Ezine.com
ON THE TOWN
July/August 2013
Jack Jack Downey Downey Bakery Bakery Lorraine Lorraine Doug Doug and and Lori Lori Horn Horn Fall Fall Creek Creek Vineyard Vineyard Rosemary Rosemary Catacalos Catacalos Performing Performing Arts Arts 2013-14 2013-14 Culinaria Culinaria Restaurant Restaurant Week Week Plus Plus 77 Additional Additional Articles Articles
July/August 2013 | On The Town 1
2 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 3
26
16
Features Summer in the City and Season 2013-14 Hot Shows in July-August, Plus a Cool New Season Begins This Fall
30
Cover Credits
10
San Antonio Symphony’s New Change-Agent Jack Downey Takes Helm as President/ CEO of Symphony
16
Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre 20 Striving to Develop and Produce One-of-a-Kind Works Strike Up the Heart of Texas Concert Band!
24
Mario Vazquez: KLRN Chief Executive Officer
26
Festival People en Español Gloria Estefan Returns to San Antonio
30
Doug and Lori Horn 50 Real Pizza, Real People 54 Fall Creek Vineyards: Creating Poetry From the Vine to the Glass Get Your Appetite Ready… 58 Restaurant Week is Coming! Quiche Lorraine, Anyone?
60
Art and Stars in the Hills
64
Front Cover: Class with a Glass Franco Mondini-Ruiz 2013, Mixed Media Photo by Greg Harrison Performing Arts Cover Photo: Evita Photo by Richard Termine Events Calendar Photo: Frankie Valli Courtesy Majestic Theatre Culinary Arts Cover Photo: Photo by Greg Harrison Visual Arts Cover Photo: Photo by Greg Harrison Literary Arts Cover Photo: © Dana Rothstein / Dreamstime.com
Broadway Reach 68 Explore. Engage. Enjoy. 4 On The Town | July/August
Lair Creative, LLC would not knowingly publish misleading or erroneous information in editorial content or in any adv appear under any circumstances. Additionally, content in this electronic magazine does not necessarily reflect the view mances and exhibits, it is recommended that all times and dates of such events be confirmed by the reader prior to at
64
54
Departments
72
Contributors
Events Calendar
36
Candace Andrews
Michele Krier
Porfolio: The Art of Sage Gibson
72
Mikel Allen, creative director / graphic designer
Christian Lair, operations manager / webmaster
Book Talk: Rosemary Catacalos Poet, Arts Management Consultant
78
Lorraine Benini
Kay Lair
Olivier J. Bourgoin (aka, Oliver the Wine Guy)
Tracy Lowe
Out & About With Greg Harrison
OnTheTownEzine.com is published by Lair Creative, LLC 14122 Red Maple San Antonio, Texas 78247 210-771-8486 210-490-7950 (fax)
84
Lisa Cruz
Ginger McAneer-Robinson
Thomas Duhon
Susan A. Merkner, copy editor
Chris Dunn
Patsy Pelton
Ashley Festa
Ra’Chelle Rogers People en Espaùol Magazine
Dana Fossett Greg Harrison, staff photographer
vertisement in On The Town Ezine.com, nor does it assume responsibility if this type of editorial or advertising should ws or opinions of the management of Lair Creative, LLC. Since On The Town Ezine.com features information on perforttendance. The publisher assumes no responsibility for changes in times, dates, venues, exhibitions or performances.
Sara Selango Jasmina Wellinghoff
July/August 2013 | On The Town 5
6 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 7
8 On The Town | July/August
Performing Arts
10-34
July/August 2013 | On The Town 9
SUMMER IN THE CITY A
HOT SHOWS IN JULY-AUGUST, PLUS A C By Sara Selango
10 On The Town | July/August
AND SEASON 2013-14
COOL NEW SEASON BEGINS THIS FALL
July/August 2013 | On The Town 11
S
ummer in San Antonio and the surrounding area is a hot time for great entertainment. Sizzling examples include Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus at the Majestic July 14 with a followup by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on July 26 at the same venue. Clint Black takes the Majestic stage on Aug. 1 followed by the legendary Loretta Lynn on Aug. 23. The Temptations and The Four Tops enjoy their turn at the Majestic two days later.
headed by violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio. Country music always takes center stage at this time of the year. It’s ubiquitous, brimming from such honky-tonks as John T. Floore Country Store, Luckenbach Hall, Cowboys San Antonio, Gruene Hall, Bluebonnet Palace, Leon Springs Dance Hall and the like. Thank goodness for the internet as the universal source for keeping up with who’s playing where and how do I buy a ticket. Take a stroll through their websites and make some entertaining plans. Before I forget it, Larry Gatlin makes a July 13 appearance at the Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater in Kerrville. You might want to be a face in the crowd.
Continuing in the music category, Gloria Estefan returns to San Antonio as the featured artist at Festival People en Español, Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at the Illusions Theatre in the Alamodome. Other performers appearing at the festival include Demi Lovato, Wisin y Yandel, Alejandro Fernandez and Bobby Pulido. Turning to community theatre in July and August, Ragtime is featured at The Playhouse San Antonio In the classical genre, Cactus Pear Musical Festival while Spamalot promises to be a ton of fun at the leads the way with nine performances over two Woodlawn along with When Pigs Fly at their Black weekends beginning July 5. For exact dates, times Box. Cameo Theatre also has a couple of shows and locations (San Antonio, Boerne and New scheduled in that time frame, All Shook Up: The Music Braunfels are included in the schedule) check the of Elvis Presley and A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. CPMF website. This is the 17th year of the festival The Sheldon Vexler Theatre brings us Neil Simon’s
12 On The Town | July/August
Lost In Yonkers and The Classic Theatre San Antonio presents Proof. Up the road in Fredericksburg catch Oklahoma at the Steve W. Sheperd Theater and in Kerrville it’s The King and I at the Kathleen C. Cailloux plus 9 to 5 followed by Don’t Dress for Dinner at Smith-Ritch Point Outdoor Theater in nearby Ingram. Stud’s Terkel’s The Good War sets the S.T.A.G.E in Bulverde while The Wizard of Oz plays the Circle Arts in New Braunfels.
