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Pop Art Texas Style

“I cut a piece of fruit in half and I blow it up as big as Texas,” said local artist Reggie Watterson. With over 50 years in visual arts, Watterson has Pop Art down to well, an art. While attending Florida State University where he received his bachelor’s in Art (with a major in Painting and minoring in Art History), he was struck by his love of Pop Art and decided he wanted to explore the exaggerated opportunities that fruit and vegetables could offer splashed across a canvas.

You weren’t on the track to obtain an art degree in Florida, so what happened?

It was sort of an accident that I took a drawing class, then a painting class at the community college and it just grew from there. Later I moved to New York and furthered my career by obtaining my MFA in Sculpture.

Texas Lemon
“Texas Lemon” acrylic on wood 48″ x 48″

Your works are sizeable, some are up to 48” x 48”.  With something so large do you have a workflow you typically follow?

I start out by cutting a piece of fruit in half, making a rough drawing directly on the wood panel, then I usually start adding color to get an idea of the amount of color to create a push and pull effect.

Your work is full of vibrant colors, is there something you are trying to convey?

I work in an intuitive way, trying to make a painting interesting with multilevel color combinations until I achieve a certain balance using the color in the fruit against the edges, which are from across the color wheel. I rely on my own color sense to hit the right combination of color depth and contrast.

Is there one fruit that is harder to transfer onto canvas?

The pomegranate took me months and months to paint because I couldn’t get it to sing to me. It took me more that six months. That’s the one where it kicks you around the block and then becomes your friend.

You mentioned that you lived in New York and Florida, what brought you to El Paso?  

I was raised in a beach town in Florida and wanted to live in a warm and sunny place different than Florida. I had been to El Paso on business a couple of times and thought this might be a great place to retire and follow my dream. The people are so nice and welcoming here that it was an easy decision. 

Why did fruit and veggies speak to you, as opposed to, say, the landscapes of the Southwest that inspire so many artists here?

I had started the Texas Pop Art series in the final years of my college career and never got the chance to follow that theme, as making a living sort of displaced the environment necessary to continue the effort.

With an MFA in Sculpture, do you pursue that field?

I have degrees in both painting and sculpture and usually stop one to investigate the other. Right now the big fruit paintings are all I do. I have another style of work that is smaller in scale but have put that exploration on hold while I follow this line of investigation.

“Texas Red Onion” 48” x 48”, acrylic on wood
“Texas Red Onion” 48” x 48”, acrylic on wood

You have studio space at the Art Junction—is it important for an artist to work away from home?
It may not be important for every one but for me having a space where I can leave the stuff I am working on from day to day is important, as I seem to be able to pickup where I left off.

What makes a successful artist?
That is a good question, but hard to answer. I think creativity is baseline for an artist. If you can continue to paint or sculpt and feel a certain accomplishment in that endeavor, that may be the best we can do to become successful. Artists should be willing to make and show their work when possible, as art is both private first and public second.

Is it hard for local artists to showcase their works?

El Paso has limited art gallery space and that does make it difficult for local artists to exhibit their work in the proper venue.

If you could have one home in the world that has your work in it, whose house would it be?
There is not just one home that I would prefer; my reason for making the giclees of the original paintings is to allow many people to collect the work with which they connect.

What are your plans for 2016?
There are a few more pieces of fruit that I would like to paint this year, but I am getting new ideas that call to me as I work and thus I never know exactly what the next painting is going to get my attention.

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Pulp Poetry

Valentin Sandoval’s debut prose collection, South Sun Rises, is a true American chronicle. The collection, published last December, features poems of familial ties and struggles with its personal and shared traumas. Sandoval’s slice of American pie is bubbling at the surface and grabbing at your feet. Sandoval’s lust for life comes across in “La Rutera,”

His Father,
those Ancient Ones unite to see
me, who is them
in full form.
They teach me how to
laugh at the sickness
when it overwhelms,
like a Buddha I roar
my laugh into the dark.

Valentin Sandoval
Valentin Sandoval

He speaks from the womb, and as his mother. The on-again, off-again maternal protagonist radiates, and then, in a poem like “El Coyote,” the Chihuahua Desert becomes part of the narrative and the dual protagonists become immersed into the narrative landscape. He also reaches out from an omnipresent voice. From Sandoval’s “Narcopreneurs”:

I pray,
“Oh Great Creator,
Gran Creador,
Juarez needs salvation,
their souls need to be sown
into the life of Juarez,
the beautiful city
where there live
young hearts hoping
to claim the new folklore
of their own making,
their own meaning”

South Sun Rises is directly grounded to the source of its setting. What’s most evident in these works is the necessity for the slowing down of time into blood, sweat and tears.

