Arts Alive San Antonio

A unique exhibit featuring contemporary Chickasaw artists is opening next Friday at the Briscoe Western Art Museum. If you think of Native American art in terms of turquoise jewelry and woven basketry, you will be surprised to discover a whole new range of artistic expressions in painting, sculpture, mixed media, fiber, and other media. Titled Visual Voices, and actually put together by a board of artists, the show has been touring for the past couple of years and the Briscoe is its last stop. American Indian art is one of the four “pillars” of Western Art. The others are cowboy art, Spanish & Mexican heritage art, and wildlife. The Briscoe is open seven days a week, operating at 50% of capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. Tickets are free for museum members; $10 for others. (To learn more about the show read our feature story from 9/17/20 on this site.)

The Briscoe is also inviting all residents of Bexar County to take advantage of Locals Day discounts on the third Saturday of every month, through the end of December. Adults pay 50% of the regular admission price and children are free. History buffs will love discovering the museum’s treasures such as Pancho Villa’s saddle, Santa Anna’s sword, works by Frederick Remington, a display of the Battle of the Alamo, and a lot more. The museum is right on the River Walk, so you can combine two fun experiences on the same day. (www.briscoemuseum.org)

There is good news from the McNay Art Museum as well. A new exhibit Hollywood’s Sistine Chapel: Sacred Sets for Stage & Screen has been installed in the Tobin Theater Arts and Brown Galleries and will be on view through April 4 of next year. The show includes artworks from the McNay’s own remarkable collection of theatrical design plus six never-before-seen, hand-painted film backdrops from the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios. The latter were lent to the McNay by Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.

The six backdrops were originally created for MGM’s 1968 papal drama, The Shoes of the Fisherman, starring Anthony Quinn. According to the press release, the images are replicas of Renaissance masterpieces that actually adorn the walls of the real Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The backdrops were saved from decay and oblivion through the 2017 Backdrop Recovery Project initiated by the Art Directors Guild Archives. Texas Performing Arts at UT Austin holds 50 movie backdrops from Hollywood’s Golden Age. The McNay exhibit is a brainchild of R. Scott Blackshire, the curator of the Tobin Collection of Theater Arts and was co-curated by Karen L. Maness from UT Austin, and Timothy Chagolla Retzloff, assistant curator of the Tobin Theater Arts Fund.

Film and stage fans should not miss this show! (www.mcnayart.org)

At the Blue Star Contemporary, they are ready for their first ever virtual Red Dot Sale, the art center’s major annual fundraiser. What is, in normal times, a huge party packing 500 art lovers and collectors into Blue Star galleries, to view and buy art, is now an online exhibition, giving potential collectors more time to examine the art and make up their minds. On view Sept. 23 – Oct. 4. But you can still see the art in person by making an appointment in advance. (More about Red Dot in a later article.) www.bluestarcontemporary.org

And more visual arts news: One of San Antonio’s finest contemporary art galleries, Ruiz-Healy Art, is opening a new exhibition, Manos (Hands) featuring the work of Richard Armendariz and Andres Ferrandis. “The exhibition focuses on the artists’ shared attention on the language of materials and the vast physical and mental landscape found only in memory.” Don’t you love that description! Both men are experienced, highly regarded contemporary artists. (Opens 9/23/20; gallery hours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment. 210-804-2219 or info@ruizhealyart.com)

Hispanic Heritage Month is being celebrated this month with numerous events, including the upcoming Mariachi Virtual Zumbathon and the Avenida Guadalupe’s 39^th Annual El Dieciseis de Septiembre Observation. You can participate in the Zumbathon from your home at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. Get ready to Zumba with instructors from MixFitSA to live sounds of Mariachi music, accompanied by Ballet Folklorico dancers. To watch go to the Mission Marquee Plaza Facebook page, @missionmarqueeplaza.The plaza itself is closed to the public at this time.

The Avenida Guadalupe party is also virtual, “brought to you from the heart of the Avenida Guadalupe neighborhood.” In addition to entertainment, there’s also a serious program featuring cultural anthropologist Dr. Maria Zentella who will talk about rare details of the Mexican revolutionary period. The music will be provided by the Mariachi Azteca de America. The event will be streamed on TVSA and the city’s Arts & Culture department’s website; 6-8 p.m. Saturday.

The San Antonio International Airport is also pitching in with musical performances and visual artists’ participation. The first musical performance took place Sept. 15 but three more are coming up: Henry Brun and the International Duo will play Sept. 25; Jaime Varela steps in Oct. 2, and the female mariachi group Flor de Jalisco will close the festivities Oct. 15. The visual artist is Miguel Sainz though no information was given regarding his presentations. The live entertainment will be streamed on the airport’s Facebook page through Oct.15.

The airport has become a regular live music venue and art exhibits are all over the walls. To see the full schedule, go to https://flysanantonio.com/events/

For a different kind of experience, you may want to check out the Jump-Start Performance Co.’s new play, I’ll Remember for You, written by Lisa Suarez. As the title suggests, it’s about a woman who is taking care of her Alzheimer-stricken mother. The work is described as “funny, sad, and honest.” It’s guest directed by Samuel Valdez and performed by Suarez and Pamela Dean Kenny. Virtual performances are scheduled for Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. You can choose how much you pay for a ticket, from $0 to $20. A Zoom link and password will be emailed to you after purchase. For tickets go to www.jump-start.org or to the company’s Facebook page @jumpstartperformanceco. For info call 210-227-5867.

The literary organization VOICES DE LA LUNA regularly offers low cost or free workshops to writers looking to perfect their skills. On Tuesday, Sept. 22, poet and teacher Natalia Trevino will lead one of them: The Paradox in Whole Poetry which will explore “the duality and wholeness of autumn as a time of year that both gives enormous bounty and ends the journey for so much that grew in spring and summer.” This event is free; 6-8 p.m. To sign up send message to tocarlaleedpineda@gmail.com.

Admirers of C.S. Lewis – and they are legions – will want to spend An Evening with C.S. Lewis, “hosted” by the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Scintillating conversation and sophisticated humor are guaranteed Only one performance is left, Sunday at 2 p.m. tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624

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