Grinch Stole Christmas-The Musical.
The San Antonio Symphony offers patrons nine classical concerts in addition to its five-concert Dvorak Festival. In addition, violinist Joshua Bell will be featured during the symphony’s 75th Anniversary Concert in mid-June of 2014. Sebastian Lang-Lessing once again leads the orchestra, assisted by Akiko Fujimoto. Six pops presentations comprise their 2013-14 season In area Broadway touring, A Chorus Line comes to including the ever-popular Holiday Pops and the Long Center in Austin July 24-28 as the first Fiesta Pops. An appearance by the Texas Tenors is offering in the new Long Center Broadway Series. featured this year as well. Other shows include Godspell, Man of La Mancha, Hair and a special performance by Broadway icon Some of the incredible per formances being Audra McDonald. brought to the city in 2013-14 by Ar ts San Antonio are Yamato Drummers, Diavolo Dance Theatre, Switching hats completely, the 2013-14 performing Preser vation Hall Jazz Band, Ar turo Sandoval, arts season is shaping up in spectacular fashion. Pilobolus Dance Company, Celtic Nights and of The nine-time Tony® Award-winning musical, course, Tchaikovsky ’s The Nutcracker. Find even The Book of Mormon, kicks off the seven-show more per formances you’ll want to attend on Broadway in San Antonio at the Majestic Theatre their website. series. Wicked is also in the mix as are Ghost, Evita, Peter and the Starcatcher, Sister Act and How the Now in its 16th year, Musical Bridges Around
July/August 2013 | On The Town 13
The World features its inaugural international music festival titled Music Without Borders. Five performances make up the festival which is being held on the campus of Trinity University. Indian Extravaganza and Charles Lloyd / American Jazz Musician will be held at Laurie Auditorium while Jose M. Alvarez / Spanish Flamenco (with Russia’s St. Petersburg String Quartet) and Kinan Azmeh / Syrian Clarinetist (with Mexico’s Camerata de Coahuila Orchestra) are scheduled for Stieren Theatre. Duo Amal / Israeli-Palestinian Piano Virtuosos perform at Ruth Taylor Recital Hall. San Antonio Chamber Music Society and Tuesday Musical Club have announced their seasons too. American Brass Quintet, Modigliani Quartet, Tempest Trio, Escher String Quarter and Brentano String Quartet are featured by SACMS. Tuesday Musical Club’s 2013-14 Artists Series consists of violinist Bella Hristova, baritone Andrew Garland, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and cellist Sophie Shao.
International Piano Competition’s Piano Series, Camerata San Antonio, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, Olmos Ensemble, Musical Offerings, San Antonio Brass, Fredericksburg Music Club, Mid-Texas Symphony, Symphony of the Hills, San Antonio Choral Society and San Antonio Chamber Choir. In opera news, Opera Piccola San Antonio offers The Medium, La Curandera / Bastiene and Bastienne and Orpheus and Euridice / Green Sneakers as its 2013-14 season. All performances are at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre.
Area presenters of note include Boerne Per forming Ar ts, bringing us The Ten Tenors, The Stepcrew and Time for Three this season; Brauntex Per forming Ar ts Theatre in downtown New Braunfels with an eight-show series highlighted by Pam Tillis, B.J. Thomas, violinist Charles Yang, The Bellamy Brothers and The Night The Music Died: A Tribute to Buddy Holly featuring Stewar t Mann; and Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater Remaining in this genre, you might want to check in Kerr ville with New Odyssey, American Hero the websites for these groups as well: San Antonio and The Glen Miller Band as its headliners.
14 On The Town | July/August
Gotta close, but I must mention the fact that San Antonio Ballet has announced its season, as have so many of our fine local theaters. Spend some time getting acquainted with what their 2013-14 seasons hold. Then, get some tickets and go!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • Photo Credits:
Frankie Valli Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre Wicked Photo by Joan Marcus Pages 14-15 (L-R)
Pages 10-11
Karen Gomyo Photo by Gabrielle Revere
The Book of Mormon Photo by Joan Marcus
Peter Frampton Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre
Pages 12-13 (L-R) Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio Photo by Liz Garza Williams Joshua Bell Photo courtesy joshuabell.com The Four Tops Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre
Sister Act Photo by Joan Marcus Clint Black Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre Loretta Lynn Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre
July/August 2013 | On The Town 15
16 On The Town | July/August
San Antonio Symphony’s new change-agent Jack Downey takes helm as President/CEO of symphony By Lisa Cruz Photography Greg Harrison
T
he San Antonio Symphony is no stranger to change. And, as the organization prepares to embark on exciting changes for its 75th anniversary in 2014, the symphony also has welcomed a new president and CEO with a reputation as a change-agent.
nonprofit leaders.
