The Art Avenue would like to thank everyone who shared in our Posada last night with our featured artists Wayne Hilton and Francisco Lascurain. There’s still time to do your last minute shopping tomorrow at The Art Avenue Gallery and pop-up at 518 W. San Antonio Suite F. Join us from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Story & photos
by Andrea Rodulfo
One of the most important cultures of the pre-Columbian America was the Inca, whose center was situated in Cusco, Peru. On my travels through South America, getting to know, in person, this culture was a must, so we drove our Volkswagen from Ecuador to Peru and immediately started experiencing a completely unique culture.
Even though the Imperial Age is far gone, nowadays 70% of Peru‘s population are descendants of the Incas and a vast part of their traditions have been preserved by the indigenous communities that inhabit all along the country, whose lives have changed very little since the time of the Inca Empire.
When you are near the Andean mountain range it is easy to spot women wearing their traditional clothing, handmade by themselves. These clothes play a very important role in Andean communities since they are distinctive signs of their history, who they are and where they come from. Besides that, their styling also helps them go through their daily duties: wrapping their babies on their backs or carrying their purchases the same way.
I wanted to know more about the beautiful textiles they wore: colorful handmade pieces, perfect for the low temperatures of the Andean mountain range. To get to know the history and process of these wearable pieces of art I decided to go to Cusco and visit a few towns in the Sacred Valley: Rumira Sondormayo, Ollantaytambo and Chaullacocha, where men work mainly with agriculture and women with textiles.
In my search I met Dana Blair, a young American woman who is working in Cusco and the Sacred Valley area with an association called Threads of Peru.
This non-profit organization is making efforts to empower indigenous Andean women whose textiles they purchase at a fair price. Then they offer these products to a global market online. By doing this they are not only helping to sell a traditional good, but also providing an income to the weavers.
The importance of the Peruvian handcrafted textiles relies on the ancient tradition it is preserving, as well as the sustainability of the families providing the service. To make these textiles attractive to international buyers, the designs had to overcome some modifications.
That is what Threads of Peru called marketing projects, which aim is to help weavers to fusion some of the world’s modern-fashion tendencies with the ancient Inca designs they produce. That way, a very traditional Peruvian piece becomes sellable to a global market.
Threads of Peru started in a classroom at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 2008. The project was created by a class of Interdisciplinary Design students taught by Adam Foster Collins. According to the Threads of Peru website, Collins’ goal was to teach his students that design “is a social process, whose greatest strength lies in drawing out the collective strengths of people working collaboratively across boundaries of culture and discipline.” This class had to reach out to the world and find a place where their skills would help other people. The answer was the Andean weavers in Peru. Ariana Svenson, an Australian woman working in these communities-with sustainable tourism: a project that connects tourists directly with the Andean families-in an agency called APUS Peru, helped these students to make the project a reality.
The process working with these women has been long and difficult, and as Svenson said when we met, “It has been much time of hard work, of which the result is not yet clear. But I am sure that the lives of these children are going to change once we change the life of their mothers.”
When visiting Rumira, one of the communities working with the association, I learned how important weaving is for women all through their lives. It plays an important role in their daily duties as young girls, and later, becomes quite relevant for every important event in their lives since they wear their family history in their clothing. But this beautiful and rich tradition is not helping feed their children and that is the reason why many families have had to leave their communities and try to make a living in overpopulated cities in Peru, where most of the time they face discrimination and exploitation.
Rumira is a prime example of a small Andean village: few families living under very poor conditions, a harsh weather at any altitude—many of them more than 4,000 meters above sea level. Children find it hard to attend to school because of the long distances and even the weather, same happens with medical attention; also in most cases children don’t receive appropriate nutrition.
The textiles weaved in Rumira have been modified by designers, making of them something contemporary and traditional at the same time. The result is a handmade cloth that maintains the Inca weaving tradition, and also offers a very wearable piece for the modern market.
Threads of Peru and the women of the Sacred Valley work every day to improve the lives of the Andean communities. There is no doubt that a change has been made, but the way to go is still long. As for those who would like to contribute don’t doubt visiting the website of this organization (www.threadsofperu.com), you might find the perfect pieces for your autumn and winter wardrobe; and most important, don’t forget what’s behind those beautiful pieces of cloth.
by Lisa Y. Garibay
UTEP News Service
In recognition of UTEP’s role in educating thousands of Mexican students and as a gift of friendship for the University’s Centennial, the Mexican people recently presented UTEP with an original piece by renowned sculptor Sebastián.
