Arts Alive San Antonio

The arts scene is getting livelier this weekend!

Leading the excitement is the new exhibit, Texas Dimensional- Fine Art in Three Dimensions at the San Antonio Art League and Museum, which officially opens Sunday, Jan. 8. Curated by the husband-and-wife duo, Andre and Virginia Bally, the show includes works by Texas artists – including quite a few San Antonians – who work in 3-D. and use a range of media, such as clay, glass, fiber, paper, metal, wood and all sorts of other unusual materials, including airport luggage zipper pulls. Yes, you read it correctly, and that piece also contains piano hammers and a bunch of found objects. Other works are three-dimensional in subtler ways but they are all really fun to see and explore. (Official opening is Sunday, Jan. 8; It closes Feb. 17; free admission; SAALM, 130 King William St., 78204; 210-223-1140; www.saalm.org; Tuesday-Saturday 10.a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sunday-Monday. To read more about it, see our article from Jan.4 on this site)

The music front is also still rather quiet but there is a fun concert in Kerrville: The Symphony of the Hills’ Pops Concert will celebrate Western Swing, “the official music of Texas,” Saturday at the beautiful Cailloux Theater in that city. The program features the four-times Grammy-nominated Western Swing artist, Dave Alexander, who will join the orchestra to perform authentic arrangements of Bob Wills, and other Western Swing classics, including: Oklahoma Waltz, Deep in the Heart of Texas & Oklahoma Hills, Too Gone Too Long, Night Riders Lament, Western Boogie, You’re from Texas, and others.

Alexander, who is a native Texan, has found a way to blend love of Western and Texas swing with orchestral settings and arrangements. (Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Cailloux Theater, 910 Main St., Kerrville 78028; a reception follows in the theater lobby. Guests are encouraged to show up dressed in their “western best.”; tickets are selling fast; call box office at 830-896-9393)

Speaking of orchestras, The San Antonio Philharmonic will resume its season Jan. 13. (More on that next week)

Another musical treat, this weekend, is the concert by master guitarist Ottmar Liebert, the German-born musician who is best known for playing both classical and New Age flamenco. His first album, “Nouveau Flamenco” was certified Platinum in the U.S, in 1990. (Jan. 7 at 8 p.m.; Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry; tickets $35; 210-2072234, www.thecarver.org)

The Musical Pretty Woman, which is based on the famous movie starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, will be at the Majestic Jan.10-15. It features a score by GRAMMY-winner Bryan Adams & Jim Valance. It was a huge success on Broadway, winning the Audience Choice Award the year it opened and it has since gone global. Who can resist a good love story!? Recommended for ages 12 + “due to mature content.” (Jan. 10-15; times vary, Jan. 10-12 at 7:30 p.m.; Jan 13 at 8 p.m., and Jan. 14-15 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Majestic Theater, 224 E. Houston; tickets start at $45; box office 210-2263333, www.majesticempire.com)

This Friday, a metal band from Uvalde, I AM HUMAN, is headlining a show at Vibes Underground, 1223 E. Houston. A couple of local bands will also play. (Vibes Underground, 1223 E. Houston; 210-255-3833, www.vivescenter.com)

The Filth and the Flautas, is going to be a commemoration and celebration of the music of Sex Pistols, specifically commemorating the 45^th anniversary of the wild Pistols’ concert at Randy’s Rodeo in San Antonio back in 1978. According to the release for the upcoming show, all kinds of unpleasant things happened back then, such as beer being poured on guitars, hot dogs flung into the crowd, and worse.

Presented by local label Saustex Records and South Texas pop-culture Museum TexPop San Antonio, the new event will feature a film screening, a gallery pf previously unseen photos from the 1978 show, a panel discussion about the impact of the event, and of course,” the same wild and raucous live music we might have heard if we had been there.”  Performers include The Sons of Hercules (featuring singer Frank Pugliese of the Vamps, who opened the Randy’s show); Jefferson Trout, The Country Killers, and others. Hickoids will perform the Pistols’ set from 45 years ago. (Saturday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m.; Paper Tiger, )2410 N. St. Mary’s St.; $15, www.papertigersatx.com)

Fans of Elvis may become friends of the Autism Treatment Center which is sponsoring a celebration of Elvis’ 88 birthday. That’s how old Elvis Presley would be had he not died at a relatively young age. Elvis’ music will be performed by the Rick Cavender Band. (Jan. 8, 6-9 p.m.; band plays 7-8p.m.; La Hacienda de Los Barrios. 18747 Redland Rd.; dinner, entertainment, Elvis trivia games; $45, www.atcoftexas.prg/elvisbday2023)

Good News from the theater world: A new company, the Miscast Theatre Company, which is in residence at the Public Theater of San Antonio, will premiere The Cast that goes Wrong, a cabaret show that explores non-traditional casting, resulting in role switching that alters a song’s dynamic or meaning, and the viewer’s perspective. The company’s statement says that it “strives to create new opportunities for the artistic community in the Greater San Antonio area through enabling historically marginalized performers to push their artistic boundaries in a positive way.” (The inaugural show runs Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 5-7 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday Jan. 8 at 3 p.m.; Cellar Theater at the Public Theater of San Antonio, 800 W. Ashby; tickets $15-$20; www.miscasttheatre.org)

Art in the Park: Cellphone Photography is a photo session outdoors in Hardberger Park. If you are interested in photography meet with the instructor and the group outside the Urban Ecology Center. The group will head out onto the trails to find interesting things to photograph. (Organized by the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy; Jan. 6, 10 a.m. -12 noon; free but registration required; 210-492-7472; www.philhardbergerpark.org)

Bihl Haus Arts presents Healing Through Writing Gallery Talk and Poetry Reading with retired USAF Col. Lisa Carrington Firmin.  The poems are collected in her book Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal and Resilience on the MST Battlefield. The event is in conjunction with the current exhibit at the gallery titled Perceptions – Reality – Projections by Patrick Putze, also a veteran. (Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.; Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd; free; a book signing will follow her presentation. www.BihlHausArts.org)

And speaking of literary things, we want to let you know about the newest bookstore that opened (unfortunately) downtown. “Unfortunately” because we need more bookstores closer to neighborhoods where San Antonians live. It still good news, however. The bookstore is located inside St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Books span spiritual, psychological, social and literary interests. One of the store’s categories, Banned Books, is spotlighted in an exhibit of large photos showing parishioners and clergy holding their favorite banned book. (315 E. Pecan St. hours are Monday through Friday afternoons from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 8:30 to 11:15 a.m.; to place an order: www.stmarksbookstore.com)

From 60 submissions, the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission announced that high school student, Shelby Henderson’s artwork has been chosen as the winner of the 8^th annual Citywide Art Contest. Her entry, titled No matter Race Everyone is Equal will be used as the visual representation of the 36^th Martin Luther King, Jr. March and Celebration which will take place on Monday, Jan. 16 – in person!