He was consulting with the symphony earlier this year when they pulled together a consortium of stakeholders, including musicians and community leaders, to discuss how best to move the organization forward. Downey said he was soon asked by symphony Jack Downey was drafted into the military during leaders to “help right the ship.” Vietnam and built a successful 26-year Air Force career, which brought him to his last assignment at “Nonprofit work is a true partnership, and no one Lackland AFB in San Antonio. Upon retirement, a piece can do it by themselves,” Downey said, which is friend suggested he become a loaned executive for where his experience in leadership, management and the United Way campaign in an effort to learn the fundraising came in. Alamo City. Downey described the musicians as Olympians with He discovered Christian Senior Services (CSS), a regard to sharing their exceptional talent and providing United Way nonprofit providing Meals on Wheels and great music, but he also wants the community to Alzheimer’s daycare. The agency was in financial trouble understand that they serve as the teachers and and needed a new executive director. According to nurturers for future generations of musicians. Downey, during his time there, the agency doubled the number of meals served, tripled the Alzheimer’s “It is easy to enjoy the symphony and assume that is care provided and paid off the back debt. all the musicians do, when in fact, they are doing a lot of teaching, they are playing in retirement homes, Not one to rest on his laurels, Downey soon found schools and exposing people to some of the finest another challenge. music,” Downey said. “Our approach will be to tell the community all that the symphony is doing for the “They (CSS) appeared to be on autopilot when I heard community. Our greatest weakness is our messaging that the Children’s Shelter was in trouble,” Downey said. and explaining just how much our musicians are “The Children’s Shelter certainly holds a special place for integrated into the community.” me. I’m convinced if we can help all children at a young age, we won’t have the problems we have today.” Downey described his philosophy on the role the symphony plays in the community as being the music Downey served as president/CEO of the Children’s epicenter of the performing arts in San Antonio and Shelter for 15 years. In that time, he grew the annual supporting all other performing arts in any way possible. budget from less than $300,000 to $15 million and “It should be a robust, living connection,” he said. oversaw an increase in staff from 50 to 270. Long-term goals for Downey include financial stability Downey left the shelter in 2008 and started his own for the organization with a more enhanced connection agency in 2009, providing executive coaching to to the community. July/August 2013 | On The Town 17
“There needs to be a greater appreciation for the role the symphony plays in the community,” Downey said. “And my job will be to bring a modicum of nonprofit excellence and make sure we are organized efficiently so we are able to raise the dollars necessary to ensure people are proud of the symphony and it is around for many more years.” Community service seems to be Downey’s calling. His list of accolades and nonprofit service is long. He received the first Texas Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to children and families. The San Antonio Police Department has awarded him the San Antonio Award for his service to the community, and Downey was recognized as a Hometown Hero by Time Warner Cable. Not having a background in the arts or symphony management was not a deterrent for Downey, describing himself as a fan of the arts. “I played the saxophone in the fourth and fifth grades, and I learned it is best to know your weakness,” he said. Downey holds a master of science degree in information systems from the University of Southern California and certification as a senior professional in human resources. He was an adjunct professor, teaching nonprofit leadership and management at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s public administration graduate school. With admiration, Downey praised the musicians, music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing and symphony staff. He explained one of his goals is to make the musicians’ lives easier by providing them stability after many years of insecurity. The symphony is preparing for its move to the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in fall 2014. “The Tobin Center will provide the finest musical venue the symphony has ever played in, so our product will be vastly different, and I believe will create a huge appreciation for the music,” he said. Downey’s appointment comes at a time of great change for the organization. American author Wayne Dyer once said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Downey’s experience in looking at things differently bodes well for the symphony. 18 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 19
Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre
Striving to develop and produce one-of-a-kind works By Tracy Lowe Photography courtesy AABT
F
or the past seven years, a young ballet company has been quietly changing the lives of area students, young children, dancers and ballet lovers from all walks of life. Providing a fresh approach to ballet, Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre strives to develop and provide one-of-a-kind works. With no desire to be “just another ballet company,” Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre offers an outlet for dancers to express and hone their talents and perform in front of local and regional audiences in the San Antonio area.
at one time, but that I have much more to offer.” Led by Judith Gani, executive director, and Julie MortonSimpson, artistic director, the company, currently 18 members strong, has the advantage of more than 50 years of training, instruction and experience.
Gani was 3 when her dance studies began. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from Texas Christian University, where she majored in dance and Since its inception, Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre has brought theater. She continued her studies in the Ph.D. program together a diverse group of dancers and individuals who in dance at New York University and in the field of love dance, the arts, community service and who support bioenergetics with Dr. John Pierrakos at the Institute for dance education in an appreciative and nurturing the New Age of Man in New York City. environment. As one company member explains, “It is because of Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre that I was able to Gani has choreographed musicals, plays, operas, ballet continue performing, living and being a ballet dancer. and modern pieces for companies in Fort Worth, New They have truly made my dreams come true … Not only York, McAllen and San Antonio. She served as a piano have they allowed me to dance, they have helped me to accompanist for the ballet division at T.C.U., as the musical realize that I am not ‘only good at ballet,’ as I had thought assistant for the Fort Worth Civic Ballet Association, as the 20 On The Town | July/August
co-director of South Texas Dance Theatre in McAllen, as the rehearsal assistant for seven years for the Ballet West Nutcracker production in San Antonio, and for 15 years as the associate director of San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet. She was a founding director of the Ballet Conservatory of South Texas. She is a member of the National Society for Arts and Letters and an honorary member of the Tuesday Musical Club.
audience in for an incredible treat.
