The Kendall Batchelor Trial Class, coverups and consequences in the Texas Hill Country

BY MICHAEL KARLIS

Earlier this month, a San Antonio judge handed down a sentence to District 10 San Antonio City Councilman Clayton Perry that many perceived as a slap on the wrist for charges he faced of fleeing the scene of a hit and run while drunk behind the wheel.

Despite his involvement in what could have been a deadly collision, Perry received just 12 months of probation and 24 hours of community service.

What’s more, local authorities didn’t file a DWI charge against Perry until a month and a half after the crash, leading to more speculation that he received special treatment due to his status.

Next week, South Texas will again play host to a trial involving another high-profile defendant accused of causing a crash while intoxicated behind the wheel. Documents also suggest the person at the center of that trial — Kendall Lauren Batchelor, the daughter of prominent former car dealer Ken Batchelor — may have received special treatment from authorities.

The trial for Batchelor, who’s accused of striking and killing motorist David Belter, 49, in a 2022 wrong-way collision, is set to begin May 15 in Kendall County District Court.

“There’s been a lot of public interest in this case for class reasons, that the [defendant is the] child of someone who has a very publicly recognized name,” San Antonio criminal defense attorney John T. Hunter told the Current. “And with that, I think there are assumptions that there’s affluence, that there’s privilege and opportunity. And society loves a good story about how the wealthy and powerful are human like the rest of us and make mistakes.”

He added: “I think it’s a little bit of a morbid curiosity and the social class structure of South Texas.”

However, records suggest that some of the public interest in the trial extends not only from the defendant’s blood ties to Ken Batchelor, who founded the upscale Northwest San Antonio dealership that still bears his name, but how local authorities handled a previous incident she had behind the wheel.

Observers said the most recent crash and its outcome also may shed light on an entrenched culture of drunk driving in San Antonio and South Texas.

Head-on crash

While the Perry collision drew plenty of local media attention even though no one was seriously injured, Batchelor’s resulted in the death of a Texas Hill Country resident.

That crash occurred just after 10 p.m. June 2, 2022, when Batchelor was heading west on State Highway 46 outside Boerne, according to the allegations against her. She was driving on the wrong side of the road when her 2021 black Ford F-250 pickup slammed head-on into the sedan driven by Belter, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety crash report obtained by the Current

Belter died on impact. And although it’s unclear from documents how fast Batchelor was driving, the force of the collision was strong enough to send her three-quarter-ton pickup rolling, the crash report said.

Batchelor was later found to have had a blood alcohol concentration of .166. She also tested positive for methamphetamines, cannabinoids and opiates, the crash report states.

Although Batchelor’s exact whereabouts prior to the crash will likely remain unclear until details come out during the trial, an attorney representing Belter’s parents in a $1 million wrongful death suit subpoenaed Oben Werks LLC, the owner of Boerne’s Richter Tavern, for all “pictures, surveillance camera footage or photographic material of any kind,” from the bar on the date of the incident.

In response, the attorney representing the bar’s owner filed a protective order.

“Richter Tavern does have receipts and video available regarding Ms. Batchelor but requests a protective order to protect all other patrons captured on the video and proprietary information of Richter Tavern,” the motion said, suggesting that Batchelor was served at the bar the day of the crash.

Prior charges

While the details of the crash are salacious, potentially more alarming is that Batchelor appears to have avoided a late-2021 DWI charge after she was involved in another collision. That decision by authorities not to bring charges came despite her existing police record.

In July 2019, when she was 19, Batchelor pleaded guilty to a DWI in Kendall County, according to court documents. She was ordered to pay a $500 fine and was sentenced to nine months of supervised release. Months prior to that arrest, Batchelor also was cited for underage drinking in Brazos County, according to records.

San Antonio attorney Hunter said such charges frequently receive little serious punishment, noting that most first-time DWI offenders get probation.

“A minor in possession of alcohol charges is nothing,” he added.

