November 30, 2006
The Museum held it's Christmas fundraiser on a chilly Thursday evening at
the beautiful home of Clarisa and Drew Darby. The event consisted of a delightful
holiday bazaar and live auction featuring beautiful treasures based on the
theme Feliz Navidad en el Paseo de Vaca complete with strolling mariachis
and a scrumptious selection from Chef Wein's Southwestern buffet. There was
a tremendous show of support from many artists and businesses who donated
works and services to be auctioned for the benefit of the Museum. A special
thank you to our sponsors Clarisa and Drew Darby, Polly and Bob Harper, Julia
and Josh Hochberg, Nancy and Jimmy Powell, to our auctioneer, Vic Choate and
to everyone else who made this event a success!
San
Angelo Standard Times
By Nicole Sawatzky
Friday, November 17, 2006
The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is best known for its delights for the eye, but Sunday, the museum will offer a special treat for the ears.
The sweet sound of the ELISION Saxophone Quartet will fill the museum as the next performance in the popular San Angelo Chamber Music Series.
“We bring in different groups from around Texas and sometimes farther away,” said Valerie Bluthardt, program manager of the chamber music series. “Sometimes it’s ethnic music, sometimes it’s jazz. We try to get something for everyone.”
The ELISION quartet performs everything from Latin to jazz, and Sunday’s concert also will include classical works by Tchaikovsky and Bach.
“We thought that they really did a broad range of music,” Bluthardt said.
The group has performed for events across Texas ranging from former Gov Governor George W. Bush’s inauguration to the Texas State Jazz Festival.
Bluthardt said the chamber music series has always been popular and the ELISION quartet is a great addition to the event.
“We’re glad to see everybody come and enjoy it,” Bluthardt
said.
San
Angelo Standard Times
By Jenny Michaud
Friday, November 17, 2006
A book can tell a story, but the illustrations are what bring it to life.
Illustrations for children’s books will be brought to life as the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts presents “Defining Moments: An Exhibition of Works by Bryan Collier,” now through Jan. 14.
At the exhibit, visitors will be able to see the original works by the illustrator, which are done using collage and watercolors, and compare them to the books in which they appear.
“Mothers and children will recognize things that they’ve seen before and realize that they’re actually looking at the work of art,” said museum Director Howard Taylor.
Collier’s colorful and imaginative illustrations have earned him national attention and several prestigious awards including two Caldecott Honor awards for his art in the books “Martin’s Big Words” and “Rosa.”
“At home and at school, I was encouraged to read,” said Collier in a news release about his art. “I liked the stories, but I really liked the pictures.”
Collier grew up in Pocomoke City, Md., and lives in Harlem, N.Y.,where he works in his studio and visits schools to talk with teachers and children about books and art. His illustrations depict historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Langston Hughes and John Lennon.
“In my art and in my life, I’m looking for the thread that connects all of us,” Collier said. “And I’m looking for that seed of individuality.”
The exhibit, which was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, is funded by a grant awarded to SAMFA last year by the San Angelo Area Foundation.
“One of the oldest forms of communication is telling stories through pictures,” Taylor said of the exhibit. “To tell a story through art is a challenge. But he does it so beautifully.”
Representatives of the five art museums that comprise the West Texas Triangle
Consortium met at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts on Monday, November 6th.
They are seen here planning joint exhibitions and
marketing initiatives for the year 2007. At this meeting they also developed
a mission statement and discussed a wide range of collaborative opportunities.
For more information about the West
Texas Triangle click here. Rough map showing service area of West Texas
Triangle is pictured at right-it's larger than New York and Pennsylvania combined!
San
Angelo Standard Times
October 15th, 2006 By Jennifer Rios
Buckets of sidewalk chalk laid scattered in front of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art's Artoberfeast - for those who weren't scared off by the Saturday morning drizzle.
Volunteer Martha Visney said the event provides a healthy atmosphere and is something the whole family can enjoy. She enjoy when the dads start working on the projects and discover some art in themselves.
"To me, that's exciting," Visney said. "You see a lot of smiles from parents and children."
The event, at the museum, 1 Love St. next to the Bill Aylor Sr. Memorial River Stage, was made up of a small stage with live music, a rummage sale to raise money for the museum and a food and beverage stand.
