Arts Alive San Antonio

The McNay Art Museum can always be counted on to present thoughtfully curated and handsomely installed exhibits and the new one, ROBERT INDIANA: A Legacy of Love is no exception. Conceived and organized by McNay’s curators – led by Head of Curatorial Affairs Rene Barilleaux – the show opened Oct. 15 in the Stieren Center for Exhibitions.

What’s especially interesting about this exhibit is the way the curators have placed Indiana’s art “in conversation” with the works by other artists of his time and artists that came later, stretching all the way to today. In addition to other Pop Art practitioners, such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, you may be surprised to find pieces by contemporary San Antonio artists, including Ethel Shipton, Jesse Amado and Gary Sweeney.

Indiana created paintings, prints and sculptures that combine text and image in a novel and characteristic way, to explore American identity, his own life and other themes.

 One thing that’s missing is the bright red LOVE sculpture that made Indiana famous all over the world, though there’s a greenish one in an outside enclave. (More on Robert Indiana: A Legacy of Love in an upcoming feature story on this site.)

At the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, they want you to become a part of a different kind of legacy: an unsolved mystery. America’s largest art theft took place on March 18, 1990, when two thieves, disguised as police officers, entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, incapacitated the guards, and stole 13 works of art, including paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet. The thieves were never found and the works were never recovered.

So, now, the Tobin wants you to help solve the crime!

Well, sort of. What they really want you to do is to become part of Art Heist, an “all-new interactive show” that turns attendees into detectives. Along the way, actors will engage you in conversation, revealing clues, real and false. It’s an “immersive” kind of experience that not only offers an opportunity to enjoy live theater in a safe way, but also provides jobs for local actors and crews.

Produced by Right Angle Entertainment, the show is designed to work with COVID-19 safety protocols. It opens at the Tobin tomorrow, Oct. 16, and continues through Nov.1. Apparently, there was so much demand that they had to add an extra week of performances. No two performances will be exactly alike as actors improvise along the way. (Tickets: $39.50 – $44.50 on sale at the Tobin box office, 100 Auditorium Circle, by phone 210-223-8624 and at www.tobincenter.org.

The live music scene in San Antonio remains viable and vibrant, though mostly in virtual format. The Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, known as YOSA is ready for its first ever online Standing Ovation Week, consisting of a series of virtual conversations and performances “highlighting the heroes of music during COVID-19.” Though all events are free for the public, YOSA hopes to raise money from sponsors and donors to sustain the work it is doing with young musicians. Starting Oct. 19, there will be a mid-day presentation/conversation and an evening concert through Oct. 23. Speakers include YOSA’s music director Troy Peters, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop, “thought leader” Henry Timms, and Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Dinnertime concerts will feature cellist Christine Lamprea, Agarita Chamber Players, trombonist Ron Wilkins, violinist Elena Urioste, and violinist Augustin Hadelich.
To see the schedule, go to www.yosa.org/ovation-details

Camerata San Antonio has a special concert coming up on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. The program starts with Cutting Limes by Miguel del Aguila, and ends with Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, known as Emperor, because it was originally composed for the emperor of Austria-Hungary. In between, the quartet will play compositions by Kodaly, Enesco and Chevalier de St. Georges. Video interludes between performances will provide more information about the composers, plus an interview with Miguel del Aguila. The four distinguished performers are Ken and Emily Freudigman, Anastasia Parker and Matthew Zerweck. ($20 including repeat viewings; www.cameratasa.org/tickets.)

One event that will actually take place in-person is a big one – the 26^th annual concert by the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, a hugely popular musical celebration of mariachi music by the best mariachi ensemble in the world. It takes place Friday, Oct. 16 in the parking lot of the Freeman Coliseum where people will be allowed to drive-in and either view the performance from the car or set up chairs nearby.  If you are a mariachi fan, this is your chance to enjoy the best of the best. (See feature story from Oct. 14 on this site.)

A wonderful poetry group that calls itself Stone in the Stream plans to present a virtual reading of nature-inspired poetry at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at www.BihlHausArts.org We plan to tune in. The group is committed to environmental advocacy and climate justice through contemplative, artistic and activist response and includes some outstanding poets.

The Classic Theater’s run of Macbeth continues this weekend in a new outdoor location, The Espee, downtown at 1174 E. Commerce Street, 78205. You have to bring your own chair or blanket or purchase chairs from the Classic. Mask are required. Performances starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday -Sunday. Nearby restaurants will offer dinner deals. (Tickets $24-$39 at https://tickets.vendini.com

We also want to remind you that Gemini Ink’s big event, Inkstravaganza, is taking place tomorrow via Zoom. Check last week’s NEWS ROUNDUP for more information. (Tickets: https://geminiink.org/inkstravaganza-event/)