Even so, those charges color the subsequent police incident involving Batchelor on Dec. 23, 2021. That time, the events are murkier in police and court records — and despite more potentially serious consequences, she ended up facing no charges.

Eyewitness to a hit-and-run

Boerne residents Mackenzie Woodie and Kennedy Jones were smoking cigarettes on a friend’s front porch at the Burning Tree Condominium complex around 3 a.m. when they saw a pickup truck smack into a pair of parked vehicles.

Batchelor was behind the wheel of the truck and driving at a “high rate of speed,” according to a 16

15 crash report from the incident. The force of the impact turned one of the parked cars sideways and pushed another onto a nearby sidewalk. Luckily, no one was inside either vehicle.

According to both Woodie and Jones, Batchelor tried to flee the scene in her badly damaged truck. Jones jumped in her car, which was parked nearby but hadn’t been struck. Woodie stayed behind and called the police.

Batchelor’s badly damaged ride didn’t make it far. It sputtered out in the parking lot of Boerne Champion High School, where Jones caught up and confronted her, according to police records. Batchelor appeared to be intoxicated, according to Jones.

“I smelled it on her,” she recalls.

Boerne police officers Amy Breedlove and James Estrada arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, according to Jones. However, the two cops didn’t appear as concerned about what could have been a fatal hit-and-run crash as they were to whether Jones had laid hands on Batchelor.

“[Estrada] kept saying stuff like, ‘I’d be pretty mad if someone hit my car,’” Woodie said. “Then he grabbed his iPad and started taking pictures of her [Jones’] hands, because Kendall kept saying she assaulted her.”

No assault charges came, but Breedlove suspected that Batchelor was intoxicated, according to her initial police report. In a report filed at 3:15 a.m., the Boerne officer referred a DWI charge against Batchelor for prosecution.

The damage, too, was not insignificant. “The tow truck drivers who were trying to pick up the cars off the lawn kept saying how bad it was,” Woodie told the Current. “[Batchelor’s] pickup was spewing oil all over the neighbors’ cars.”

Changing case number

Despite Breedlove’s referral, the officers allowed one of Batchelor’s friends who’d shown up at the scene, Alex Babineaux, to drive her to the hospital, Woodie recounts. Before departing the crime scene, Breedlove and Estrada gave Woodie and Jones their business cards with the case number of the incident scribbled in blue ink.

Batchelor would never be charged with a DWI in relation to the December 2021 incident, police and court documents show. If she had, it would have been her second, resulting in a minimum three-day jail sentence and a suspension of her license under the Texas Penal Code.

Under state law, that suspension would have lasted between 180 days and two years — long enough to have prevented her from legally getting behind the wheel on June 2, 2022.

Instead of pursuing a DWI charge, Estrada filed a second Boerne police report at 10 p.m. on Dec. 23, some 19 hours after police documents show that Batchelor plowed into Woodie’s vehicle.

In that report, filed under a different case number, Estrada only recommends charges of Hitting Unattended Vehicle and Leaving the Scene.

Kendall County Criminal District Attorney Nicole Bishop subsequently pursued just hit-and-run charges against Batchelor, misdemeanors far less severe than the potential second DWI that could have landed her in jail for up to a year, per the Texas Penal Code.

In March 2022, Woodie requested a copy of the police report using the case number provided by Breedlove and Estrada so she could file a claim with her insurance company. However, Boerne police informed Woodie via email that she had “inadvertently” been given the wrong case number. Instead, they provided her with the case number written by Estrada recommending the hit-and-run charge.

“I’ve heard of multiple instances where [Batchelor’s] been intoxicated and wrecked a vehicle,” Woodie’s friend Jones said. “She hasn’t learned from the previous times before, and they did nothing from it. And now she’s killed somebody while driving under the influence.”

Records request

The Current was able to obtain both police reports via a June 9, 2022, open records request. However, attorneys representing the City of Boerne initially declined the request on June 23 of that year, filing an injunction and requesting that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervene. Among other things, the lawyers argued that the records were “of no legitimate public interest.”