Producing at least two performances each year, some of Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre collaborations have included violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and pianist Kristin Roach in Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, and rock guitarist Jon Schmidt and drummer David Haddad in A Little Bit of Zeppelin. By special arrangement with the Balanchine Trust, the company featured New York City Morton-Simpson began her ballet training at the age of 8 Ballet ballerina Michele Gifford in Balanchine’s Rubies with Ruth Matlock. She pursued her studies with Vladimir pas de deux from Jewels. Marek, and then continued her studies with Robert Joffrey and the American Ballet Theatre in New York. In January 2013, Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre participated Morton-Simpson joined the San Antonio Ballet at age 14, in the San Antonio Symphony’s Brahms Festival. In where she performed such roles as Aurora in The Sleeping conjunction with Opera Piccola of San Antonio, the Beauty and the Grand Pas de Deux from Don Quixote. She company performed a vocal/dance program titled Gypsy has performed with the Festival Ballet of San Antonio, the Love, featuring Johannes Brahms’ vocal masterpieces Kansas City Ballet, the Southwest Jazz Ballet of Houston, Zigeunerlieder and NeueLiebeslieder Waltzes. and with Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars. She spent 18 years with Ballet San Antonio before becoming the Committed to community outreach, Alamo Arts Ballet artistic director of Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre in 2006. Theatre provides free matinees for school children. At Palo Alto College in May, nearly 800 children from local The dancers comprising Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre come schools and area homeschool groups were treated from varied backgrounds and experiences. Each dancer to a performance of the company’s signature piece, brings his or her uniqueness to the parts they play and, Alice! A Ballet Wonderland. As the lights dimmed not a combined with expert artistic direction, the results sound could be heard. Throughout the performance are superior, unexpected performances that pull the the children were captivated, yet encouraged to react July/August 2013 | On The Town 21
to what they were seeing. Prior to the curtain, Gani explained to the young audience that ballet tells a story and it’s okay to laugh if something is funny or clap when a dancer performs a complicated or especially beautiful move. Provided with this information, the children were able to sit back, relax and enjoy, what was for some, their first time seeing ballet. Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre also holds lecture demonstrations at high schools, colleges, elementary schools and for other interested groups. Company dancers take time from their jobs or school to perform and answer audience questions. Ranging from technical questions from older audience members to “How long have you been dancing?” or “Does it hurt to stand on your toes?” from younger ones, each question is met with enthusiasm and well-articulated answers. Committed to artistic excellence, high-caliber training and community outreach, Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre has opportunities for dancers, dance training, volunteers and sponsorship programs. This summer, the company is preparing for its Holiday Sweets performance scheduled for December. In addition, yearly auditions for interested dancers are being held on Sept. 7. For more information, visit AlamoArtsBallet.org. 22 On The Town | July/August
“It is because of Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre that I was able to continue performing, living and being a ballet dancer. They have truly made my dreams come true … Not only have they allowed me to dance, they have helped me to realize that I am not ‘only good at ballet,’ as I had thought at one time, but that I have much more to offer.” - Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre Company Member
Note: All photos shown are from the Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre performance of Alice! A Ballet Wonderland.
July/August 2013 | On The Town 23
24 On The Town | July/August
Strike Up The Heart of Texas Concert Band! By Patsy Pelton Photography Courtesy HTxCB
H
ave you experienced San Antonio’s newest community band? You can catch the Heart of Texas Concert Band performing monthly in various venues across the area from colleges to churches, from the Alamo to the Hill Country.
perform at the Alamo on July Fourth, you can bet you will hear some flag-waving, patriotic music.
“The origin of the community band brought people together, whether it was for a patriotic holiday or other purpose, so they could experience the sounds of music filling their hearts and souls,” Rogers said. “So we play a wide repertoire from Broadway to opera, with a guest vocalist, to classical pieces to Sousa marches. Since we chose our name to let everyone know we are from Texas, we also work hard to find the beautiful, often over-looked, band selections that feature musical images of the Lone Star State.”
This summer holds an exciting development for the Heart of Texas Concert Band as it will be named as San Antonio College’s Band in Residence. “We will begin to strengthen and build the music program at SAC as it had been one of the finest music departments in San Antonio,” Rogers said. “We will also be able to welcome more students to play side by side with seasoned musicians.”
At the band’s initial concert during Fiesta in 2009, a highlight of the program was the premiere performance of Clifton Williams’ Symphonic Dances, which was written for the San Antonio Symphony’s 25th anniversary in 1965. As a published arranger and transcriber for concert bands, Rogers fills the bill for showcasing members’ talents.
To listen to the Heart of Texas Concert Band on Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/HeartofTexasBand
Other concerts may feature music from just one composer, such as the great American Alfred Reed, or the theme of the concert could include many composers’ By going out to where the people are, the band celebrates works. The band has performed Brahms’ Symphony one of its mission objectives to be an integral part of the No. 1, transcribed for band, as well as Beethoven’s Fifth community. Dr. R. Mark Rogers, the band’s conductor, Symphony. Themed concerts next season will include takes that thought one step further. Autumn in New York, ‘Tis the Season and Seascapes.
Last summer, at the 2012 Texas Bandmasters Association annual gathering, guest conductor Johan de Meij led the band in his original composition of The Wind in the Willows. The entire program showcased the richness of the band’s capabilities to perform different types of music. Just as the music is for all ages to enjoy, the band’s 85 members range in age from some who are retired after almost 50 years as a musician to high school students in area bands. Most members head out to the weekly rehearsals (some coming from as far away as Seguin or the Hill Country) leaving their career job, perhaps as a bookkeeper or restaurant manager, behind so they can make music.
To find out more about The Heart of Texas Concert Band, go to their website: www.heartoftexasconcertband.com
Future concerts: The Alamo Thursday, July 4, 2013, 11am Autumn in New York Sunday, October 6, 2013, 3pm Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Sunday, November 24, 2013, 3pm ‘Tis the Season Sunday, December 22, 2013, 3pm The Music of James Barnes Sunday, February 9, 2014, 3pm HTxCB Talent Showcase Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 7:30pm 4th Annual Fiesta Side By Side Sunday, April 13, 2014, 3pm
Rogers and associate conductor Mike Olson work together to choose each program’s musical selections based on the Seascapes theme of the concert or its venue. If you plan to hear them Sunday, May 18, 2014, 3pm
July/August 2013 | On The Town 25
26 On The Town | July/August
Mario Vazquez:
KLRN Chief Executive Officer By Ashley Festa Photography Greg Harrison
M
ario Vazquez exhibits all the qualities you’d expect in a president of a nonprofit organization: fundraiser, community advocate, strategic planner and … classically trained pianist.
communities where kids don’t have access to early educational opportunities, KLRN offers shows that teach colors, numbers and other pre-kindergarten topics.
OK, so maybe he isn’t your typical CEO, but KLRN isn’t your typical PBS affiliate station.
Vazquez overflows with excitement about the station’s educational programming for children – “56 hours a week!” – but he takes his position seriously, of course. (“Big Bird’s my boss.”)
“It’s one of the most respected PBS stations in the country of more than 350 stations,” Vazquez said.