As the poems progress the collection takes on the ideas of the beauty of place, fragility of family, breaking of cycles, survival and resilience. Best embodied in “The Desert Cold Again,”

Sandoval comes across like Faulkner here, the sound and the fury of a pseudo Compson family on the border, stressing the guilt that weighs on the history of our communities and on the best of us.

What stands fresh throughout is Sandoval’s willingness to bear his own traumas, his naked and afraid moments, all of this tied to a journey of hope into wonder, highlighted by his mother. This is Americana through the lens of the border, not just for the mestizaje baked under the Chihuahuan Desert sun, but all the pseudo desert dogs from sea to shining sea.

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EPIC Art

The 45th annual Las Artistas Art & Fine Craft Show on Nov. 21 and 22 has an epic new location—the EPIC Railyard in Downtown El Paso. This historic warehouse—recently renovated and given a new creative life as an event space—is the perfect setting for showcasing local art and fine craft. “The Railyard has allowed us to feature a larger number of artists and craftspeople and expand our educational offerings,” said Las Artistas vice president Jorge Calleja. “It is an artistic space that reflects the environment of our show.”

The Event will take place at the Epic Railyard. A contemporary event venue.
The Event will take place at the Epic Railyard.
A contemporary event venue.

This hip new venue gives art lovers another reason to attend the weekend-long showcase of art and craft made by more than 90 creatives from El Paso and beyond. Visitors can see and shop for paintings, prints, ceramics, jewelry, home decor, wearable art and more. The event serves as a well-known beacon among locals seeking out distinctive and fun holiday gifts. Admission is $6 per day, free for children under 18, and there is free valet parking. Creative cuisine will be provided by Food Truck Circus.

A popular feature of the Las Artistas Art & Fine Craft show is that you can meet and speak with the artists and learn the story behind the piece of art and the technique that was used to create it. There will also be demonstrations, such as painting and woodturning, so you can watch the creative process in action. As part of Las Artistas’ commitment to promote arts education in El Paso, the show will feature a juried exhibition of children’s artwork made by students from Polk Elementary School.

The more than 90 artists and craftspeople participating in the show have met Las Artistas’ strict standards for originality, creative vision, technique and craftsmanship. Many have exhibited in the show in past years, including metal artist Helen Dorion, whose contemporary jewelry is sold in galleries across the U.S., and nationally renowned painters Aleksander and Lyuba Titovets (painters of former first lady Laura Bush’s portrait).

Meeting the community’s growing interest in discovering new and emerging artists, for the first time the show will feature up-and-coming artisans in a dedicated section this year. Metals artist and jewelry maker Laura Caballero, who came to El Paso from Juarez to attend school at UTEP, will display her playful, colorful jewelry made of metal, gemstones, resins and glass. Another first-time participant is Patricia Black from Las Cruces, N.M., who grows and paints gourds and transforms them into contemporary art pieces with a Southwest flair. Roman Martinez is another emerging artist who creates paintings and murals influenced by iconic western themes and his Mexican heritage. Pam Schuster is a self-taught jewelry artist who enjoys experimenting with silver, copper and gemstones to create her work. She has taken classes in UTEP’s Metals program and participated last year in the Las Artistas show in the UTEP student booth; this year she will exhibit her work in her own booth.

Artist Laura Caballero wearing a ring that will be available for purchase at the show.
Artist Laura Caballero wearing a ring that will be available for purchase at the show.

For more than 20 years, Las Artistas has provided students from UTEP’s Metals and Ceramics programs with a unique opportunity to show and sell their work. 40 students, selected by their professors, participate in this “learning classroom,” where they interact with customers, get feedback about their work, and gain marketing experience. They are also able to meet and network with the other established artists and craftspeople in the show.

A portion of the proceeds from the Las Artistas Art & Fine Craft show is used to support 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.

The first show was held in 1970, in the back yard of an artist’s home in El Paso, and was organized by a handful of women artists (thus the name, Las Artistas). Over the years, the show has grown in popularity, moving to various locations in El Paso, and has expanded to become a two-day, juried event.

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Refracted

The innovative, award-winning artist and El Paso native, David Alan Boyd debuts new work from the Mesilla Valley, in this one-day salon on November 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Light and Shadow will feature large and small works inspired by the landscape and daily life in the Mesilla Valley and Old Mesilla.

