at a First Friday gallery showing. For some, this is the first time they’ve ever worn a name tag that says they are artists. And that’s a big jump. Somebody  called me an artist! I meet artists! Now I am not just somebody who happens to take a class.”

       Students taking classes from Henke and other Guild instructors, might be local high schoolers who have never picked up a brush, or tourists “just looking for a fun thing to do in Fredericksburg.”

       “It’s a leap pf faith for some,” she added. “Our classes are for people who spend a lot of time convincing me they are not artists. And I am very cool with that. I say, good. You’re my ideal student.”

       For novices and viewers who might not be conversant with the artistic “patois,” art can be intimidating. But one purpose of the Artwalk is to counteract the idea that galleries are museums where one whispers reverently and tiptoes around while nodding knowingly at a painter’s use of “incisive brush technique” and “balanced negative space.”

       Patricia Karr, who owns Artisan-A Texas Gallery with her husband, Kurtis, trills a hearty “amen” to that. “We don’t intimidate people because we always put in our ads that we are ‘Texas friendly,’” Karr said. “And most of the galleries here are also friendly. When it’s an open house,

people are free to come and go and you don’t have to talk with anybody. But you can if you want to, and you can get information. To me, that’s the point of it.”

       At a recent Artwalk, as people from all walks of life gathered around and discussed the displays, it was easy to see how it all works. People mingled, laughed and talked over popcorn and wine as they looked at oil paintings and watercolors, fired pottery and woodworks, textiles and kinetic art, all around them. The entire Artwalk experiences combine to create an immersive environment that attracts both visitors and permanent residents, according to McKenzie Moellering.

       “People that come to Fredericksburg want to have an elevated experience,” she added. “Art is elevating, wine is elevating. We bring the pieces together to create that elevated experience.”
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Galleries open at 10 a.m. and extend their hours to 8 p.m.; receptions, special events and local wines, 5-8 p.m.; www.facebook.com/first-friday-artwalk-fredericksburg

Participating Galleries are: AW Studio Gallery; Artisans-A Texas Gallery; Fredericksburg Art Guild; Gallery 330; Good Art Company; Insight Gallery; Koch Gallery; Larry Jackson Fine Art; RS Hanna Gallery and Urban Herbal Art Gallery.