The usual formula to fuel economic development focuses on manufacturing, transportation and distribution. At South Padre Island, the path to boosting the economy has branched out to also include art and how creative endeavors can lead to growth. The Art Business Incubator South Padre Island seeks to give both new and existing art businesses support to establish a presence in the local economy. Its program director Alexa Ocean Ray is…
On Aug. 7, McA2, a virtual art walk series, takes place and artists Angelika Eleni Ruiz Gualberto and Victoria Lopez are seeking artists who would like to participate. The collaboration of the two artists came from the need to express art in the community. Gualberto and Lopez have already successfully hosted two events. Assisting them with technical support are Joe Martinez of KCYP and Stephen Samuel Lopez. The June 5…
Ali Garza of Ali Art & Co. is setting up a display of what she calls “kinetic art” as the first group of onlookers and possible customers stroll over to take a look during Harlingen Art Night. “Anything we can do to get our name out there is good,” said the Brownsville resident. “Events like one this allow us to express what we have to offer.” The last Friday of…
The old house at East Madison and 15th street in Brownsville might look like a building in stages of decay. Some of the letters on the east side of the building are fading away. It reads “Carlotta K. Petrina.” Petrina was an artist from New York who moved to this part of South Texas many years ago. But inside the brick structure that served as her home until she died in 1997…
Every city has a story to tell and San Benito, with the new San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum, is now better able to tell it while also attracting traveling exhibits that can bring new insights to the city. The 7,000-foot-square museum opened in November 2018 and has already featured photo and artistic elements highlighting border life and culture. Luis Contreras II, the city’s cultural arts director, says those exhibits are…
With a dream of becoming a fashion designer, Ida Rodriguez started out designing and sewing her own clothes. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley town of Alton, she was one of a family of seven with a father who was the sole provider, and a strict patriarch. In her early 20s she had an opportunity to attend fashion design school in Dallas, but her father said no; she needed…
In 1995, during her senior year at Lamar University, Lori Rodgers often traveled between Beaumont and Harlingen as she prepared to open her business. The dance major, with advice from her father Rick Mathes, had found a home for Rio Grande Valley Arts Studio in Harlingen and was having the building renovated. She convinced him that she did not need a teaching degree as a backup.“Dance is what I know…