The salon provides a rare opportunity to meet the artist, and to enjoy and purchase art in a relaxed environment. Artwork will be available in a wide range of prices to fit any budget.

David is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work is based on digital photographic imagery. This work includes both traditional photographic prints, and multi-image “polyptychs” using a variety of image sources and materials. David will be featured, along with the internationally renowned Las Cruces artist Carlos Estrada Vega, in the exhibit Light, Color, Space, Motion at the Las Cruces Museum of Art in May of 2016.

For press inquiries please contact Colleen Boyd, (575) 647-9642 or cb@zianet.com

Learn more about his work at

www.david-alan-boyd.com

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Abstract

Originally from Sacramento, Calif. artist Erin Galvez recently walked away from a guaranteed paycheck in an effort to allow her love of color, her imagination and her heart to break through the confines of commercial artwork.  Galvez earned her degree in art from California State University, worked in Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts while growing up and moved from Portland, Ore.  Last January she moved to El Paso, while painting for a Phoenix based company that specializes in commercial art. However, shortly after she arrived she says something about the people, the culture and the local art inspired her to quit her job and create her own paintings.

Serape II 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015
Serape II 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015

TAA:What was commercial art to you?

Erin: Commercial art is not in my heart. I did what some call “sell out” with commercial art because I didn’t really know how to paint until I began teaching myself. It is a set of different choices. There are certain rules you had to follow. You are never to paint anything peach. Healthcare never wants red pieces and you weren’t to use a lot of purple, but that is changing. Commercial art is how to make something look really well, really fast. I started at 10 cents a square inch in 2004 and I was up to 35 cents on paper and canvas until I quit.

TAA: You consciously made the switch three months ago to quit painting in the commercial world—how do you feel about that choice now?

EG: Oh man—I am so relieved. There is this burden lifted and coming to the studio is such a different feeling. It’s my work. I’ve never had this kind of freedom. My drive is kind of insane now and it’s all coming together. I feel blessed.

TAA:You are currently prepping for a 25-piece exhibit at The Art Avenue Gallery this December.  What inspired the collection?

EG:This is actually the first collection I started when I dropped my commercial art. I was inspired by a serape collection.  I’ve probably been influenced by this area…these first designs were like serapes and now they are transcending, starting to look more like designs.

TAA:Knowing they are evolving from your original direction, do you feel you have been able to successfully navigate your breakthrough from commercial art to contemporary abstract painting?

Serape III 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015
Serape III 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015

EG:Yes the pieces are definitely meditative and they change and each one evolves into the other. I think chiefly I am a colorist. I just started researching Gestalt psychology which tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions in an apparently chaotic world.   I am hoping it will allow the information to articulate a language to describe my work, that is why I am applying to graduate school. My strength is in color, it is intuitive. I am responding after each successful layer and I am also really interested in surface and acrylic materials in regards to contemporary painting as an art practice.

TAA:Have you noticed a difference in the time it takes you to create a painting now versus the turnaround time for commercial art?

EG:I’ve never really clocked it but it would probably take me, when I am working on eight at a time, that’s at least two a month of work, not including weekends, that’s weekdays. That doesn’t include the prep or framing.  That’s a lot.  I have to give myself breaks.  If I worked on just these, it would take three to four months. It may look simple but it’s incredibly time consuming.

There are some of the pieces that have up to 60 layers in paint and glaze. I’ll put down a paint layer and a glaze layer that gives a physical space—it gives each layer a separation. There is a tiny bit of hovering between each color. That’s how the old masters used to build up their painting with glazes. We were taught to paint like that in college, I am not doing that exactly but it is the same thought.

Serape IV 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015
Serape IV 15.5in x 15.5in, acrylic, graphite, wax on reclaimed wooden panel, 2015

TAA:Do you think you are too hard on your own work?

EG:No I wouldn’t have gotten here if I wasn’t. I am critical, I want to make really good work. I don’t want to be famous. I want to be respected about my work and make a living off my work. Making artwork is a big deal for me. It’s all about life and you don’t want to put just anything up.

[themify_box style=”pink, announcement” ]Please join Erin at her solo show Mestizoan on Thursday Dec. 3, 2015, 6:00 pm at The Art Avenue Gallery 1618 Texas St., Suite E

Mestizoan will be on display Thursday Dec. 3, 2015 through Jan.9, 2016. The Art Avenue Gallery will also be hosting a workshop with artist Erin Galvez on Thursday Jan. 7, 2016.[/themify_box]

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The Art of an Uncaged Heart

When thinking of a time and place to allow oneself to be vulnerable, people, especially those in professional positions, often find that they’d only let their emotional guard down around close friends, family and significant others. For some, vulnerability is best left for a psychologist or an empty room.