In addition to kiddie shows, Vazquez also focuses on As well it should be, considering the station’s arts and culture, which has always been important in leadership over the years. To keep the station strong, KLRN’s programming lineup. retiring president Bill Moll needed someone capable of handling KLRN’s public commitments. “Arts,” a Friday evening show hosted locally by Asia Ciaravino, is a new program from PBS. Each affiliate Enter Vazquez, who, at the time, was happily working station weaves local tidbits around the national at NuStar Energy, leading the contract administration segments. Vazquez recognized the opportunity to department for North America. keep the community engaged with the arts and showcase local news, such as the San Antonio Chamber Moll recruited the NuStar manager, whose prior service Orchestra’s new endowment fund. on KLRN’s board of directors, and extensive network and corporate fiscal experience made him a good fit As a service to the community and free publicity to arts for the station. After more than a month of courting, organizations, KLRN highlights art exhibits, theater Moll finally convinced Vazquez to join the PBS family performances, ballets, symphonies, film and music. as executive vice president and station manager. A year later, in October 2012, Vazquez took the helm. Music may be Vazquez’ favorite KLRN topic, given his passion for the piano. He studied for 14 years growing He knew he’d have big shoes to fill, but he wasn’t up, taught lessons and performed publicly, and he’s worried. still as in love with the instrument as ever before. Trinity University offered him a full scholarship and a “No one replaces such a successful icon,” Vazquez said chance at a career in music, but he turned it down. He of Moll. “It’s difficult, yes, because he’s such a well- didn’t want a joy to become the daily grind. respected figure. I’m just a different person; I bring different things to the table. I’m bringing my own goals Though he didn’t end up at Trinity, the university’s and vision to the station.” music department chair recognized Vazquez’ talent and offered him private lessons. That offer, he accepted. One such goal is outreach – to expand the station’s And that’s when Vazquez realized his true ability on involvement beyond the borders of San Antonio. In the ivory keys. July/August 2013 | On The Town 27
These days, Vazquez plays to relax – “I don’t have to be jogging for an hour. I get to relieve stress without sweating” – and to entertain company. “When people find out (that I’m a pianist), I joke that I only took six months of lessons. Then I go into a Beethoven sonata, and it freaks them out,” Vazquez said with a laugh. Joking aside, after a long day, he finds his gift helps him unwind. “If I’m angry, it’ll be Beethoven. If it’s a melancholy mood, I’ll play Chopin,” he said. “The composer definitely fits the mood.” Beyond the station’s music lineup and its children’s programs, PBS brings other important information to the viewers it serves. Some affiliates work with first responders to broadcast emergency alerts, and others have partnered with United Way to help those in need. KLRN is opening a satellite station in Laredo that will provide communications students with professional studio equipment and the chance to learn about broadcast production, offering new components to their education. “It’s going to build a career for these students who can’t afford to leave the community,” Vazquez said. Last year, when Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited Café College, KLRN produced a half-hour show aimed at increasing the number of college graduates in San Antonio. The program, which also was available online, brought students information about applying for financial aid and more. These kinds of programs, Vazquez said, provide a service to students that they can’t easily access anywhere else. “I’m an ambassador to put that message out there, to tell groups what we’re doing,” Vazquez said. “What we do, nobody else does.” Though he’s relatively new to the station, Vazquez’ love for the work exudes from his every word. “Giving back to the community is important to me. That’s why I left my corporate job.” Find the KLRN arts calendar at klrn.org/arts.
28 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 29
30 On The Town | July/August
FESTIVAL PEOPLE EN ESPAÑOL: Gloria Estefan Returns to San Antonio Story and Photos courtesy People en Español Magazine
F
or a second year, Festival People en Español presented by Target is returning to the Alamo City Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.
hometown of San Antonio in a highly anticipated per formance on the opening night of Festival.
“My roots run deep in San Antonio, and I’m Festival planners and city officials have been looking forward to performing at Festival,” she working since last year ’s successful event to plan said. “It gives me the opportunity to reconnect for another star-studded weekend celebration with my fans in San Antonio and from all across of the biggest names in Latino entertainment the country.” and culture. Headliners include Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Fernandez, Demi Lovato, and Wisin y People magazine will come to life through two days Yandel, with additional per formances by Chris of programming and content at the convention Perez Project, Jencarlos Canela, Bobby Pulido, center centered around Hispanic passion points: Grupo Treo and many more. beauty, fashion, food and music. Attendees will have access to celebrities, panel discussions, The multi-faceted festival, which commemorates give-aways, product sampling, family-friendly Hispanic entertainment, culture and community, activities, empowering dialogue and inspiration. includes free, open-to-the-public daytime events at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Content will focus on a variety of topics and will culminates with electrifying night-time concerts include daily musical per formances. H ighlights produced by the legendary musician and producer will include the unveiling of People En Español’s Emilio Estefan at the Alamodome. 2013 Sexiest Man Alive; telenovelas chats with Silvia Navarro, R afael Amaya and Marjorie De “We are proud to return to the city of San Antonio Sousa; and celebrity Q&As with HBO boxer for our second Festival People en Español, which Sergio Mar tinez, singer and ac tor Jencarlos celebrates Hispanic entertainment, culture Canela and others. and community,” said Iliana Carlo-Rodriguez, associate publisher-marketing, People en Español. Young festival-goers will delight in acts such as “Labor Day weekend in San Antonio is guaranteed Disney Channel’s Shake It Up actor and singer to be a one-of-a-kind experience.” Adam Irigoyen, who will bring his most popular songs to the event. Award-winning Hispanic Music icon Gloria Estefan will return to her journalist Cristina Saralegui will lead an in-depth July/August 2013 | On The Town 31
