Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

ON & Off Fred Studio Tour is Coming up

Bihl Haus Arts is in a neighborhood where many artists live and work, and that is probably what inspired founder and former director Kellen McIntyre to start the On & Off Fredericksburg Road Studio Tour fifteen years ago.  It’s an opportunity for the public to visit the studios and see the art of dozens of artists, up-close, visit with the artists and buy original art. Participating artists live or work in the surrounding neighborhoods: Alta Vista, Beacon Hill, Los Angeles Heights, Jefferson, Monticello Park Woodlawn Lake and Edison.

New director Mycah Arellano is continuing the tradition. More than 50 artists will participate in the 2023 tour which now takes place over two weekends: Saturday March 25-26 and April 1-2. It’s a self-guided tour and you can get the map of participating studios/galleries/homes at the Bihl Haus Arts. Every art form is likely to be represented, from paintings and sculptures to photography and clothing design.

The tour kicks off with an Autograph Party at Bihl Haus at 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd. Sponsor Deco Pizzeria, a near-by restaurant will provide refreshments later in the evening at its location, 1815 Fredericksburg Rd.

Since it’s almost impossible to provide an overview of so much diverse art, we opted for interviews with two artists who have participated in the On & Off Fred Tour for a number of years. They are: sculptor Cody Vance and painter Kim Bishop. Today we are publishing here the Cody Vance Interview.

When did you first decide to take part in the tour? What do you enjoy about it?

2015 was my first leap into the tour. My wife and I had just got married 6 months prior and we both were excited about experiencing something so large and community focused.

I really enjoyed meeting so many people. I’m very private naturally, so this type of event forces me to be more social. Many people experiencing the tour gave great feedback about my work but one of the surprises was meeting two geologists. “Rockhounds” have a unique perspective about the types of stone I’ve carved over the years and had great stories about certain types, many they found in their natural state in caves, mines, etc. like honeycomb calcite, I didn’t know that in some cave formations, will glow when a flashlight is held up to it and keep glowing for a short while!

You are a sculptor of monumental works. How did you decide to focus on that?

Actually, I’m not but working towards that goal with one of my pieces. My stone carvings tend to be around 16-20 inches tall. Very elegant pieces, ideal for formal settings. The monumental part comes in with a piece I’m currently approaching the city and other philanthropic parties about. It’s a metaphorical, figurative work focusing on PTSD and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). It’s a depiction of a uniformed soldier built like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces missing. This person is holding two piece of puzzle in his hands, trying to figure out where they fit, if they fit, and the reasons surrounding the dilemma. We’re all a puzzle, a work in progress, but some of us who have experienced trauma cannot seem to find parts of ourselves that were there before. The trauma changes us. Some find those pieces again but many do not and that causes a lot of stress and can compound other life-long behavioral challenges.

Are your sculptures mostly commissioned?

Most of my stone sculpture work is not driven by commission. I’ve learned that, unlike a painting or illustration, my abstract sculptural work, needs to be free of anyone’s constraints or direction. If a customer asks me to create a piece, they’ve obviously seen my work, appreciate it and then need to understand that I’ll do what I do as best I can to make them something spectacular.

If someone asks for a bronze piece however, It definitely needs to be a creative partnership. A bronze commission tends be more subject driven. We could be trying to depict something historically significant, a piece of a broader story or life, whereas a stone abstract is wholly emotive, combining sight, touch and feeling to tell it’s story.

You are a veteran. Do you teach in the art program for Veterans that Kellen created?

I am a veteran. I retired in 2010 after serving 24 years in the Air Force, one of the last of the cold war babies I guess you could say. My first 12 years were as a Security Specialist, now called Security Forces. My last 12 were as a graphic artist and Medical Illustrator, which I’m still employed as at Wilford Hall on Lackland AFB.

Noticing that I’d been involved in other veteran programs, Kellen asked me to help build a new program with the focus on teaching art to veterans with PTSD, TBI and depression. We built this new program in concert with Vet TRIIP (Veterans Team Recovery Integrative Immersion Process), and although many of the students describe it as therapeutic, it’s not art therapy in the strict sense. The Bihl Haus professional instructors start the students out on very basic drawing skills, much like a person would experience in any academic setting. They learn not only a creative skill but a new life path to help them cope with daily struggles. Our earliest feedback from the group was that, across the board, they all felt “good” for about 72 hours after a session. That was an amazing thing to learn.

What will you be showing in your studio for the tour?

We’ve been showing on the tour since 2015 and every year up until 2020 we conducted business inside, which limited the number of artists and pieces they could show. Since the pandemic we’ve all had to change how we do things. For us, last year was the first two weekend format, but also our first for showing exclusively outside. This year we’ll have 8 artists joining us with as much room as they can handle to set up displays. It promises to be an interesting mix of art and mediums being shown and ready to purchase. Another fun advantage of us showing outside is that we have a large sculptural garden, filled with interesting carvings and lovely flower arrangement, courtesy of my talented wife. There are also many carved animals in the yard that young and old kids can stop by, get a list of the animals and have a fun little seek & find adventure throughout out the property.

There will be two receptions this year. What exactly is the Autograph Party?

Traditionally the artist autograph party was a fun idea to enable the community to meet the artists and get their autograph, on the official tour catalog. This is a fantastic exercise and active piece of local San Antonio art scene history, along with a fun filled night of art, food and music. Although some of the community folks may ask for signatures, what usually happens is that the artists go around collecting autographs from each other, kind of like musicians signing a guitar during a Luckenbach concert…it’s a great piece of historical treasure for us.

Please tell us about how you decided to become an artist?

It wasn’t a decision at all, I’ve always been a creative person drawing or painting on anything I had on hand. I literally work on a project every day, even if it’s only a small something that takes me 5 minutes. Since retiring from the Air Force I’ve expanded my toolbox quite a bit to include not only drawing and painting, but also stone and steel sculpture, ceramics, bronze, stained glass, etc. My key mantra is “why not?”.

Please add anything else that you feel is relevant.

Buying art from your local artists is so important and beneficial to our communities. Anyone can go to a department store or an online shop and buy a piece of art, it’s so easy that many do it every day and that’s all they’ll ever do because they think that’s what makes them happy.

When you go out to a local art show it’s Inspiring. You’ll get enlightened about your surrounding communities by seeing things through their eyes and lifestyles. So, you finally drag yourself out to go to an event, intent on seeing an artist because you heard their work was amazing. But then you grab tacos at a food truck supporting the event and they’re fantastic! Then you make your way through the crowd, listening to the music being played and maybe a catching live performance piece being acted out in the middle of the parking lot and you find yourself unable to walk away because it’s so cool and nothing like you’ve witnessed before. The short story is, that the next day your head will be full of what you saw that night. You met a couple of artists in addition to the one you intended to see and they were all so interesting. You brought home several pieces of artwork, met the artists who created the work and shared stories with them. Those stories you’ll be able to share with your friends and everyone else who ever visits your home from then on. You’ve made memories to live along with the art you bought. That’s special.

Do you expect Micah to make significant changes at Bihl Haus?

Kellen built a fabulous mechanism for the community to showcase some of San Antonio’s beautiful culture through art. This focused mindset and much hard work enriched so, so many lives it’s hard to even count the impact. Mycah is leading us into the next phase of things. He has a lot of great ideas and equal amount of energy and knowledge to get things done. Bihl Haus Arts has been evolving since its inception and will continue to do so under it’s new Executive Director. The future is bright!