The museum also provided a room full of free arts and crafts for children, complete with glitter, glue and Popsicle sticks.
While the turnout was not as impressive as in the past, the event still drew a number of visitors to its doors.
Lake View junior Ashton McDowell said she was there on behalf of her school's National Honor Society. Since members must reach a certain number of community service hours to maintain their membership, she figured Artoberfeast was a smart choice.
"It's something that gets your hours in, and it's something that's fun," she said. "I like to do stuff with the kids."
McDowell said she used to visit the museum when she was in elementary school; her class would participate in activities such as Artoberfeast. She said that once she got to high school, she had trouble finding the time. Saturday, she enjoyed helping the children with their art projects.
"I'm not really very good at art," McDowell said, "but I think it's fun."
One brave mother, Julie Hopper, brought her own two children, plus a couple of her friend's children. Sitting on the ground and tying ribbons to paper maracas, Hopper watched as the children had their faces painted with either flowers or scary-mask images.
She said she loves bringing everyone out to enjoy themselves. She liked knowing volunteers were constantly patrolling the area.
"It feels safe up here."
Jade Norris, an educator at the museum and coordinator of the children's craft projects, said she intended for each station to represent different cultures from around the world. Miniature kites represented Asian countries, while the mask-making table covered African heritage.
Children also could throw clay on a wheel, piece together a paper mosaic or experiment in origami, the art of folding paper into shapes.
Outside, artists set up a line of booths displaying their paintings, ceramic creations and handmade jewelry.
Angelo State University showcased its students' talents in two booths. Assistant art professor Ben Sum would stroll from his own outdoor cubicle, filled with Chinese calligraphy and artwork, to buy a cup of coffee and visit with members of Kappa Pi, the art honor society.
Aside from selling pieces of art, organization members also painted faces for $1.
Visney and Norris informed visitors they could check out the museum, which was open to the public for the event. "We're here for the community and families," Visney said.
September 27, 2006-If you havent been to a taping of the Let's Eat cooking
show You Don't Know What You're Missing! On Wednesday hosts Chef Henry
Wiens and Randy Coleman from the San Angelo Community Medical Center spiced
things up a bit by holding a chili cookoff on the grounds of the Museum complete
with R.V.'s, judges, and plastic 
spoons
for everyone. Let's Eat is an entertaining TV cooking show filmed at the Art
Museum complete with a live audience and tastings where
you learn how to eat great and live healthy! For
more information about show times and tapings visit the Let's
Eat website or check the SAMFA events page.
Saturday, September 23rd, 2006- SAMFA celebrated it's Silver Anniversary.
The 25th Anniversary Gala included a variety of speakers that told the story
of the Art Museum and kicked off the opening of Art in Our Lives: A
Retrospective Celebrating the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts' Last 25 Years.
Angelo Civic Theatre's cast members from "My Way", a musical tribute
to Frank Sinatra, led the entire room in singing Happy Birthday as several
of the Museum's Founders blew out the candles. The ceremony was followed by
musical selections from ACT's production of "My Way" in the meeting
room and the sounds of Acoustix on the third floor balcony as guests viewed
the current exhibits.
August 17, 2006- Friends of Ella Mae Johnson, President of the San Angelo
chapter of the NAACP met at the Art Museum for an intimate visit and tour
of the exhibit A Love Supreme by artist Sedrick Huckaby. During their
visit they had conversations with Howard Taylor, Museum Director, Joy Noguess,
Graphic Designer and Art Teacher, Karen Zimmerly, Collections Manager, and
Jade Norris, Museum Educator, who talked to them about the exhibit -- it was
a dialogue, not a lecture! They also viewed works in the museum's collection
with emphasis on art by African American artists including the work of the
late Emily Moss who has gained wide recognition nationally.
Pictured from left to right, top to bottom:
Barbara Parker, Suzanne Horner, William Stinnett, Herminia Bye, Stacy Hicks,
Jade Norris, Jo Ann Tambasco, Howard Taylor, Donna Hughes, Joe Morgan, Amiey
Boyd, Val Hague, Blaine Shelton, Raquel Littlefield, Martha Visney, and Joy
Noguess.