Paxton’s office ultimately ruled in the Current’s favor.

That same month, Kendall County Assistant District Attorney Robert F. Lipo and Boerne Police Department Detective Micha Binkley declined the Current’s request for comment as to why the county declined to pursue a DWI charge against Batchelor for the December crash.

After follow-up reporting from the Current, Kendall

County DA Bishop reached out via email, stating that her office rejected the case because there was “not sufficient evidence to support a DWI charge.”

Bishop declined to say whether police administered a Breathalyzer test to Batchelor on Dec. 23. She also declined to say why Batchelor was allowed to be transported to a hospital by Babineaux immediately following the crash.

Woodie, Jones, Breedlove, Estrada and Babineaux have all been subpoenaed to testify in the upcoming Batchelor trial, according to court records.

‘I’m going to get you out of jail’

Even after the June 6 collision that killed Belter, Batchelor appeared to have made a relatively soft landing in the legal system.

For the intoxication manslaughter case, Batchelor was booked and charged from her hospital bed since she’d suffered serious injuries from the accident, according to the crash report. At the time, Kendall County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Debby Hudson marked her warrant “no bond.”

Even so, a Bexar County magistrate judge, without explanation, signed off on Batchelor’s release on $120,000 bail just two days after the incident, court records show.

Batchelor ultimately made bond, but her freedom was short-lived. After missing six in-home Breathalyzer test screening windows between June 21 and June 22, Kendall County pretrial services revoked her bond, court records show.

Batchelor’s father would later testify to the judge presiding over the case, Texas 451st District Court Judge Kristen B. Cohoon, that his daughter withdrew $60,000 from his bank account during the time she was out on bail, the Boerne Star Reports.

The former car dealer told Cohoon — the same judge who presided over his daughter’s 2019 DWI case — that he feared she might flee, according to the paper’s reporting.

Even so, Judge Cohoon told Kendall Batchelor during a Sept. 30 hearing that she was doing everything in her power to get her out of Kendall County Jail, the Boerne Star also reported.

“I’m moving you on a fast track,” Cohoon reportedly said. “I’m going to get you out of jail one way or the other, but at this juncture I cannot.”

Despite that assurance, Cohoon ultimately declined Batchelor’s attempts to get bonded out four separate times, according to court documents. Through court staff, Cohoon indicated she would be unavailable to discuss terms of the case.

South Texas’ DWI problem

The incidents involving Batchelor and Perry, and the recent drunk driving arrests of other San Antonio elite including longtime KSAT-TV news anchor Greg Simmons and KABB-TV daytime television show host Esteban Solis, are emblematic of a drunk driving problem plaguing San Antonio and the surrounding area, observers said.

In 2021, San Antonio was ranked as the No. 4 worst city for drunk driving in the nation, according to a BuyAutoInsurance.com report based on FBI crime statistics. The city recorded 1,111 DUI arrests per 100,000 residents annually.

“I’ve lived in a lot of places before, but San Antonio appears to have an unusually high rate of uninsured drivers and hostile drivers, and unfortunately, a strong culture that encourages irresponsible drinking,” said Evita Morin, CEO of San Antonio-based drug and alcohol treatment group Rise Recovery.

Morin also attributed San Antonio’s alarming rates to the city’s lack of walkability and paucity of public transportation options.

San Antonio, and Texas in general, also offer fewer mental health resources, meaning more residents are likely to seek solace in a bottle, Morin said.

“It’s a struggle I see here as far as people not getting the help that they need,” she added. “I think that is a national problem. I don’t think people are always assessed as having an issue until a consequence like a DUI happens, and then they start to realize that ‘maybe this is a problem for me.’”

In Batchelor’s case, that problem could result in serious jail time. Given her current charges, she faces up to 20 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of two years behind bars, according to Hunter.

Batchelor’s high-profile DWI attorney, Louis D. Martinez, told Judge Cohoon in pre-trial hearings that his client has post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety and substance abuse problems.