But for Austin Savage, the founder and director of local performance company Border Theatre, vulnerability is the key to unlocking not only one’s creativity, but community progress as well.

Cynicism is prevalent now, it’s prevalent in art.

It’s prevalent in human interaction.”

“The opportunity to discover more about yourself can only come about by reaching out to others, because if you’re not reaching out to others, then you’re only containing yourself, and by containing yourself, you create an armor,” Savage said. “You create a protective shield where you’re more worried about your perception and your supposed identity as opposed to the powerful thing that’s inside of you.”

When a friend of Savage suggested he talk for this year’s TEDxElPaso conference, he decided to highlight vulnerability as a powerful way to address an ongoing issue many creative thinkers face.

Austin Savage
Austin Savage

A significant turning point in Savage’s approach to performance occurred when a cast member tragically died while in preparation for his first major show as a director.

During his talk, he didn’t specify the name of the play or the woman who was killed. Instead, with a gentle tone, he described her as a mother of two and as someone whose presence and later absence significantly impacted the cast and crew. Some decided not to proceed with the production, and those who did searched for ways to heal from the loss.

“We found the best way of doing that was opening up to each other. We had to do that before we could move on,” Savage said. “And I realized something. We had connected in a profound way and now we had something worth truly sharing with a larger community.”

But while opening up to one another proved valuable for the cast and crew, Savage still acknowledged that sharing one’s raw emotions is a challenge in society. He searched for answers as to why so many of us find it difficult to be authentic and candid.

Perhaps movies and TV shows play a major influence in our desire to suppress our emotions, Savage suggested. We try to play it cool and create social masks. In the non-fictional world we call reality, real emotions and intentions are often buried underneath a projected image of oneself in order to fit in.

“Vulnerability is considered weakness in a lot of circles, and to a certain extent, in my family,” Savage said. “But when you look back over it, there are tremendous examples of people being vulnerable and being whole. Ulysses wept and so did Achilles. According to the Bible, Jesus himself wept too.”

As Savage made eye contact with the audience in the El Paso Community Foundation room, he appeared to wear no social mask. Exhibiting pensiveness and excitement through every facial expression and hand movement, the emotions he revealed as he stood on the platform in front of an audience of over 100 seemed like the same emotions he’d reveal to a close friend in privacy.

He then challenged the audience to join him in vulnerable honesty.

“If you can say one simple truth, then you have been brave for that day. And all you have to do is find some person and tell them, ‘you are a human being,’” Savage said. “If you’re brave enough to commit that act, then you can take it one step further and tell another person, ‘You can hurt me.’ We know both of those things to be true. And we have to embrace it in order to move forward.”

Later, Savage said that this year’s TEDxElPaso reflected El Paso’s societal advancement. “I think it proves that our community is growing in terms of being able to provide the quality of thinkers and speakers that we have and it’s proving that our community has a voice that communicates with the global community at large,” he said.

The topic of vulnerability seemed relevant to Savage, not only in terms of exploring human behavior, but to TED Talks as well.

“The motto of TED is ‘Ideas worth sharing,’” Savage said. “You can’t share something if you’re not willing to be vulnerable.”

harmonious_feat

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Harmonious Metal

An international sculptor whose work is heavily influenced by his musical training recently dedicated “Flame of Friendship” (“Flama De La Amistad”), an abstract polished stainless steel statue, to the El Paso Museum of Art.

“Flame of Friendship” by Leonardo Nierman
“Flame of Friendship”
by Leonardo Nierman
El Paso Museum of Art;
Isha Rogers Sculpture Mezzanine

Mexican master sculptor Leonardo Nierman, known for his sculptures that reproduce movement and harmony, officially unveiled “Flame of Friendship” (“Flama De La Amistad”), on October 15, as a gift to the community of El Paso from the people of Mexico. The work symbolizes the deep friendship shared by Mexico and the United States. Realized in stainless steel, the abstract work stands 15 feet tall and features fluid, flowing forms. The work, both ethereal and strong, embodies Nierman’s attention to gesture and reflection, and his melding of implied figuration and refinement.

Nierman spoke about the inspiration he derives from the concept of harmony. “There is a freedom in the joy of flying, not only like a bird, but also like a leaf on a tree that, with the wind, it travels…there is no limitation and there is this desire for harmony. There is a harmony that I feel is something that the human race needs,” said Nierman in a recent El Paso Times interview.