On August 16th, 2006, the Secondary Art Teachers from the San Angelo Independent School District gathered at the museum to spend the day learning about resources the museum offers, to meet SAMFA staff including the new Museum Educator Jade Norris, and to discuss the future of art and curriculum in the school district. It was a productive and successful day and we would like to thank everyone who made it happen!
July 29th, 2006
The city-wide day of caring coordinated by United Way was a success for the
Oakes Street properties in front of the museum. Volunteers from around the
community, including several from Ethicon, spent the day improving the exterior
of the buildings. From scraping and painting to general clean up they gave
the buildings a much needed facelift and proved that San Angelo is full of
citizens with Texas sized hearts. Thank you for all your hard work, that section
of the block is now a more pleasant sight for the community!
San
Angelo Standard Times
July 7, 2006 By BRYAN RUSSELL
brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
Howard Taylor leaned in and peered at a tall panel of four paintings that, from a distance, resembled rumpled quilts.
“There’s no mistaking it’s all about the paint,” said Taylor, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts director. “This is one piece, so you can see he thinks big. These paintings are rich in joy.”
The panel is one of four, each containing four 7-foot paintings that make up the museum’s latest installation, “A Love Supreme,” by painter sedrick huckaby. huckaby’s installation will exhibit today through Sept. 10 alongside a collection of works by members of Angelo State University’s art department.
“A Love Supreme,” named after jazz saxophonist John Coltrane’s classic recording, is a series of quilt-like paintings that represent family and the spirit.
“Sometimes I see the quilts as the African-American woman’s jazz,” huckaby said in an artist’s statement. “The women would sit together making quilts in a different kind of jam session. The group was composed of a circle of women conversing, improvising and making rhythmic beauty together.”
Huckaby, a Fort Worth native, used his grandmother’s quilts and quilts from his wife’s grandmother as inspiration for each of the panels. Each panel also displays colors that represent each of the seasons, alluding to the artist’s love of nature.
“There are different levels of meaning,” said Karen Zimmerly, the museum’s collections manager. “On one hand, it deals with family and comfort, but there’s another facet to it: the love of nature. … The spring (painting) is pastel and soft; the winter one is very white and spare.”
Andrew Awalt, an art lecturer at ASU, hung his black-and-white photographs on a museum wall earlier this week. The photographs capture images of cutting-horse competitions and a rattlesnake roundup. One photograph featured a bucket full of severed rattlesnake heads.
“You don’t see that every day,” Awalt said.
Awalt started his photography in middle school, taking pictures of his friends on skateboards.
“I’ve always liked to go out and take pictures of things in the real world,” he said. “That’s my way of exploring things that interest me.”
Awalt said he wanted to capture the love-hate dichotomy the people at the roundup have with the snakes.
“I found strong scenes of people interacting with the snakes,” he said. “There’s a fascination and repulsion with the snakes.”
John Vinklarek, an art professor at ASU, said the university’s faculty show displays broad artistic interpretations.
“We’ve got photography, painting, sculpture, prints, computer graphics,” he said. “It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for your eyes.”
Vinklarek said while the pieces are open for interpretation, the best way to enjoy the exhibit is to simply take it in.
“Jackson Pollock said, ‘When you go by a flowerbed, you don’t pull your hair out trying to understand it,’” he said. “This is a sumptuous visual feast. Let your eye devour it.”
brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
Caryl P. Weiss’ affinity for the sea began when she saw Marlon Brando’s performance in “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
“Oh, I was there,” said Weiss, a renowned sea shanty singer. “Ever since then, I’ve loved the sea and ships. I love ships, being on ships and sailing ships.”
Weiss also loves the traditional sea shanties that create the soundtrack of nautical life. sea shanties are the rhythmic songs to which sailors hoist sails, drop anchors and swab the deck to make the work go faster.
Weiss performed shanties for about 30 children and parents Wednesday at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. The program also consisted of stations where children made sailor hats out of newspaper and learned about tying various knots.
Weiss opened the presentation with a joke.
“What do you call a fisherman who’s afraid to go to sea?” she asked. “Chicken of the sea.”
Children sang along with Weiss as she played the concertina — an instrument similar to an accordion — and the banjo. Weiss also taught the children the history behind many of the songs.
One song, “The Dead Horse shanty,” details a sailor tradition.