Batchelor’s array of issues stems from the brutal slaying of her mother, Martha Batchelor, on July 6, 2013, the attorney said. (Martha Batchelor had divorced Ken Batchelor in 2007, according to media reports.)

A suspect, Bradford Hudson, was arrested for Martha Batchelor’s killing in 2019. Although Hudson was extradited to Bexar County from Northern California that same year, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office dismissed Hudson’s capital murder charge “pending further investigation.”

Hudson died in a Bexar County Medical facility in 2020, according to media reports. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office never received a report regarding Hudson’s cause of death, according to KSAT-TV.

Although San Antonio attorney Hunter said that “all bets are off” when it comes to what kind of punishment the public could expect to see if Batchelor is found guilty, he did say that mitigating circumstances could play a factor.

“The fact that this person experienced a really horrific kind of childhood trauma, the violent death of her mother, yeah, I think that goes hand in hand,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in the world who are using substances to cope with something.”

Yet despite Batchelor’s alleged mental anguish and San Antonio’s strong drinking culture, the biggest contributor to South Texas’ drinking and driving problem could be the state of Texas’ lenient sentencing when it comes to drunk driving.

According to Hunter, most first-time offenders in Texas get probation, with others even managing to plead their charges down to obstruction of a highway. At the same time, those under the legal drinking age can sometimes convince a judge to place them on a juvenile diversion program.

About 28% of the 69,000 DWIs in Bexar County between 2009 and 2022 were pleaded down to obstruction of a highway, a misdemeanor charge, the Express-News reported this year in a data-driven investigation.

Natalie Paulus, Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s manager of victim services in Texas, told the Current such statistics are why her organization is working to introduce local and national legislation to force new efforts to curb drinking and driving.

“We were integral in the past legislative session nationally to help push through the Halt and Ride Acts, which if passed, will mandate new vehicles to have technology to detect alcohol impairment,” Paulus said.

But for all the consternation about the dangers of drunk driving, prosecutors may have a hard time earning a conviction against Batchelor.

The state must prove that Batchelor was not only intoxicated, but drunk, at the time of the crash. Hunter told the Current that proving intoxication isn’t as cut and dry as it might appear to the public.

“If I took 20 shots of tequila in a row at the bar, and I walk out of the bar immediately after, and I get into an accident pulling out of the parking lot, I’m probably not intoxicated,” Hunter explained. “That alcohol hasn’t been absorbed into my bloodstream yet. But I’m going to be blackout drunk by the time they get me to the station and get a blood sample.”

Hunter also said that Batchelor’s defense team could question the results from the blood sample taken at the scene, noting that there can be errors in the way blood is collected.

Batchelor, unlike many defendants, can afford a top attorney to pursue those lines of questioning. And that means — just like in the Dec. 2021 incident — she could skate on the charge.

The difference may be that this time, San Antonio will be watching.

WED | 05.03

Theater Tootsie

Tony Award-winning musical Tootsie tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a seasoned Hollywood actors whose reputation as a perfectionist has made it impossible for him to land new roles. He’s on the verge of giving up acting until his roommate tips him off about a soap opera holding an open audition. The problem? It’s a female role. In an act of desperation, Dorsey reinvents himself as “Dorothy Michaels” and earns a spot on the small screen. “Dorothy” puts a feisty feminist spin on the character, who was originally written to be passive and docile. The turnaround transforms the show into an overnight sensation. What was meant to be a shortterm gig snowballs into a multi-season contract, turnup up the pressure on Dorsey to maintain the act. The turmoil comes to a head when he begins to develop feelings for his co-star Julie, which could force him to expose his secret before the acting contract expires. Broadcasting his double life could result in a lifelong blacklist, and Dorsey must decide whether it’s worth risking has career for a shot at romance. $39.60-$99.50, 7:30 p.m., H-E-B Performance Hall, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Caroline Wolff