Despite roasting afternoon heat, a crowd of several hundred spectators—including politicos from both sides of the border, high school and college students, academics and local artists—gathered enthusiastically in front of UTEP’s Fox Fine Arts Building for the piece’s dedication on Sept. 10. Excitement rose when the sculptor arrived and began rotating his massive spherical creation in order to demonstrate its interactive and ever-changing qualities.
The ceremony was opened by Jacob Prado, consul general of Mexico in El Paso, who recognized the leaders in attendance including Juárez Mayor Enrique Serrano, U.S. Consul General in Juárez Ian Brownlee, Texas State Senator José Rodríguez, judicial dignitaries, members of El Paso City Council and Ambassador of Mexico to the United States Eduardo Medina Mora.
Medina Mora made the official presentation of the sculpture, speaking on behalf of the Mexican people in stating that it was a unique opportunity for the country to demonstrate its gratitude to UTEP for contributing to greater cooperation in an increasingly globalized world.
Prado then introduced Sebastián, who gave a hands-on demonstration of his new work’s textures including the two X shapes that stand for the letters in the names Texas and Mexico as well as the Nahuatl character expressing the transmission of ideas and dialogue for which the sculpture is named.
The design of “Esfera Cuantica Tlahtolli” also symbolizes the historical bonds between Mexico and UTEP, which began with the inclusion of a Mexican student in UTEP’s first-ever graduating class more than 90 years ago up through today with the university enrolling more Mexican students than any other in the United States.
Sebastián explained his process of conceiving the sculpture as a work that would join the area’s ancient roots with its modern goals while expressing his own personal connection to the locale (he lived in Juárez during his youth while his family lived in El Paso). “Hence, I know the region and I love the region,” he said. “And I leave this work here with much affection for El Paso.”
UTEP President Diana Natalicio pointed out the particularly special meaning that the new sculpture had for the university. “We value deeply the many ways that we are united as a community: strong familial ties, a strong heritage, a common commitment to higher education and social mobility as well as a belief that there are no boundaries to our shared hopes and dreams for the future,” she said.
“As good neighbors standing side by side, we will continue to work together to improve the lives of people in our locations, our hemisphere and the world,” Natalicio continued. “And as we do, Sebastián’s sculpture will be a cherished source of pleasure and pride for future generations, inspiring contemplation of ideals such as friendship, communication, partnership, diversity, opportunity, access and excellence.”
Photos by Julio César Chávez
By Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek
Photographs by Victoria G. Molinar
Design by Julia Zamponi
A technical craftician and an artisan—Alejandro Lomeli uses his hands in various trades in order to make a living.
The Art Avenue had the opportunity to speak with Lomeli where we learned how one local historian had a big impact on him as a small child in elementary school and how that impression can be seen in his artwork.
Originally from Monterey, California, TAA learned that this father of two children is a sheet metal installer by day yet artist in life. He reveals how his traits range from the talent his hands have when dipping a paint brush into acrylic and gently applying it onto a scantily clothed female form and canvas’ to the extreme opposite of his 12 year rugged yet technical craft as a sheet metal worker.
Painting on a canvas appears to be easier than painting on a human form with different shapes and curves of various sizes, what prompted you to try your hand at live art?
As an artist, I always want to push myself and not be so one dimensional so I accepted a challenge when a friend suggested I try live art.
Iconic buildings in the Borderplex inspire each of your pieces in this issue. Can you explain why you chose that genre?
I’ve been painting historic El Paso themes. I was first introduced into local history when historian and book writer Leon Metz went to my elementary school to talk to us. I think historical buildings were something different and unexpected to paint on a model, so I went for it. I thought these particular images fit well on my body canvas.
Do you find it sensual when you take paint and a brush to a body rather than a canvas?
Yes I do, but those feelings go away as soon as I start painting and concentrating on the task at hand.
Are there any emotions knowing that what you paint on a body will soon be washed away or is that part of the “job”?
It’s just a job. I don’t get attached to them. I’m good with the photographic evidence of my work.
Have you taken note to who is receptive to your work—your followers?