discussion about Latino students and higher education with Dream Act activist Benita Veliz. Fans of Jenni Rivera will remember the life and music of the late banda star in a special tribute with her daughter, Chiquis Marín, and Jenni’s brother, Juan Rivera. Other activities include celebrity meet and greets, and sessions with leading industry experts on topics ranging from fashion to wellness. Major sponsors include Coca-Cola, Jeep and MundoFox. Official sponsors are Interjet, HBO Latino, Pine Sol, the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. Guests can expec t a sampling of favorite brands through special on-site consumer experiences by sponsors. People En Español was launched in 1996 as a special issue, and today has become the top selling Hispanic magazine in the United States. I t is published 11 times a year and reaches more than 6 million readers ever y month with its editorial mix of Hispanic and popular enter tainment, fashion and beauty trends, and human-interest stories. More information about the free daytime activities and the evening concerts can be found at www. peopleenespanol.com/festival. Evening concert tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Photo Credits Page 30 Gloria Estefan Page 32 (Above) Bobby Pulido (Center) Demi Lovato
32 On The Town | July/August
(Below) Franki J
July/August 2013 | On The Town 33
34 On The Town | July/August
Events Calendar 36-48
July/August 2013 | On The Town 35
July-August 2013 Events Calendar Music Notes Two Ton Tuesday Two Tons of Steel 7/2-8/20, Tue @ 8:30pm Gruene Hall County Line Music Series William Clark Green 7/3, Wed @ 6:30pm County Line BBQ – IH10 The Gourds 7/3, Wed @ 8pm Gruene Hall Heart of Texas Band Independenc Day Celebartion 7/4, Thu @ 11am The Alamo Cactus Pear Music Festival: Love’s Geometry 7/5, Fri @ 7pm San Antonio - Coker United Methodist 7/7, Sun @ 2pm Boerne - First United Methodist Into The Mystic 7/6, Sat @ 7pm San Antonio - Coker United Methodist
36 On The Town | July/August
On the Wind of Dreams 7/7, Sun @ 7pm Boerne - First United Methodist Celestial Strings 7/11, Thu @ 7pm New Braunfels – New Braunfels Presbyterian 7/12, Fri @ 7pm San Antonio – Coker United Methodist 7/14, Sun @ 2pm Boerne – First United Methodist Dreams & Prayers 7/13, Sat @ 7pm San Antonio – Coker United Methodist 7/14, Sun @ 7pm Boerne – First United Methodist Justin Moore 7/5, Fri @ 7pm (doors open) Cowboys San Antonio Ryan Bingham & Turnpike Troubadours 7/5, Fri @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels Max Stalling 7/5, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall
Roger Creager 7/5, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall
Guardrail Damage Band 7/6, Sat @ 9pm Twin Sisters Dancehall
Drugstore Cowboys 7/5, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
County Line Music Series The Cadillac Black 7/10, Wed @ 6:30pm County Line BBQ – IH10
Gary Allan 7/5, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Rockbox Theater Fredericksburg 7/5-8/31, Fri @ 8pm, Sat @ 4:30 & 8pm, Sun @ 2pm The Toadies with The Departed & Dirty River Boy 7/6, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels Felix Truvere and the Open Road Band 7/6, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
Concert Under The Stars Lisa Morales 7/11, Thu @ 6:30pm (gates open) San Antonio Botanical Garden Art Party @ SAMA Jonathan Raveneau 7/12, Fri @ 6pm San Antonio Museum of Art Tracy Lawrence 7/12, Fri @ 7pm (doors open) Cowboys San Antonio
Deryl Dodd 7/6, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall
20th Annual Balcones Heights Jazz Festival 7/12-8/9, Fri @ 7pm Wonderland of the Americas Amphitheater
Band of Heathens 7/6, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall
Drugstore Cowboys 7/12, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall
July/August 2013 | On The Town 37
Cory Morrow 7/12, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall Wrangler Country 7/12, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Nick Lawrence Band 7/12, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store An Evening with Larry Gatlin 7/13, Sat @ 7:30pm Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater Kerrville Reckless Kelly 7/13, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels Rocky King 7/13, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Dirty River Boys 7/13, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall Gary P. Nunn 7/13, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Radney Foster 7/13, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall Sunday Jazz at the Witte Philip Marshall’s Estuary 7/14, Sun @ 3pm Will Smith Amphitheater Witte Museum
38 On The Town | July/August
Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus with Kenny Wayne Shepherd 7/14, Sun @ 7:30pm Majestic Theatre
Wade Bowen with Kyle Park 7/20, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels
Josh Groban: All That Echoes (On-screen encore showing of his Lincoln Center Performance of February 4) 7/16, Tuesday @ 7:30pm Cielo Vista 18 & Huebner Oaks 14
Almost Patsy Cline Band 7/20, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
County Line Music Series Bart Crow 7/17, Wed @ 6:30pm County Line BBQ – IH10 Jesse Dayton & Amber Digby 7/19, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall
Asleep at the Wheel 7/20, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall Dale Watson 7/20, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall Curtis Grimes 7/20, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store
Cody Jinks Band 7/19, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall
McNay Summer Jazz & Lunch Series Henry Brun & The Inernational Trio 7/21, Sun @ 12:30pm Leeper Auditorium McNay Art Museum
Pat Waters 7/19, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
Beat Bash 8 7/21, Sun @ 7pm Freeman Coliseum
Drum Corp International Southwestern Championship 7/20, Sat @ 1:30pm The Alamodome
County Line Music Series Band of Heathens 7/24, Wed @ 6:30pm County Line BBQ – IH10
Jeff Woosley and the Dance Hall Kings 7/20, Sat @ 8pm Anhalt Hall
Roger Creager’s Birthday Show 7/24-27, Wed-Fri @ 8pm Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons 7/26, Fri @ 8pm Majestic Theatre Almost Patsy Cline Band 7/26, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall Cactus Country 7/26, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Chris Knight 7/26, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Stoney LaRue and Reckless Kelly 7/27, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Joe Ely 7/27, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall County Line Music Series Brandon Rhyder 7/31, Wed @ 6:30pm County Line BBQ – IH10 An Intimate Evening with Clint Black 8/1, Thu @ 8pm Majestic Theatre Drugstore Cowboys 8/2, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall Micky and the Motorcars 8/2, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store
Vans’s Warped Tour 8/3, Sat @ 11am AT&T Center Pat Green with Jason Boland 8/3, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels Almost Patsy Cline Band 8/3, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Bruce Robinson & Kelly Willis 8/3, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall Eleven Hundred Springs 8/3, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall Johnny Bush and the Bandoleros 8/3, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Emmerson Biggins 8/3, Sat @ 9pm Twin Sisters Dancehall Drum Corps Inernational: Big, Loud & Live (On-screen live presentation) 8/8, Thu @ 5:30pm The Rialto, Cielo Vista 18, Huebner Oaks 14 & McCreeles Cinema
Concert Under The Stars 8/8, Thu @ 6:30pm (gates open) San Antonio Botanical Garden Granger Smith 8/9, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall Nate Kipp 8/9, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall Conrad and the Texas Legends 8/9, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Stewart Mann & the Statesboro Revue 8/9, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Josh Abbott Band with Aaron Watson 8/10, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels Bobby Jordan and the Ridgecreek Band 8/10, Sat @ 8pm Kendalia Halle Landon Dodd 8/10, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Casey Donahew Band 8/10, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store July/August 2013 | On The Town 39
Bob Schneider 8/10, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall Gary P. Nunn 8/10, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall Sunday Jazz at the Witte Kris Kimura Quartet 8/11, Sun @ 3pm Will Smith Amphitheater Witte Museum Trey Songz 8/11, Sun @ 7pm Illusions Theater at The Alamodome The Reverend Horton Heat 8/11, Sun @ 8pm John T. Floore Country Store Kyle Park 8/16, Fri @ 7pm (doors open) Cowboys San Antonio Jack Ingram 8/16, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall Wagon Aces 8/16, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall James McMurtry 8/16, Fri @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store Monte Good and the Honky Tonk Heroes 8/17, Sat @ 8pm Anhalt Hall
40 On The Town | July/August
Jay Eric and Blieder’s Creek 8/17, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
Cactus Country 8/23, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
Charlie Robison 8/31, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall
Delbert McClinton 8/17, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall
The Spazmatics 8/24, Sat @ 8pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels
Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros 8/17, Sat @ 9pm Luckenbach Dancehall
Cooder Graw 8/24, Sat @ 9pm Gruene Hall
2013 Festival People en Español Gloria Estefan, Demi Lovato, Bobby Pulido, Wisin Y Yandel and more 8/31-9/1, Sat-Sun, Times TBA Illusions Theater at The Alamodome
McNay Summer Jazz & Lunch Series George Prado & Regency Jazz Band 8/18, Sun @ 12:30pm Leeper Auditorium McNay Art Museum Light Crust Doughboys Cailloux Theater Presentation 8/18, Sun @ 3pm Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater Kerrville Easton Corbin 8/23, Fri @ 7pm (doors open) Cowboys San Antonio The Texas Jamm Band 8/23, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall
The Temptations & The Four Tops 8/25, Sun @ 7:30pm Majestic Theatre John Hiatt & The Combo 8/29, Thu @ 8pm Gruene Hall Brandon Rhyder 8/30, Fri @ 8pm Gruene Hall Billy Garza Band 8/30, Fri @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall Life in Color Rebirth 8/31, Sat @ 7:30pm Whitewater Amphitheater New Braunfels
Almost Patsy Cline Band 8/23, Fri @ 8pm Luckenbach Dancehall
Hot Texas Swing Band 8/31, Sat @ 8:15pm Leon Springs Dancehall
Loretta Lynn 8/23, Fri @ 8pm Majestic Theatre
Bart Crow 8/31, Sat @ 9pm John T. Floore Country Store
On Stage Boogie Back to Texas 7/5-7, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 2pm Pat Berlet Memorial Theatre @ Carmack Performing Arts Complex Fredericksburg Theater Company Oklahoma 7/5-7/14, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2pm Steve W. Shepherd Theater Woodlawn Black Box Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly 7/5-21, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 2:30pm Woodlawn Theatre All Shook Up: The Music of Elvis Presley 7/5-21, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 4pm Cameo Theatre