Sailors were given their first month’s pay in advance to use to stock up on provisions before heading to sea.
When the first month was over, the sailors tied a horse effigy made of old canvas and rocks to the end of the main yard — the crossbar on the biggest mast — and cut the rope, dropping it into the ocean to signify that they would start earning money that day.
Weiss said several of the shanties, many of which are hundreds of years old, also served as a way for sailors to vent their frustration at the captain.
Sailors “could say any nasty thing they wanted about the captain as long as it was in song and they were working,” she said. “Some of (the shanties) get rough.”
Weiss’ fifth-grade English teacher introduced her to sea shanties, and she has since made a career of singing the traditional songs on ships and museums. She has recorded eight albums.
Weiss moved to Austin in the ’90s and was named the city’s Best Folk Act of 1995 at the Austin Music Awards.
Before Weiss moved to Annapolis, Md., former Texas Gov. Ann Richards commissioned Weiss as an admiral in the Texas Navy.
Weiss said the shanty tradition is making a comeback in bars along the East Coast.
“They’re springing up all over the place,” she said.
Maria Wilson, 13, said she enjoyed the program.
“It was good,” she said. “I wanted to try something new.”
Weiss said her mission is not only sharing seafaring culture, but also preserving it.
“This particular brand of music is a small slice of history,” she
said. “My purpose is to keep it from fading into oblivion.”
San
Angelo Standard Times
April 21, 2006
By BRYAN RUSSELL
brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
A Chinese student asked David Furman a puzzling question when the California ceramist showed slides of his evolving art at a lecture in Beijing last year.
“‘Why do you change?’” Furman said, recounting the student’s question. “In China, you learn one thing, do it for 40 years, become famous and then you die. I told him I have so many weird ideas I didn’t know if I was going to live long enough to do them all.”
For the time being, Furman will share some of his insights in ceramics during the 16th National Ceramics Competition in san angelo this weekend.
Furman is the invited artist for this year’s competition and will display his work in an exhibit at the san angelo museum of fine arts, 1 Love St. He will also teach a ceramics workshop Saturday at the Old Chicken Farm Art Center.
Furman, who has worked in ceramics for more than 35 years, is a professor of art at Pitzer College in California and has numerous accolades to his name. He received three fellowships from the National Endowment of the arts, and he taught ceramics in Costa Rica and Peru on three Fullbright Senior Artist Fellowships.
He also won the silver medal in 2005 at the third World Ceramic Biennale in Korea, the world’s largest ceramics competition. He has displayed his work in more than 450 invitational and group exhibitions.
Howard Taylor, director of the san angelo museum of fine arts, said he chose Furman to be the invited artist for this year’s event because of his renown in the art world and the originality of his work.
“A lot of people in the ceramics world mention him,” Taylor said. “He has become very famous. We thought the body of work he’s doing is powerful.”
Furman entered the ceramics world through the back door as an architecture and urban planning major in college. He had to take an art class as part of his coursework and chose a course on the history of Japanese art that delved into the country’s ceramic culture.
“I didn’t have a cataclysmic change at the moment, but I knew something was going on,” he said. “Then I said, ‘Hi, Mom and Dad. I’m changing my major after three years.’ “
Shortly thereafter, Furman gave up drafting blueprints for throwing clay.
“It all worked out really well,” he said.
Furman is known for whimsical creations such as stacked fruit and trompe l’oeil — French for “fools the eye” — objects that appear real, such as foods and cups of coffee.
His latest body of work involves the posing of neutral-colored, androgynous mannequins in scenes that force the reader to render meaning solely through the mannequins’ postures and gestures. The viewers’ experiences complete the work, Furman said.
“Everyone comes to this work with their own sense of excess baggage,” he said. “Everyone has a story they can overlay onto the work and become a part of it. … You become the work in a rich sort of way.”
By BRYAN RUSSELL
brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
Art holds the answers to many questions, but Ann Lancaster isn’t looking for them.
“If (an artist) makes me want to know more, they’ve done their job,” she said. “If I look at a piece that has all the answers, it’s not as intriguing. Not that that happens that often.”