I’ve noticed people of all different ages and backgrounds interested in my historic El Paso work.
You work with your hands as an artist—but for a living you use them as a sheet metal worker/HVAC installer. Do you see that trade as an art in itself?
Not really—hanging commercial duct is a trade in itself. But I do want to incorporate sheet metal, wood, tile work and other materials into my work in the future. I don’t want to be known as just a painter and I am looking to always push my artwork to the next level.
What is most perplexing within the art world?
It’s most challenging to find the time to paint and be inspired after working nine hours in a physically demanding job and driving back home to El Paso from Las Cruces.
What is your opinion on the art scene in the region?
I’m just really excited for El Paso’s growing art scene. I feel very fortunate to have a small part in it and I look forward to continue creating and taking on bigger projects.
Connect with Alejandro Lomeli on Facebook at LomelliniArt
by Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek
Illustrated by Ashley Medina
Photographs provided by The El Paso Symphony Orchestra
Growing musical youth programs, one instrument at a time. That’s one of the goals of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s Tocando—a program designed to keep students off the streets by instilling a sense of leadership and discipline.
Hart Elementary in Central El Paso is the first school to collaborate with the EPSO and offers 66 students after school activities designed to provide musical and creative experiences. The program is held every Monday through Thursday from 3:15 p.m. – 6 p.m. and through the course of four days, it provides two to four hours in academic work and six to eight hours for music education.
“We are not looking to produce super star musicians or prodigies—though it would be nice—we simply want to give them skills to become successful and productive adults,” said Andy Moran, El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra music director and EPSO assistant conductor.
Teachers of Tocando say the students gain confidence the longer they participate in the program. “It’s amazing to see how the students improve and then to watch the subsequent improvements made in the entire family are as a result…students are exposed to art in other mediums. There have been collaborations with the (El Paso Museum of Art)art museum to show how music relates to the other art,” said Mary Jane Maus, musicianship-teaching artist.
The participating students are in the 2nd through the 5th grade and can choose to learn on a violin, cello, flute, trombone, clarinet or trumpet. Instruments are provided to the children in the beginning of the year and they are allowed to take them home as long as they continue in Tocando. Instructors like to see the progress of the students by orchestrating a student performance each month. The hope is that once the children successfully complete Tocando and have acquired the necessary musical skills, they will join the El Paso Youth Symphony.
This fall the event was held in the Upper Valley in El Paso’s Westside with a Napa Valley-inspired event with simple yet gourmet food and local beer and wine. Supporters were able to raise approximately $12,000 through ticket and auctions sales.
Tocando is made possible in part, by funding through the IGNITE Initiative of the Paso del Norte Health Foundation whose goal is to improve a range of health outcomes by engaging disconnected youth in high-quality programs during out of school hours.
by Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek
It was one of the largest architectural competitions for the El Paso chapter of the American Institute of Architecture in more than 20 years. The AIA received 18 submissions in a variety of architectural categories and announced five winning projects honoring four local firms at their annual AIA awards banquet held at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing last month.
Mary Lopez, vice president of the local AIA chapter and senior architect with Parkhill Smith & Cooper, said it was a very competitive field and the winners were awarded in civic architecture, commercial architecture, non-commercial architecture and historic restoration.
Firms throughout El Paso are allowed to submit one or more projects to be judged by a panel of four tenured architects through what Lopez calls “a very fair judging process.” “When the projects are submitted, the firm’s name is not attached to the submission. That’s the beauty of it, the judges are not from the area and don’t know the authorship of the project or the project itself,” said Lopez. The lead judge this year was John Grable, FAIA, out of San Antonio who was assisted by Gilbert L. Mathews, Honorary AIA, Dick Clark, ,III, FAIA and Mell Lawrence, FAIA.
The judges were looking for design resolution, exemplary skills, mastering of form and function, adherence to that it projects technical requirements, design complexity and social enhancement.
First time participant Rida Asfahani, principal at Root Architects, received the Honor Award, the highest award of excellence for TI:ME. “This was a project that was a-typical to commercial development—something different and great and high quality. We wanted to create something that had avenues and parkways and allowed people to walk through the area similar to a dense city.” Asfahani collaborated with Daniel Piera, a Chicago-based hospitality interior designer and Curtis Fish, who helped propel the project with his expertise in exteriors. TI:ME at Monticello is described as more than a community space but an innovative area that can push the envelope in defining living, dining and retail space.