WED | 05.03SUN | 05.07

THEATER

HARPER LEE’S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

The 2018 stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s iconic novel To Kill a Mockingbird makes its way to San Antonio as part of its first national tour. The play follows 1930s Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch’s defense of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. But, unlike the book, Aaron Sorkin’s stage version unfolds from the perspective of Finch himself rather than that of his 6-year-old daughter Scout. That switch amplifies the internal and external challenges the trial places on Finch, while moving two Black characters, the wrongly accused Robinson and Calpurnia, the Finches’ housekeeper, into the foreground of the story. The tour’s cast includes Emmy-winner Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch, Melanie Moore as Scout Finch and Yaegel T. Welch as Tom Robinson. $45 and up, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 2-7, Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 2263333, majesticempire.com. — Dana Nichols

THU | 05.04

SPECIAL EVENT

San Antonio Flavor

The Current’s annual San Antonio Flavor event will return to the grounds of the San Antonio Museum of Art, featuring bites and cocktails from nearly 30 of the Alamo City’s most popular restaurants. This year’s live, on-stage Culinary Showdown will be the biggest yet, pitting five superstar chefs

— and their celebrity sous chefs — against each other for the coveted title of Flavor Champion. Hosted by KENS5’s Maggie Laughlin, San Antonio Flavor will give celebs including KSAT’s Meteorologist Mike Osterhage, Texicanas star Mayra Farrett and local influencer Donovan Thomson their chance in the culinary spotlight. Chef-prepared bites, as well as wine and beer, DJ sets and the sprawling grounds of the San Antonio Museum of Art create an evening of food-driven revelry. Sold out, 7 p.m., San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., sacurrentflavor.com. — Nina Rangel

SAT | 05.06SUN | 10.29

ART

‘IMAGINARY WORLDS: ONCE UPON A TIME’

Giants have made their way to San Antonio. “Imaginary Worlds: Once Upon a Time” — created by Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal and originally displayed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden — makes its debut at the San Antonio Botanical Garden this month, presented by the

Mays Family Foundation. For the exhibition, eight giants have planted themselves throughout the garden’s sprawling grounds. An almost 25-foot-tall dragon can be found in the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, along with a mermaid in the Hill Country area and a peacock in the Rose Garden. These massive sculptures are made from steel forms covered in soil and sphagnum moss, planted with thousands of tiny plants. Additional tie-in events will take place while these statues are on view in the garden, including DIY programs for crafts, gardening and cooking along with family events and summer camp programs for kids 5 to 11. $13-18, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston Place, (210) 536-1400, sabot.org.

Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

SAT | 05.06SAT | 06.17

ART ‘CATHARSIS’

Corpus Christi artist Franceska Alvarado’s self-portraits are both intimate and surreal to the point of dissociation. They’re rife with symbolic imagery, yet they pull from an anecdotal space that examines her emotional experiences as a young woman. The title of her solo exhibition, “Catharsis,” frames the pieces as a feat of emotional and mental purging, leading to a sense of renewal. The body of work can be viewed as an exploration into the human subconscious, but more particularly, they represent her own personal depictions of anxiety and paranoia and her relationship to those sensations, spawned both in memory and physical sensation. The collection serves as a personal narrative as much as it does an opportunity to delve into the dreamlike subconscious. Alvarado’s creative odyssey into the psyche doesn’t stop here — she received her BFA from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and she will continue her artistic education with an MFA this coming fall at the University of Notre Dame. Free, 7-11 p.m., Saturday, May 6, on view by appointment May 6-June 17, Presa House Gallery, 725 S. Presa St., presahouse.com. — Dalia Gulca