Nierman originally planned to become a violinist, and though his artistic practice eventually took a different direction, his years of musical training continue to play a major role in his art, inspiring his painting and sculpture. Nierman studied business and graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1951. However, the artist had started to paint and committed to become a professional visual artist. Nierman has earned an international reputation and his works can be viewed all over the globe. Examples of his monumental sculptures can be viewed throughout Mexico, the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia. Notable publically exhibited works in other media include a mural commissioned for the Physics Department at Princeton University.  Nierman also designed stained glass windows for Temple Beth Israel in Lomas de Chapultepec. Among numerous international recognitions received, Nierman is a lifetime member of the Royal Society of the Arts in London and has been awarded the Palme d’Or des Beaux Arts in Monaco.

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Creating Makeup

Makeup & Hair: Jacklyn O.L. Hernandez
Styling: Jacklyn O.L. Hernandez, Havarti De La Soy, Jaime Hernandez, Mary Moore
Photographer: Jonathon Duarte
Creative Director:  Leíto
Models:Havarti De La Soy, Jamie Hernandez & Mary Moore

As a little boy, born in Ciudad Juarez, Leíto Villalobos Gamboa always loved playing with his mother’s makeup. It was his love of color that saw Leíto testing his mother’s cache of products, and as he grew older, learning ways he could create his own line of cosmetics. The University of Texas at El Paso student (he’s studying Organizational Communications with a minor in Anthropology) has created his own line of eco-friendly, natural cosmetics, called Leíto, with a local edge.

_DSC8893editTAA: Most boys were playing with trucks and getting dirty outside, yet you played with makeup?

LG: There is an emotional side of it. At first I would wake up and watch my mom put on makeup on everyday. There is something about the performance of her putting on her face. It wasn’t like she was painting by numbers, but she was exploring the possibilities of what she could look like that day.

TAA: Your mom knew your were interested in makeup?

LG: All the time, I would just look at her and then I would ask her to try on the blues. I wouldn’t put it on but I would ask my mom to put it on to where I could see her.

TAA: You were just experimenting with the color palettes, yet you mention you were not wearing the cosmetics?

LG: To be honest I don’t know why I didn’t wear it, but I did want to know how it was made and by 18 I was collecting makeup…a lot of it. There was always something so inherently gender about it…and makeup alone doesn’t have a gender but the people that use it do.

_DSC8826TAA: You mentioned that you are vegetarian; does that ethos spill over into the ingredients that you use?

LG: Yes it’s all from scratch. It is organic artisan makeup. It’s a play on a formula that was as natural as possible, as local as possible, sustainable as possible and required no preservatives. They are cream colors that are made and pigment is added that is FDA approved for eyes, lip and cheeks to produce various shades. So it’s an all-purpose cream. It has a glossy kind of texture. It’s so juicy on the lips and dewy on the eyes. It’s a formula that is just quick—you can grab it and go. There has been this thing about makeup that it has to make a statement. I love color and I wanted to make color.

TAA: You’ve made a consciences statement about the ingredients in your makeup.  In this latest photo shoot you are making a strong statement with your makeup by having it applied to different gender identities.

LG: This photo shoot was called About Gender and Cultural Androgyny. You can’t quite get what gender they are. It’s a mystery. It’s about making the invisible visible. They are individuals who are so comfortable with their bodies. I think what is important about makeup is that it is about fluidity and transformation. Two of our models are about gender performance and gender fluidity and I wanted to honor that in the photo shoot. People in my community—like myself and art people—they take a stance and then they define their reality and promote better ways of relating to people, and that is artistic to me.

_DSC8963editMy goal was to create a strong visual of the concepts that surround my makeup and who we are as artists. It’s not just my vision but it’s the photographer’s vision, the models’ visions as well.

TAA: You ‘ve been creating new colors and experimenting with different ingredients over the last year. Do you feel you are more invested in the production of makeup over the application process?

LG: I feel like it’s both, but I consider myself an artist or along the lines of an artisan. I work with my hands and produce this formula. I get to hand blend the colors and control every aspect of it. So I get to collaborate with other artists, it’s not so much that I am a makeup artist, but it’s that I belong to a community and I know what my role is.

TAA: What are the ingredients you use?

LG: I am very transparent about the ingredients. I like jojoba oil because it is closer related to the sebum of the skin and provides a good relationship. From then on what oils or butters resist rancidity and provide the most nutrients to the skin. Everything is measured out and there is a one-to-one formula and pigment I follow.