Edgar Lopez, principal at in*situ, accepted one of three awards for the firm for the Mayor’s choice category for the Mulligan Building(CITY 2). He encouraged other architects to create projects that make a difference. “We as architects are interested in shaping the public spaces around us. With projects like Mulligan — we are pleased to have the opportunity to positively effect the quality of life of future generations in our community by improving the built environment of our city.”
In*situ was awarded the merit award in the Historic Preservation category for the Mulligan Building (CITY 2). The project is a comprehensive adaptive reuse historic rehabilitation project. The building was constructed in 1915 and over the years, the historic façade had been covered in a “brutalist” façade of asbestos containing material from a 60s era modernization. “This 73,000 SF building that has now been restored to it’s historic beauty, sits just outside the boundaries of the downtown district with no historic overlay and had no historic protection. It was an easy target for demolition…,” said William Helm, prinicipal with in*situ.
Helm, went on to accept an Honorable Mention award in the Non-commercial category for the Redwing House in Paradise Valley, AZ. The project was truly a collaboration between architect and owner. “We shared a common vision and minimal aesthetic for the transformation of the aging ranch house into a unique contemporary home. The primary challenge was to dissect the original floor plan of the modest 60s era Arizona ranch house and grow it naturally in a way that the end product is a contemporary home that fits with the scale and finish of the homes currently in the surrounding neighborhood,” said Helm.
Parkhill, Smith & Cooper were the recipients of the Honor Award for the Snyder High School Kitchen/Cafeteria addition. The interior was designed to be open and flexible, creating a dynamic environment with the natural day lighting and vivid school colors. “Parkhill Smith & Cooper is delighted to receive an Honor Award from the El Paso Chapter AIA for the Snyder ISD High School Kitchen/Cafeteria Addition. The project design stemmed from a collaborative effort by several key members of our studio; Alberto Garcia, Mary Stills and Luis Guevara. We are extremely proud of them and the project. We are grateful to Snyder ISD, our client, for giving us the freedom to design something beyond the norm.” Hector De Santiago, AIA, PSC principal.
Mary Lopez said entries can be of any size, budget, geographical location or architectural style. One key element the judges look for is that it photographs well. “It needs to be in good light, the landscape needs to be full so it doesn’t look bare and that’s why some people wait a year or two to submit,” said Lopez.
The Post Acute Care Center project was awarded Honorable Mention for McCormick Architects, which have won 12 AIA in recent years. The center was designed as a 14-bed expansion to an existing 60-bed campus licensed by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. The average age of residents living at the center is 76 years old with a percentage of the patients suffering from Dementia, so attention to critical design details and colors were important to the architects. “We designed the facility to have staggered walls leading to resident rooms to create a sense of privacy and the use of color was important for residents to assist them as a way finding feature,” said Pablo Aguirre, Jr. senior project manager. Ed McCormick, AIA, prinicipal said they were sensitive to spacial planning for the residents, “We placed shelves beside each residents room for them to leave a personal item to provide a better sense of direction when they leave their rooms That along with strategically placing common areas throughout the addition to minimize walking distances.”
Las Artistas Fine Arts & Crafts Show
by Carol Fuscaro
Photos courtesy of Las Artistas
With more than 90 juried artists and craftspeople, the annual Las Artistas Art & Fine Craft Show represents some of the best fine art and craft in El Paso and beyond. Visitors can see and shop for paintings, prints, ceramics, glass, jewelry, metal, leather, wood, wearable artand more. All of the work in this show has met Las Artistas’ strict standards for originality, creative vision, technique, and craftsmanship. With a wide variety of quality, one-of-a-kind art and functional craft, holiday shopping doesn’t get any better than this.