FRI | 05.12

FILM

BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL

Based on the 2000 film of the same name, with music by Elton John, Billy Elliot: The Musical took theater lovers by storm, racking up 10 Tony Awards — including Best Musical — in 2009. Following its acclaim, the stage production was distributed on celluloid in 2014. This May, the Tobin Center will host an outdoor screening of the 2014 film of the musical, bringing the magic of live theater to San Antonians at no cost. Billy Elliot: The Musical tells the story of a young boy growing up in England’s coal country during the 1984 miner’s strike. After his mother’s death, Billy lives in a hypermasculine household with his brother, father and grandfather. Times are tough financially, but Billy — unbeknownst to his family — uses what little money he has to pay for dance lessons, remembering how much his mother loved to dance. Billy soon finds solace in dance and discovers that it may be his family’s ticket out of poverty. However, chasing that future could turn everyone he loves against him. This classic musical — soulful and triumphant in soundtrack and story alike — is fit for audiences of all ages. No outside food or drink will be permitted at the screening, but patrons will have access to a concession stand and on-site bar. Guests are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets and to leave pets at home. Free, 8 p.m., Will Naylor Smith River Walk Plaza, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts,

SAT

ART

Mcnay Art Museum Print Fair

Art collecting newbies and veterans alike can explore, and maybe even find something to bring home, at McNay’s annual Print Fair. Now celebrating its 27th year, the event bills itself as the only one of its kind in Texas, in that it puts the national art-collecting world in reach of the average visitor. Browsers will have plenty of art to choose from, no matter what their interest — whether it’s in contemporary pieces or 19th century French landscapes. Fifteen art dealers from across the country will offer thousands of prints, drawings, watercolors and photographs for sale — in a number of styles, from a number of periods and in a range of prices. Visitors to the museum can peruse the works, meet and get to know the dealers, learn how the art market works and have the chance to buy one — or more — nationally renowned art pieces and prints. $10-$20, 10 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5638, mcnayart.org.— DG and authoritarianism. It follows the story of Duke Vincentio (Mark McCarver), who hands over power to the strict Lord Angelo (Michael Roberts) in a bid to clean up the city’s vices. Angelo is a harsh enforcer of the law, sentencing a young man named Claudio (Guy Martin) to death for improper behavior with his fiancée. Claudio’s sister Isabella (Randee Nelson), a young nun, is forced to plead for her brother’s life. As the lives of these characters intertwine and knot together, the play brings up surprisingly relatable questions about the dangers of autocracy. This production of the iconic play will also feature an audiovisual installation by local artist Mark Anthony Martinez, inspired by Measure for Measure’s themes. $24-$39, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Radius Center, 106 Auditorium Circle, (210) 589-8450, classictheatre.org.

— Macks Cook

THU | 05.11 -

SUN | 05.28

Theater

Measure For Measure

Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure walks the line between comedy and tragedy, with emotional elements mixed in with its humorous puns and hijinks. Directed by Liz Fisher, a newcomer to the Classic Theatre of San Antonio, the play explores themes of bodily autonomy, justice

FRI | 05.11SAT | 05.13

COMEDY

Adam Conover

Best known for his hit truTV comedy series Adam Ruins Everything, Adam Conover is coming to San Antonio for a five-show stand as part of his summer stand-up tour. Following the cancellation of his series, which featured him explaining the truth about common historical misconceptions — such as how Christopher Columbus was a genocidal lunatic and why the TSA doesn’t actually make flying safer — the humorist and political commentator launched another show, The G Word with Adam Conover, on Netflix in 2022. Spoiler alert: the “G-word” is government, and the series explains how bureaucracy positively, and negatively, affects United States residents’ everyday lives. $44-$176, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 Northwest Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — Michael Karlis

SAT | 05.13

SPORTS

XFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: DEFENDERS VS. RENEGADES

After hard-fought victories last weekend, the XFL’s improbable South Division champion Arlington Renegades and dominant North Division Champion D.C. Defenders are heading to San Antonio for the football league’s first-ever championship game. The Renegades, who boasted a regular season record below .500, served a major upset to the favorited Houston Roughnecks on Saturday. Although the Renegades managed to pull off an unlikely win, it’s unclear whether the South Division champs have enough talent to best the Defenders, who have lost only one game during the entire season. Although San Antonio Brahmas supporters would rather see the hometown team playing in the season finale, fans still have one more chance to witness some gridiron excitement from the fledgling league. $35.50 and up, 7 p.m., Alamodome, 100 Montana St., (210) 207-3663, alamodome.com. — MK

Dark Comedy

Ceramic artist Michael Guerra Foerster embraces the playful and the ephemeral

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

Artists frequently use their websites as a platform to present themselves as accomplished professionals with zero evidence of personality.