Lancaster is the juror for the 16th National Ceramic Competition in san angelo, the second-largest competition of its kind in the world behind the Biennale Ceramics Competition in Korea. The first Texan to judge the competition, she is the co-founder of the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, an institution that plays host to resident craftsmen and promotes crafts in Texas.
Howard Taylor, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Director, said Lancaster’s affinity for craft made her the perfect choice to be the juror of this year’s ceramic competition.
“She’s a very prominent name in the world of arts and crafts,” he said. “And Texas has a very strong crafts tradition.”
Lancaster earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Rice University and has studied fiber art and photography at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Ore., and the Oregon College of Art and Craft. She is a board member of the American Craft Council and the Craft Organization Development Association, both organizations that promote American crafts.
She heads the Texas Craft Initiative, a program of the Texas Commission on the arts that brings together the state’s crafts institutions and raises awareness of crafts in Texas.
“Crafts are one of the most accessible of arts,” Lancaster said. “Everyone has got a quilter, turner or potter in the family. … Crafts are a great way to get people involved in the arts.”
Lancaster pored over more than 1,500 slides to select the 119 ceramic pieces that will be featured at this weekend’s competition, hosted by the san angelo museum of fine arts. She said this reductive process is difficult to use in gauging all the qualities of clay.
“It’s always very hard to judge by slides,” Lancaster said. “The nature of clay is so tactile. You want to pick it up and feel the balance of the clay. It’s always a leap of faith. It’s a little bit scary but always exciting.”
Lancaster said she was looking for pieces that represented a broad cross-section of the ways artists are interpreting clay. She also said with many of the pieces being about the size of a loaf of bread, she wanted the ceramics show to display a range of sizes, too.
“I’m not jurying by the pound or anything,” Lancaster said. “But I want to have an interesting show with a lot of variety.”
Lancaster said many of the pieces reflect a return to the grace and beauty of human figures, a departure from the phase of aggressive ugliness years before.
“They’re not so afraid of being beautiful,” she said of ceramicists.
Lancaster said her decisions ultimately centered on those pieces that spoke to her.
“The pieces that spoke most clearly made my decision easier,” she said.
Texas'
unique history San
Angelo Standard Times
March 3, 2006
By BRYAN RUSSELL
brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
Storyteller Donna Ingham hung a small washboard around her neck and started
tapping out a rhythm with two clothespins.
She dragged the wooden pins across the washboard ripples and broke out into
a stripped-down rendition of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain."
"I'm taking guitar lessons, but I'm not that good," said Ingham,
a retired college English teacher who has regaled audiences with tall Texas
tales since 1995. "I finally found my instrument."
The one-woman symphony of bells, mesquite spoons and a washboard was only
one example of old Texas entertainment that children learned about at the
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts' Texas Independence Day storytelling and crafts
event.
As soon as Ingham started her presentation, children raised their little hands
and asked questions. One child asked why an American flag was hung next to
a larger Texas flag.
"Why do we have an American flag?" Ingham repeated. "Well,
where do we live?"
"Texas," one child answered.
"We live in the United States. That's why we have an American flag,"
Ingham clarified. "But today is Texas Independence Day. That's why we
have a big Texas flag."
Ingham explained to the children why pioneers used items such as spoons and
cow bells for instruments.
"Back in the old days, people came to Texas in covered wagons or rode
horses, and they didn't have room to bring musical instruments," she
said. "Even if they didn't have what we would consider musical instruments,
at the end of a hard day's work, they still liked singing songs and telling
stories."
Ingham told three Texas tales, including the story of Charles Goodnight and
Old Blue, a hardworking longhorn that escaped death on several occasions.
She also told the story of Diamondback Bill, an East Texas rattlesnake who
killed Union soldiers during the Civil War.
Ingham said the Texan penchant for exaggeration entertained pioneers and soldiers,
but also served as a challenge to historical narrative.
"They used humor as a weapon," she said. Diamondback Bill "is
told from the losing side, but they got to kill the (Union soldiers) in the
story. … The tales were entertainment during a time when life could be
grim."
After Ingham wrapped up her Texas yarns, the children cut out and decorated
their own Diamondback Bills out of paper, markers and colored string.
Barbara Howell watched her grandchildren color their cutout snakes.
"I thought (Ingham) was an entertaining storyteller," she said.
"All the stories had nice endings."