The Las Artistas Art and Fine Craft show is all about cultivating an appreciation for the arts and connecting people with art. At the show, visitors can speak with the participating artists to hear their stories and learn about their visions and techniques. Participants include locally respected artists and craftspeople from El Paso, Southern New Mexico, and other parts of the country, as well as nationally renowned artists such as painters Amado Peña and Aleksander and Lyuba Titovets(painted former First Lady Laura Bush’s portrait)and printmaker Daryl Howard. The 2014 show features new interactive activities that provide visitors with an inside view of the arts: daily woodturning, blacksmithing, and painting demonstrations so visitors can see and learn what goes into making fine craft and art; an outdoor space for exploring large-scale sculptures and garden ornaments; and a children’s activities tent with hands-on projects to encourage budding artists. The relaxed, friendly vibe of the show is complemented by live music and a variety of gourmet food options by Food Truck Circus. The admission price is $5 and free for children under 18, and parking at the event center is free.
Emerging artists booth a popular draw
Las Artistas is continuing its 20+ year tradition of featuring the work of emerging artists – students from the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) Metals and Ceramics program. About 30 students have an opportunity to participate in this “learning classroom” and gain real-world experience by selling their art and craft and learning how to interact with the public. In preparation for the show, the students are encouraged to test their ideas and create jewelry and metal and ceramic sculpture and pieces that are “outside the box.” “The show is a great place for students to make connections with working artists and craftspeople. Las Artistas recognizes that these are the artists of the future and the show participants take on a mentorship role and spend time with the students,” said UTEP Art Department Head Vincent Burke. It is a win-win for all parties: the students sell their work and gain confidence; and the UTEP booth is a draw for the show – visitors love seeing what the students are up to.
Las Artistas has supported UTEP’s Metals and Ceramics students. The UTEP program uses these stipends to provide educational opportunities, such as bringing in visiting artists and sending students to workshops and conferences. Supporting arts education is a key part of Las Artistas’ mission and the organization also donates to other art programs in the area.
Long-standing history
Las Artistas was founded in 1970 by a group of female artists from EL Paso, including Charlotte Nobles, Margie Melby, Jean McGee, Connie Dillman, Cheryl Derrick, Ferne Schrier, Tita Sterling, Tita Lyle, and others. They organized a backyard show, which was primarily attended by family and friends, to sell their work and began a grassroots effort to promote themselves. Over the years, the backyard show turned into a larger one-day show with more participants. As the show grew in popularity and size, it was held in venues such as, The El Paso Tennis Club, Sunland Park Race Track, and the Union Depot. After exceeding capacity at the Union Depot, the show moved to the First Presbyterian Church Event Center and expanded to a two-day event. In recent years, Las Artistas adopted a structured jury and standards system to expand the quality and geographical range of its artist pool and attract highly-accomplished and nationally-recognized artists, and in 2013, began working with a marketing agency. Increased marketing efforts have helped increase attendance and gate revenue, enabling Las Artistas to fulfill its mission of providing El Paso with the best in arts and fine craft and to support emerging artists and local arts programs.
Come support local artists and experience the fascinating world of fine art and craft at the Las Artistas Art & Fine Crafts Show on November 22 & 23, 2014 at First Presbyterian Church Event Center on 1340 Murchison Drive. For details,
visit www.lasartistas.org.
Photos courtesy of the artist
Originally from Quezon City, Philippines, Shirley Anne made El Paso her home in 1976. A graduate of Loretto Academy she obtained her BSN from UTEP College of Nursing and is pursuing her MSN as a Family Practioner. When Shirley Anne isn’t busy with studies, being a super wife and mom of three precocious girls, she picks up her Nikon D7000 and shoots with her favorite 50 mm lens to capture just the right moment.
Photographed by Lencho Guerra
The family of Francisco Lascurain Labadie recently contacted The Art Avenue in an effort to share the artwork of their patriarch that has been behind closed doors for more than 20 years. This artist preferred to be an unknown, quietly afraid people wouldn’t appreciate the subjects he painted. Shortly before he passed in 2013, a videotape was recorded; a biography to his family, which The Art Avenue had translated from Spanish to English with the help of his wife Marisa Lascurain and daughter Veronica Lascurain-Valdez. This is where we learn how Lascurain was born into a prominent family in Mexico City in 1926, grew up with a love of architecture and painting and was fascinated by the common worker in Mexico.
The oldest of five children, Lascurain cultivated friendships in Mexico City with philosophers, writers and artists indigenous to Mexico who were inspirational in his life like Don Jose Vasconcelos, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco, Felipe Orlando and Rodolfo Nieto. While they were clearly influential individuals in Lascurain’s life, it was the day laborer—the common workers of the 30s and40s that would eventually catch his heart and his eye.