On his quirky, colorful website, San Antonio’s Michael Guerra Foerster turns that pretentious trend upside down by using the juvenile font Comic Sans — in bubblegum pink, no less — and a headshot that shows him grinning in a bowtie with his arms cov- ered in wet clay slip.

Displayed in bubbles above his head are examples of his sculptural “Floops,” smiling creatures partly inspired by the cartoons of his youth — Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Adventure Time among them. In stark contrast to the playful vibe, Foerster’s artist statement explains that his work actually explores dark and pensive issues including grief, trauma and “the incredible toll of the human experience.” That di- chotomy — silly versus serious — is a hallmark of his practice, as is a tongue-in-cheek approach that pokes fun at the very trappings of art.

Born in Seguin and raised in San Antonio, Foerster had a less-than-perfect experience at Lutheran High School. However, he cites two important takeaways from those years: he met his longtime girlfriend Sarah Saeger and also discovered ceramics there.

“I immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do, which was such an interesting feeling,” Foerster told the Current. “It was like love at first sight.”

After high school, Foerster enrolled at the University of Texas at San Antonio and immersed himself in ceramics. Upon graduation, he started interning at the tuition-free youth arts program SAY Sí, where he now works as an instructor. Curiously, his first solo exhibition out of college was not ceramics but a soft sculpture show.

“I was really struggling to figure out how to continue making ceramic work without the facilities and equipment,” Foerster explained. “So I continued working in a similar style, just doing soft sculpture. And that was an important experience — to work with a different medium but with similar ideas and concepts. … You can create a ceramic object and it’s so different from a stuffed animal. The things I make now are hollow — the material is hard and rigid — whereas a soft sculpture is almost just a toy. So, I went from making these things that appeared to be toys to things that literally were toys. That was a really fun show. There were tons of kids coming through … There was stuff hanging from the ceiling and people were reaching to try to grab stuff. People brought their dogs and the dogs wanted to grab things too.”

Foerster first caught the Current’s attention last year with “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” a memorable Artpace exhibition comprised of ceramic Floops he pit-fired — an ancient technique he describes as violent, spontaneous and nostalgic.

“I just love that process because it reminds me so much of camping when I was a kid,” Foerster said. “You essentially build a campfire on top of your work … and the pieces will accumulate ashy, sooty marking on them.”

Foerster also used that exhibition as an opportunity to introduce a concept that’s become important to his process: giving his work away for free. Assisted by a Floop filled with carnival tickets that could be redeemed at the reception desk, Foerster distributed all the smaller pieces long before the show closed.

“I’ve always felt weird about selling work,” Foerster admitted. “It might be the capitalistic associations of putting your heart and soul into something and then putting a price tag on it. It’s kind of off-putting to me.”

For his followup exhibition “I Remember,” hosted at Brick Gallery last December, Foerster opted not to fire his work at all, rendering the pieces incredibly fragile and — if placed outside — primed to disintegrate and return to the earth. Not only did he give work away at that show, he destroyed all that remained and upcycled the clay for future projects.

Now preparing for a busy summer punctuated by a stint studying at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee and a residency at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine, Foerster spoke to the Current a few days after leading a seed bomb workshop held on Earth Day at Artpace.

When did you start giving work away and how did that come about?