Howell's granddaughter, Samantha Howell, filled in brown spots on her snake
with a marker. She said she enjoyed the story about an old Texas lady who
outsmarted three potential bandits.
"I liked the one about the lady who hid her money," she said. "She
was smart."
Barbara Howell said Texas cities should hold more events that feature the
state's unique brand of folklore.
"If we don't do this in some public forum," she said, "the
stories will probably just die away."
STANDARD-TIMES PHOTO BY CYNTHIA ESPARZA
Jane Murray and John Mattson hung up The Rising Star of Texas exhibit Wednesday
at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit is one of three that will
be displayed at the museum starting today.
San
Angelo Standard Times
February 3, 2006
By BRYAN RUSSELL, brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
Robert Summers acquired a collection of wild, abstract Texas art at a time when nobody else wanted it.
While other collectors were eagerly getting their hands on turn-of-the-century Texas pastoral paintings, Summers found an uncorrupted beauty in the post-World War II art of Texans who experimented with shape, color and composition.
''I had been a fan of abstract painting for a long time,'' said Summers, an Austin attorney. ''I started seeing examples of art produced in Texas that was contemporaneous with these movements. They were high-quality paintings, but they weren't being collected.''
Nowadays, it seems everyone wants a piece of Summers' collection. The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is featuring selections of Summers' modern Texas art in a new exhibit called ''The Rising Star of Texas.''
The museum is featuring Summers' collection alongside an exhibit of sketches by Dock Dilworth Parramore called ''Scene and Stories of Early West Texas'' and a third exhibit called ''A Gift for the Generations'' that features pieces from the museum's permanent collection.
The San Angelo museum is one of the first institutions to feature Summers' collection. Summers said Baylor University was going to arrange an exhibit of his collection early next year.
Art institutions are now clamoring to showcase the Summers collection, but abstract paintings weren't always popular.
''Texans have always been in love with bluebonnet paintings,'' he said. ''Some people use that as a pejorative term, but there are some good Impressionist paintings of early Texas. At the time of early oil money, people wanted to buy Impressionist paintings that looked like European paintings. I was never really into that.''
Summers' collection includes work that spans from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Though the period is short, museum director Howard Taylor said, it represents a change in attitude reflected in Texas art history.
''Most people don't realize that in Texas, we have a really long artistic heritage,'' Taylor said. ''There was an inferiority complex toward the East and Europe. We were supposed to be rough, tough and macho, but right from the beginning we were making art out here.''
Taylor said the Abstract Expressionist movement began in Texas during World War II, when an influx of European artists fled to Texas to escape the Nazis. Many of these artists began teaching in Texas universities.
''After the war, it was a different world completely,'' he said. ''Abstract art became more accepted.''
Before the war, Texas art was mainly regional, especially during the Depression - when the Works Progress Administration encouraged out-of-work artists to paint portrayals of people and life in their regions. As the early 1960s approached, many Texan artists abandoned expressionism in favor of pop art.
Nonetheless, Summers' collection represents the unfettered creative energy and brilliance that defined a small microcosm of the vast spectrum of Texas art history.
''One of the things I've been asked about the paintings is, 'What in the world does that have to do with Texas?''' Summers said. ''It's not a mountain in West Texas or a cityscape in Dallas, but it's not about the image; it's the fact that paintings like these were produced in Texas at this time. They really tie in with the development of the state.''
San
Angelo Standard Times
January 26, 2006
By CONNIE TORRES, ctorres@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8263
January 26, 2006
In her television debut, Mary Villanueva was far from lonely.
''I'm here to help her,'' said ''Lonely Boy'' Ringo. ''I'm her apprentice.''
San Angelo-based rock group Los Lonely Boys joined their mother, Villanueva, for her appearance on the TV cooking show ''Let's Eat.'' The episode, taped Wednesday at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, features Chef Henri Wiens and wellness expert Randy Coleman.
The 30-minute program with Los Lonely Boys and their mother will air in three to four weeks, Coleman said. Exact dates have not been set.
''This is a good opportunity for the people of San Angelo to meet the entire Lonely Boys family,'' Coleman said.
Los Lonely Boys are well-known for their Grammy-winning hit ''Heaven.'' Their debut album has sold more than 2 million copies, and their label has reissued it with extra tracks and a DVD element, and has issued a DVD of a live show.