“As a young boy I was very curious about culture and adventure,” said Lascurain
This curiosity and perhaps a bohemian lifestyle he choose to follow is what prompted his travel to Spain in his late teens and early 20s in search of his ancestral roots where he stayed and studied for several years. It was during this time he met with the great Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.
Lascurain later returned to Mexico where he cultivated his architectural passion and designed works in both Mexico City and eventually in Chihuahua where he later moved in 1984. “My dad was very busy. There were so many people that wanted him to design for them, yet he never wanted to publicize his accomplishments, he was humble,” said Veronica Lascurain-Valdez. It was after much consideration he decided to follow prospective leads towards Ciudad Juarez. Later, with the gentle prompting of his wife Marisa, they moved to El Paso, TX in the mid-80s, so their three children could be educated in the states and learn English.
He was ready for a change, yet it wasn’t an easy move. “My biggest challenge was the language and different laws that govern the architectural field,” said Lascurain through the 20-minute videotape. The codes and rules were different in the U.S., and he would need to go back to school in order to be certified as an architect in the states. To start over again was difficult a choice for Lascurain but he felt his career was slipping away. “I fell victim to frustration and depression,” said Lascurain in the tape. It was only after designing with the architectural firm of Nagee and working on construction projects with John Ivy, was he able to feel more secure in his choice.
When he wasn’t working full-time in commercial design and construction he would retreat to a room in his Westside home and sketch in order to feed his creative side. It was there he had pencil sketches of the bodies, faces and the hands of people, most importantly the people of his home country. “My dad would draw in his sketch book until he had the idea of exactly how he wanted something or someone to look. There would be pages of images—he was trying to perfect a line or a shape—capturing the emotions like only he could remember,” said Lascurain-Valdez. She went on to comment that even in his 70s he had an incredible memory. “He used to tell me stories about growing up in Mexico and the history behind each painting. El Taquero (The Taco Man) was one of the street vendors my dad would see every day. This man would serve tacos, salsa and cervezas to the people in the neighborhood. My dad would follow the workers around: the delivery man with the bread, the milkman, the man who sharpened knives, the meringue cookie vendor and even the bartender at the local pub. He made friends with them all!”
Lascurain took his passion and memories of the urban workers of the 30s and 40s and transferred the genuine love of their jobs into grand works of art. It was a time when technology couldn’t interfere, only humans doing the work of what is an everyday ritual in Mexico. Using warm and rich colors he painted an entire series of 20 pieces related to laborer.
Veronica remembers asking her dad why he would not show his work. She said he always responded, “Maybe later when I have 15…maybe when I have 20 art pieces.” Maybe became 20 and he passed. He never signed his last painting, he never titled his last work of art and he left his family in question of what exactly to do with his private laborer collection he tried so hard to keep close to the heart.
In fact only one painting has truly ever left the house, aside from the handful of artwork in the homes of his daughter and sons. “At a dinner party a little over ten years ago, Dr. Manuel Rivera, one of Fransisco’s friends came over and fell in love with ‘El Aguador,’” explains his wife Marisa. “He pulled out his wallet and wrote a check. My husband would not take the check. He never intended to share his work with anyone outside of the house at that time and never thought a moment on the money—it was never about the money.” By the end of the evening Lascurain parted with the piece and Dr. Rivera is the only non-family member to own an original Francisco Lascurain painting to date.
Lascurain painted his figures with great dimension and always caught his subjects in the act or “working.” Because they were laborers, the hands in each piece received particular attention. He used subtle shades of tan, brown and orange, highlighting the hands with darker tones instead of black to outline the subjects. As time progressed, along with his cancer, he began to insert the image of his own hands into the paintings. As his health deteriorated his hands were metamorphosing, similar to a day laborer busy at work who endures callouses and swollen hands. He couldn’t hold a paintbrush any longer and the hands in the paintings became engorged, yet maintained a sense of their own space; depicting a story of perhaps the laborer and his due diligence, and a man fighting his destiny.
Family members still grieve the loss of their patriarch but are ready to pay tribute to a man they loved and share his paintings. “This exhibit will open doors to the world and allow anyone to discover and appreciate the magic of an era, the feelings of the Mexican people and the wonderful way it was captured on canvas,” said Marisa Lascurain.