It’s been a process. For a long time, I’ve been thinking about pricing and selling. That’s a huge part of any art practice, really. But I feel that in ceramics, it’s really pushed to make work that sells, make functional, utilitarian objects and to get into the art markets, art fairs, put up booths, sell stuff, make stuff, production — all that stuff. I was really turned off by all of that. So, it’s kind of a reaction to that. But the first time was at the show at Artpace last year. A lot of people have really strong reactions to it, because they’re not expecting to come away with something that somebody actually made from an art show. … And I think that is a really strange experience. And it’s a lovely experience too — that whole relationship of me giving something to you and you taking it home and continuing to live with it and use it. That’s my favorite part of selling is that somebody wants your piece and keeps it and interacts with it. Selling is like a gate between those interactions.

If you didn’t have a day job, do you think you would still entertain that idea?

So, that’s another thing. The reason that I can do this type of work is that I apply really vigorously for funding and grants. I totally understand why people sell their work — obviously people have to pay their bills and they have to eat. I’m very lucky to have a job and a partner and that we can sustain our livelihood — but also that I’ve had mentors in my life. I’ve had schooling that showed me how and where to apply for grants and where to look for grants. And I’ve been lucky enough to actually receive money that can fund this stuff. I got the San Antonio Individual Artist Grant that they just started a couple of years ago. The first time they did it, I got it. And that was what funded the work at Artpace. If I hadn’t gotten that money, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that.

I found it amusing that you use Comic Sans on your website.

I’ve gotten tons of comments about that. When I first decided to really ham it up, my resume was in Comic Sans — and like 10 different colors. I don’t think that did so well. Just because it’s such a silly, stupid font, I was drawn to it. But it’s also a font that has been proven to be more accessible to people with dyslexia. I didn’t know that [at first] but when I learned about that I was like, “Wow, people are hating on this font — but this font is helping people.”

In your artist statement, you mention grief and traumatic experiences, but your work feels very playful and exuberant. What can you share about that dichotomy?

A lot of the work that I make is a reaction or response to those kinds of events that happen in my life. Without sharing too much, it really talks about feelings of abandonment. … There was a lot of death that happened in my life up to this point. Through this work, I’ve tried to address those things by poking fun at things. I’ve always been a class clown. So that’s kind of a way that I cope with stuff is to just make jokes. I also am trying to talk about people I love, and talk about them in a way that honors them. [My work] talks about them in a way that [combines] their image with images that I associate really positively from my childhood. So, in doing that, I’ve tried to heal from those things. … It’s not quite so simple. It’s super complicated, the whole healing process. … I’ve talked about how giving away things and making these super-happy forms, I was trying to reconcile some things. And I was trying to heal myself.

Does your decision to not fire work and let it sort of return to the earth relate to what you’re trying to convey?

Absolutely. So, I had a show at Brick in December where I really wanted to play with those ideas. I wanted to let go of that shinynew-toy kind of look that a lot of my work had before. So, I left it super-marked with my own fingerprints. There were no smiles involved in the work — except for the work I gave away. I [was] maybe thinking more realistically about the relationships that I’ve had, and the things I’ve gone through. And about the lifecycle, how things change over time and how healing happens over time. And [how] things that exist go from existing in such a big, major way — and then return to nothing. But because it’s clay, it becomes something again, someday. [I was thinking about] this kind of resurrection, lifecycle, history of the work. I’ve decided that the work [I showed at Brick], I’m gonna try to not fire it and continue to reuse it. In that way, the medium gathers those experiences — it becomes this, and then it becomes something else.

Does that mean that you’ll actually reuse the pieces from your Brick show once they disintegrate?

I’m in the process of reclaiming all that stuff. I’ve reclaimed a ton of it. After that show ended, me and Sarah went in with sledgehammers and broke everything down, which was a weird, cathartic experience. Because I’m like, “I created you, but you’re part of me, and now I’m gonna break you down again — to nothing.” I felt really weird about it because there’s this attachment to the things you create. So, we broke it all down, and we shoved it in buckets and into boxes. I’ve reclaimed about 300 pounds so far. And I still have like 300 left. … [Unfired clay is] almost infinitely recyclable. I’m gonna have a show in February at Contemporary at Blue Star, and I’m gonna use this same clay to make big, unfired clay sculptures.

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com