Along with Henry, JoJo, Ringo and their families, Villanueva also had daughters Carey Ann Garza and Crissy Irizarry and their children at the taping. Villanueva said this was a way for her family to show people their bond with one another.
The Boys ''want to make a statement to everyone that we all come together for support - like a burrito,'' Villanueva said.
Henry, JoJo and Ringo watched onstage as their mother cooked their favorite ''Texican'' dishes.
''If you're blessed with a mom that can cook, then you're lucky,'' Ringo said. ''If not, then come over to my mom's house.''
Their mother's ''Spamcheros'' - eggs spiced with garlic cloves, onions and Spam - is a favorite of Ringo's.
''I don't even like Spam, but I love it with this,'' he said.
The Spamcheros are also a big favorite for JoJo.
''I would have to say my first favorite is Spamcheros, and then enchiladas second,'' JoJo said before joining about 20 of his family members onstage. The family members were introduced for the opening of the show and then sat with the audience for the remainder of the taping.
''She cooks really good food,'' said Carina Lyne, JoJo's fiancee. ''It's really cool that she's doing this and that we get to come and watch her.''
With a comal to make homemade tortillas on the kitchen stage, Villanueva said she felt as if she were cooking in her own kitchen. A comal is a cast-iron plate used to make or heat tortillas.
''We're just an ordinary family,'' she said, ''and people get to see that
with us doing this.''
By Bryan Russell, brussell@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8264
San
Angelo Standard Times
January 24, 2006
The Old Jail Art Center in Albany features original works by art masters such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Unfortunately, not too many people have heard of the place.
The accredited museum is in a city about 125 miles northeast of San Angelo and faces many of the same challenges other West Texas museums have regarding name recognition and attracting visitors.
Members of four West Texas museums met on Monday in San Angelo to discuss ways in which the museums can increase awareness of what they and the surrounding region have to offer.
Representatives from the Old Jail Art Center, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, The Grace Museum in Abilene and the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa held a brainstorming session to create avenues of recognition for their institutions, as well as for the Museum of the Southwest in Midland.
"We're trying to figure out how we can jointly make the world aware of five museums that are off the edge of the Earth," said Howard Taylor, director of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. "Four of the musuems are off I-20. We're off I-nothing."
Four of the five musuems are also accredited by the American Association of Museums, an involved undertaking that lends a museum significant cachet in its field. The Grace is undergoing the accreditation process.
With the blessing of the American Association of Museums, the five institutions are ready to showcase their collections for the rest of the country. The country just needs to know about them.
"We're in the middle of West Texas, and we want to do an image-awareness effort," Taylor said.
The museums "cover an area the size of Ohio, and art is a big attraction. We've come to realize that we know we're good, but we've never realized how good we are."
Some of the ways the museums are considering seeking name recognition are by working with public relations firms and local universities, and coming up with creative slogans for the area.
Margaret Blagg, executive director of the Old Jail Art Center, suggested the slogan, "Drive a little. See a lot."
The museums' challenges include limited interstate access and remoteness, but image perception also deters some potential visitors who think of cowboys and Indians before they think of art in West Texas.
"Everyone's image of West Texas is that it's dry, boring and there's nothing to do, said Holly North , curator of collections at The Grace. "When people come to the Old Jail Center, the say, 'Wow, is that a real Picasso?'" Blagg said.
"'It's almost like,"Hey, you hicks have taste,'" said Grace curator of education Kathryn Best with a laugh.
Taylor said the unique collections and willingness to feature a variety of art works in favor of the West Texas museums.
"Most big museums want to copy those in the Northeast and be encyclopedic," he said.
"There are probably 200 artists they're willing to show. We tend to be quirkier, but we do it in a way that is very sophisticated and high-quality."
Taylor said investing in the museums is equal to investing in the community as a whole.
"When museums reach this level of quality, it speaks of the quality of our communities," he said. "If we market ourselves, we're also marketing our communities."
San Angelo Museum
of Fine Arts
One Love Street
San Angelo, Texas 76903
Fax: (325) 658 - 6800
Phone: (325) 653 -
3333
e-mail:
museum@samfa.org