FOR THE LOVE OF ART

The Price Center’s Arts Committee, an all-volunteer group of four San Marcos artists along with the Center’s executive director, have been lovingly overseeing community art exhibits for the past several years and in 2023, their efforts reached a new level of recognition and success. The Gallery was recognized as the “Best of Hays” at the beginning of the year, and one of its collaborative exhibits, Mind Windows: The Art of Roberto Rios, was recently named one of the 10 Best Texas Art Shows of 2023 by Glasstire magazine.

“We are pleased to have our efforts recognized,” said committee chair, Joan Nagel. “What’s more rewarding to the Committee is to see new people participating in our gallery shows; we have had over 400 artists who have participated in these exhibits over the years. We’ve been a launching pad, providing an opportunity for many to exhibit for the first time and have watched them grow as artists,” she added. “I’d like to thank the Committee members, Margaret Adie, Garrie Borden, Tracy Weinberg, and Price Center Executive Director Clay DeStefano for the work that goes into putting on these gallery shows.”

Since its inception in 2017, the Center’s Rotating Community Art Gallery has hosted 33 different exhibits featuring the work of 446 area artists. The rotating art exhibits create engagement and draw a larger, more regional audience than many of the other ongoing activities at the Center. Several works sell in each show, and a portion of the proceeds go back to the Center’s ongoing arts efforts.

In addition to the main exhibits themselves, several pop-up exhibits and community art projects, like last spring’s Green Planet Community Quilt, have also been generated. Using funds generated by the art shows, the Committee has also purchased and installed more than a dozen permanent works of art that reside in the Center’s main Garden. In 2022, the Tiny Garden Gallery was added and this year, the addition of an 8’ tall painted peacock welcomes visitors to the Center’s main entrance.

A more robust schedule of exhibit-related events has been developing each year. Regular activities include public receptions for each show, which also include live music, and an Artists’ Brown Bag Luncheon, which provides exhibiting artists a chance to meet each other and share their art and processes. Additional arts activities also include community art projects, workshops, and intentional gatherings related to the show’s theme. In 2023, the annual 5th Annual International Women’s Day Art Show grew into a 2-month series of more than a dozen events and activities. A similar slate is in production for 2024.

The Arts Committee has developed the following slate of exhibits and their themes for 2024. Additional pop up and community activities will be added as the year progresses.