A great natural moisturizer is shea butter with vitamin A and E and antioxidants that fight free radicals. It’s an all-purpose moisturizer and it’s thick. Cocoa butter, it tastes and smells amazing. It’s sensual and sexy and it smells like dark chocolate. I get prickly pear seed oil—it’s from North Africa and the farmers told me the process takes tons and tons of these minute seeds to produce four ounces of prickly pear oil. (There is not an area in the states that produces this oil.) I am closer to who I am as a person when I am playing in the ingredients.

You can find Leíto’s line of artisanal makeup at:

TI:ME at the Montecillo Night Market

The Pop-Up Mercado downtown

For more information, visit his Facebook page at facebook.com/leitomakeup

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Without a Curtain

The opportunity to write, direct and act in an original play outside of an academic setting is not easy to find in El Paso. Addressing the need to foster local creativity for individuals of all backgrounds, actors Austin Savage and Carlos Rubalcava created the Border Theatre to do just that five summers ago.

Rubalcava and Savage agreed that they didn’t want their company to follow a conventional format, and the formation of the Border Theatre itself ensured that the organization wouldn’t be your average performance company.

We found ourselves with 17 people who for the most part did not come from traditional theater backgrounds, so we built a system around their strengths,” Savage said. “Our process is developing process, so we adjust and re-mold depending on the members.”

ExhibitionsInDisConnection2011-9Border Theatre’s home, the Glasbox, also helped shape the company. Its warehouse setting means that there are no traditional stage lights, auditorium seats, giant red curtains or a raised platform to serve as a stage.

“We don’t have the facility or the necessary structure to perform conventionally, so for us, it’s always been a matter of adaptation and survival,” Savage said.  “And adaptation and survival has spread our creativity. It has forced us to think about things differently.”

The first production was Exhibitions in Dis/Connection, an annual performance that showcases original short plays. From having the plays performed simultaneously in different parts of the Glasbox one year to the concept of a human zoo in which cages separated performers from spectators another year, Exhibitions in Dis/Connection broke the mold of the type of theater El Pasoans were used to experiencing. 

This past July, the show featured plays written by the Rio Grande Writers’ Room, a subgroup formed by the Border Theatre that is open to the public and explores individual story ideas and scripts at the Glasbox every Wednesday evening.  At the show, audience members were prompted to migrate to every corner of the Glasbox as each play began, inducing laughter, tension and curiosity.

Productions such as Exhibitions in Dis/Connection gave Rubalcava the chance to take on endeavors outside of acting.

“I never tried my hand at writing or directing before,” Rubalcava said. “I’ve gotten much better. It’s been a playground to try new things that I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to do in other places.”

ExhibitionsInDisConnection2012-41The company’s first full-length play, Vultures at the Well, was written by four of its members and follows the journey of a mother who defies the gods as she ventures through a wasteland to find her son. The story was portrayed in an abstract manner, leading the audience to interpret the story through symbolism and poetic implications. While the nature of the play challenged the audience’s very understanding of the story, Savage said the intention of the work created at Border Theatre isn’t to draw specific feelings or moral conclusions from audience members.

“I’m more interested in the process,” Savage said. “I think if you have an idea worth exploring, then you explore the idea. You don’t go in with a pre-existing answer.”

Last year, The Fall of Wallace Winter, a play that satirizes traditional American ideals and egoism, was chosen to be a part of the El Paso Community Foundation’s Jewel Box Series, which showcases regional work at the Philanthropy Theatre. The play received such positive reception that UTEP Associate Professor Ross Fleming will revive the play at the Fox Fine Arts Studio Theatre from Sept. 16-20.

The Border Theatre was also selected to once again participate in the Jewel Box Series, returning to the intimate Philanthropy Theatre on Nov. 13-15 with a production of The Lovely Rain, a story about an isolated prodigy who looks after his sister while keeping up with a mysterious woman who visits him every week.

As the Border Theatre pushes forward through every project, more locals learn what it has to offer.

“That’s the basic idea: you stick around long enough and you earn your reputation,” Savage said. “People will eventually come on board and the company will build a niche for everybody.”

To learn more about the Border Theatre, visit BorderTheatre.org &
facebook.com/BorderTheatre

 

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The Fall of Wallace Winter
Adults $13, faculty/staff,
$11 non-UTEP students,
$9 for UTEP students
Call box office at
915-747-5118

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