LOCAL ARTISTS
During the San Marcos Art Fest, which involved art-related activities all around the downtown area, there was an artist panel held in Kissing Alley to discuss the San Marcos art scene, which was coordinated by MotherShip Studios. The panel was composed of creatives of a variety of mediums, including photo documentarian Christopher Paul Cardoza, painter and Texas State University professor Michael Villarreal, upcycled textile artist Corinne Loperfido, ceramic sculpture artist Karly Schlievert and poet, clown and visual artist Julia Fae — each brought a unique perspective and had been in San Marcos for a varying number of years. The panel was one in a series of activities that occurred as part of a Kissing Alley Activation for the day. The day kicked off with a DJ set by &bops. There was a full offering of Loperfido’s upcycled clothing as well as a fashion show. There were also live performances in the evening by Window Shop and Attic Ted.
The discussion started with the impact of Texas State University on the art scene as well as for some of the artists personally.
Schlievert called the fact that she has an art degree her “biggest flex.”
“Texas State was awesome. I think that it provides a lot of professional experience. It does, I will say, focus a little more on high fine art and gallery work, rather than giving students a full perspective of what’s possible of being a working artist. But we’ve got examples of that here, which is really great,” Schlievert said. “The art program doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, but I think it’s an amazing, amazing program.”
Villarreal found opportunities during his time as a student at Texas State, and he wants to create that same experience for his pupils.
“I found a lot of opportunities here in San Marcos. I think a lot of friends of mine and myself, we threw art shows around town and just tried to create community in that way,” Villarreal said. “It’s something I try to encourage a lot today with my students by trying to encourage them to get out here, meet … other creatives that can probably help pave the way to their future careers as artists.”
Schlievert noted that, along with the university population, the art scene has grown as well, but she wasn’t sure whether that could be directly attributed to the rise in student population or the resurgence of artistic energy among the town, in general, after the pandemic.
“There’s definitely a lot more people who are like, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to do what brings me joy in my heart and just take the risk and do it,’” she said.
Cardoza was speaking with a fellow photographer recently and asked him if he remembered when they were the only ones on the scene.
“And now, you walk into an event, it’s like 40 photographers; they all have these little Canon AE ones, and there’s a resurgence of film,” Cardoza said. “There’s a lot of people doing a lot of things, so it is spring time as far as artistry goes here.”
The growing art scene is inviting and welcoming, and that is what Fae finds so special about it.
“Right when I moved here, I was able to submit two paintings to the Healing Hearts art show by the Art League, and it’s just so welcoming. And the Price Center regularly has open submissions, and it’s accessible,” Fae said. “You feel so invited in this town to put yourself out there and not just put yourself out there but join community with the people.”
Schlievert said the easily accessible scene is another contributing factor to its growth.
“It gives the students, art students in particular, a reason to stay here,” she said, adding that artists used to find the need to move to a city with a better art scene, which is no longer the case. “There’s a thriving art community and opportunity here that has been created, so I think that that has been a shift a little bit as well as that people are hanging around more after graduation and putting their energy and time into this community.”
Villarreal pointed to the San Marcos Studio Tour put on by MotherShip Studios as a great avenue for bridging the gap between the local artist and student artist population. He also noted that it opened doors for interaction between the community and artists of all ages.
And there are plenty of other local events that facilitate artist and community interaction, including one that Fae hosts out of her backyard.
“We did a pop-up backyard event called Fright Flicks that we’ll be doing for the third time this year. We live on a main street where a lot of students pass by, and we just gave posters that we made to all of our neighbors and posted on Eventbrite,” she said. “We were able to meet a ton of community [members] and have them over to experience our bizarre mash up of installation art and performance art, filmmaking and film loving.”
The open nature of the art scene in San Marcos is why Cardoza prefers it to California, where he is from.
“The only difference between there and here is that it is inclusive. It’s not exclusive. You don’t have that feeling of, I don’t belong or you don’t belong. You know you’re not shunned,” Cardoza said. “It’s a great thing.”
Schlievert said ceramics is an art that involves community, and for her particularly, that shows up in San Marcos in several ways. She teaches ceramics at the Dunbar Center through the city of San Marcos, and she does ceramic wood fires at Eye of the Dog Art Center, both of which bring people together.
“But the medium of ceramics, in and of itself, really lends itself to community. There’s a lot of things in ceramics that you can’t do alone. I’ve started participating in the wood fires at Eye of the Dog. And if you don’t know what that is, it’s literally just a firing that is fueled by wood. … It takes teams of people doing shifts to fire it,” she said, adding that the community made through her ceramic studio classes at Dunbar is incredibly vibrant as well. “It’s like a little who’s who of San Marcos every night I’m in there. … I’m like a matchmaker for friends, mostly. So many people are like, ‘I didn’t know this person until we took your class, and now, we hang out every weekend.’ That makes me so happy. It’s just really beautiful.”
The conversation then moved to local influential artists and institutions, and Loperfido said she wanted to give a shout out to Eye of the Dog owners Billy Ray and Beverly Mangham “for just being the elder freaks that we all need to live up to.”
Schlievert agreed and also gave credit to the San Marcos Arts Commission, particularly her mother Charlotte Wattigny, for all that they do and have done to enhance and promote the local art scene. She said MotherShip Studios Co-founder and San Marcos Studio Tour Co-creator Jacqueline Overby was also due high praise for her local work.
“We talked about creating your own opportunities earlier, that is a person who took that and ran with it,” Schlievert said. “She said, ‘I want a communal artist space. I’ll build it. I want a studio tour. Okay, let me call five people I know, and let’s just do it and see what happens.’ And it happened.”
Cardoza said Clay DeStefano was also deserving of praise for all the hard work he has done to advance the arts and community through his work at the Price Center & Garden.
“He got that place up and running and going,” Cardoza said. “He’s probably one of the most encouraging people I’ve ever met.”
Cardoza also pointed to the San Marcos Film Lab and Lago Vista Film Lab for the support they provide photographers and their role in the resurgence of film locally. He also discussed the Photo Friends, which are a group that operate out of 1 Hour Film Lab and walk around town taking photos together.
“When they opened up the San Marcos film lab, it kind of changed the course of my medium. I had already started doing film by that point, so it’s kind of cool that I didn’t have to drive out to Austin anymore. But watching that grow [was awesome], and then with the other lab coming in, and then watching all these people just get involved and do something artistic … [by] walking around and taking pictures,” he said. “One thing sparks another.”
Villarreal wanted to recognize the local coffee shops that are serving as venues for the arts.
“Tantra, Joe’s Cafe, Wake the Dead – I think these are places that are keeping us creatives fueled, but they are also giving venues to musicians and artists,” he said.
Loperfido said a positive addition to the local art scene would be a creative reuse place, and Schlievert said although we don’t have a store, there is a free art supply swap booth that happens every month at the ArtSquared market; art supplies can be left at the San Marcos Art Center at any time.
The most important factor moving forward is that the art community supports one another, so it can continue to thrive.
“We are not in competition with each other. We are uplifting each other,” Schlievert said. “The more you uplift your fellow artists, the more that it continues to uplift your own practice and life and soul.”
Follow each of the artists on instagram: Loperfido – @corinneloperfido, Cardoza – @cpaulcphotography, Fae – @theyarnballs, Schlievert – @kscheezy and Villarreal – @lilgoopy.