The Art Avenue Gallery will be the first gallery to exhibit the great works of Francisco Lascurain Labadie. Visitors will have an opportunity to view nine pieces from his laborer collection and pay homage to a great artist. Heritage is currently on display at The Art Avenue Gallery on 518 W. San Antonio Suite F through January.
By Victoria G. Molinar
El Paso’s art scene isn’t the only one that is propelling the city forward; its biomedical engineers and researchers are also igniting noteworthy ingenuity in the community. Last year, local biotechnology startup TeVido BioDevices made waves in the region’s medical field when their co-founder and University of Texas at El Paso researcher Thomas Boland modified an HP Deskjet 340 Printer to render living human cells into 3-D structures, with the future goal of developing organs and tissue for patients (read more). Another scientist from UTEP, Donald Moss, teamed up with a drug company owner to start Brain-Tools LLC, a biotech company that aims to get the Alzheimer drug Moss developed in pharmacies.
These are the kind of breakthrough innovations that the upcoming biomedical research conference Dynamica Expo encourages. But in order to engage the clinicians and practitioners with the findings of researchers and engineers in a more forward-thinking manner, the expo organizers decided to add an art component.
“We decided to pair with a volunteer team of creative thinkers to bring non-standard approaches to the content and presentations of the conference in a way that really inspires visitors’ creativity and enables them to think of what’s happening in medicine.”
They formed an art committee, which consists of leading artists and advocates in the community, including El Paso Museum of Art Curatorial Advisory Board member Rene Nevarez, El Paso Society of Musicians of the Future Board President Lynn Provenzano, Rhonda Doré, the creative director and vice president of Sanders/Wingo Advertising and her colleague, Senior Art Director Lilia Alvarez.
A subsidiary of the 501(c)(3) Medical Center of Americas Foundation, RedSky helped the non-profit organize last year’s first conference, called BIOMED, which included keynote speakers Dr. Gregory Kovacs of Stanford University and academic surgeon Dr. John Aucar and a $25,000 collaborative grant awarded to UTEP and Northern Arizona University for their research on post-traumatic stress disorder. Over 350 people from both in an out of town attended. This year’s upcoming conference was renamed to Dynamica to reflect the dynamic nature of the expo.
To help enhance this year’s visuals, the art committee connected RedSky to Augment El Paso. Once a team of technologists and scientists select six researchers’ abstracts, the group will add a 3-D interactive element to the posters. Not too different from the kind of posters people are familiar with at high school science fairs, the abstracts display research, methods and conclusions. The digital augmentations propose to make the posters more interactive and intriguing, however.
“In traditional abstracts, you could be talking about a cure for AIDS and it could be presented in such a way that would just be completely unengaging to the public,” said Stephen Voglewede, the assistant director of business management at RedSky. “So we looked at this concept of augmented reality. What if instead of reading about how a cure works, you could see a video of how a cure works? You could see a drug interacting with the AIDS virus and how it actually kills the virus.”
Voglewede said that if the augmented posters are a success, they might do away with traditional posters altogether for next year’s conference.
RedSky also teamed up with Fab Lab El Paso to have a brain wave painting station at the conference.
“We wanted to incorporate a technology called electroencephalogram, which basically reads your brain waves through your skull,” neuroscientist and Fab Lab Executive Director Gustavo Arriaga said. “We want to take that brain wave data and feed it into a painting program so you can paint, essentially, with your mind.”
Fab Lab also plans to set up four stations that will each have an invention kit called “MaKey MaKey,” which consists of a circuit board that allows participants to turn everyday objects, such as apples or flowers, into touchpads. RedSky president Albert Di Rienzo said he visited the Fab Lab and was impressed with the non-profit and its founders.
“The owners are quite brilliant and both have scientific mindsets as well as artistic mindsets. The Fab Lab is a much needed resource in the area,” Di Rienzo said. “It sort of goes hand in hand with what we do. I’m hoping we can maybe jointly pursue grants because I think we are very complementary.”
As far as other art elements in this year’s conference, Voglewede said there’s more to come.
“We’re still in the planning phases,” Voglewede said. “But we really want to change the way that people feel when they walk in and we want some experiences to be reminiscent of things that people experience on a day-to-day basis, but with a twist.”