The Overtime Theater The Adventures of Captain Cortez and the Tri-Lambda-The Movie (The Play) 7/5-27, Thu-Sat @ 8pm 7/7, Sun @ 2pm 7/21, Sun @ 7pm Greg Barrios Theater Little Overtime Theatre Port Cove 7/5-27, Fri-Sat @ 8 & 10pm The Pillowman 7/11-13, Thu-Sat @ 7:30pm VK Garage Theater Kerrville S.T.A.G.E Studs Terkel’s The Good War 7/11-27, Thu-Sat @ 8pm (Dinner optional @ 6:30pm) 7/21 & 28, Sun @ 4pm (Dessert only) Kraus Haus – Bulverde Circle Arts Theatre The Wizard of Oz 7/11-14 – Thu-Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 2pm 7/19-28, Fri-Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 2pm 8/1-4, Thu-Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 2pm New Braunfels Harlequin Dinner Theatre Let’s Go to the Movies 7/11-8/31, Thu-Sat @ 8pm (Dinner @ 6:15pm)
Playhouse 2000 Fairest Flower of the South 7/12-14, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2:30pm Dietert Center 7/19-21, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2:30pm VK Garage Theater Kerrville Boerne Community Theatre The Fox on the Fairway 7/12-27, Thu @ 7:30pm Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 2:30pm Hill Country Arts Foundation 9 to 5 7/12-14, Fri-Sun @ 8:30pm 7/18-27, Thu-Sat @ 8:30pm Smith-Ritch Point Theatre – (Outdoors) Ingram Standing in the Shadows of Love A Hornsby Theatre Presentation 7/14 & 21, Sun @ 4pm Josephine Theater Michael and Susan Dell Hall A Chorus Line 7/24-28, Wed-Thu @ 7:30pm Fri @ 8pm, Sat @ 2pm & 8pm, Sun @ 2pm & 7pm The Long Center Austin July/August 2013 | On The Town 41
Playhouse 2000 The King & I 7/26-27, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm 8/2-4, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2:30pm 8/9-10, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater Kerrville The Playhouse San Antonio Ragtime 7/26-8/18, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 2:30pm Russell Hill Rogers Theatre A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline 8/2-25, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 4pm Cameo Theatre Woodlawn Theatre Spamalot 8/2-9/1, Fri-Sat @ 7:30pm Sun @ 3:30pm Hill Country Arts Foundation Don’t Dress for Dinner 8/9-11, Fri-Sun @ 8:30pm 8/15-24, Thu-Sat @ 8:30pm Smith-Ritch Point Theatre – (Outdoors) Ingram The Classic Theatre San Antonio Proof 8/9-25, Fri-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 3pm Sterling Houston Theatre Blue Star Arts Complex
42 On The Town | July/August
Attic Rep in Residency at Trinity White 8/15-9/1, Thu-Sat @ 8pm Sun @ 2:30pm Attic Theatre Trinity University Sheldon Vexler Theatre Lost In Yonkers 8/15-9/8, Thu @ 7:30pm Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 2:30pm (no show on Fridays) Barshop JCC
Opera The Metropolitan Opera Series: Armida (On screen encore presentation) 7/10, Wed @ 7pm Cielo Vista 18 & Huebner Oaks 14 The Metropolitan Opera Series: La Traviata (On screen encore presentation) 7/17, Wed @ 7pm Cielo Vista 18 & Huebner Oaks 14 Opera Delights 2013: A Memorable Musical Evening featuring Crisina Ortega 7/20, Sat @ 7pm Josephine Theatre
Children’s
On Exhibit
Magik Children’s Theatre Treasure Island 7/3-27, Wed @ 10:30am, Fri @ 7pm
ARTPACE
Magik Children’s Theatre Seussical The Musical 8/9-9/4, Wed @ 10:30am, Fri @ 7pm 9/6-21, Tue-Thu @ 9:45am & 11:30am, Fri @ 9:45am, 11:30am & 7pm Sat @ 2pm
Comedy Humor for Heroes featuring Cowboy Bill Martin and Cleto Rodriguez 7/6, Sat @ 7:30pm John T. Floore Country Store
Dance
Cleto Rodriguez 7/20, Sat @ 8pm Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre New Braunfels
Third Coast Rhythm Project Presents Jazzed on Tap 7/19, Fri @ 8pm Jo Long Theatre @ The Carver
Ron White: A Little Unprofessional 8/3, Sat @ 7pm & 9:30pm Majestic Theatre
International Artist-InResident New Works: 13.2 Trevor Paglen Pak Sheung-Chuen Clarissa Tossin Hou Hanru, curator Opens 7/11 Hudson Showroom Anya Gallacio Thru 9/1 Window Works Michael Menchaca Thru 9/1 BIHL HAUS ARTS Counterpoise: Fiberworks by Stacy Elko, Susie Monday and Linda Rael Laurel Gibson, curator Thru 7/20 BLUE STAR CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER Kathy Sosa (Satellite exhibit at Semmes Library) Thru 7/31 Texas Tough: Sherry Owens Origins Thru 8/24
July/August 2013 | On The Town 43
Texas Tough: Sharon Kopriva From Terra to Verde Thru 8/24 Texas Tough: Amita Bhatt Depends Who You Ask Thru 8/24 Texas Tough: Jill Bedgood Book of Hours: Invention Thru 8/24 BRISCOE WESTERN ART MUSEUM Grand Opening Coming Soon INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES Fiesta Medal Mania Thru 7/8 Girl Power! Thru 7/14 Texas Contemporary Artists Series: Pepe Serna Thru 9/1 Made in Texas Thru 9/29 Why We Came: The Immigration Experience Thru 3/30/14 The 201st Fighter Squadron 8/3-1/12/14
44 On The Town | July/August
Vietnam Heroes 8/3-25 Mas Rudas 8/17-11/3 McNAY ART MUSEUM Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera Thru 9/1
Pasion Popular: Spanish and Latin American Folk Art from The Cecere Collection Thru 8/18 Rostros de Maria: The Virgin as Archetype and Inspiration Thru 9/29
The Human Face and Form SOUTHWEST SCHOOL Thru 9/1 OF ART
WITTE MUSEUM Witte Through Time: 85 Years and Still Growing Thru 8/13 Patriotism and Pageantry: Fiesta Honors the Military Thru 8/18 Dinosaurs Unearthed: Bigger. Better. Feathered. Thru 9/2
Majority Rules: A Decade of Contemporary Art Acquisitions Thru 9/15
Trish Ramsay Equivalent Forms Thru 7/5
Texas Impressionism: Branding with Brushstroke and Color 1885-1935 Thru 9/8
The America of Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton Thru 9/8
Michael James Organizing Nature Thru 7/7
The World Through Magic Lanterns Thru 1/2014
Beth van Hoesen at The McNay Thru 9/29
Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga A Tradition of Strings Thru 7/7
Miscellaneous
SAN ANTONIO BOTANICAL GARDEN Art in the Garden 2013 (In conjunction with Blue Star Contemporary Art Center) Thru 3/2014 SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART The Jameel Prize: Art Inspired by the Islamic Tradition Thru 8/11
Vincent Colvin Simultaneous Passage 7/18-8/23 All School Exhibition 2013 7/18-8/25 Certificate Student Exhibitions 7/18-8/25 SSA Teen Program Bee Nation 7/18-8/25
Freedom Fest 2013 7/4-7, 12pm-8pm Market Square – El Mercado Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: Dragons 7/4, Thu @ 4pm 7/6, Sat @ 11:30am, 3:30pm & 7:30pm 7/7, Sun @ 3pm 7/8, Mon @ 7:30pm AT&T Center 57th Annual Fiesta Noche del Rio 7/5-8/10, Fri-Sat @ 8:30pm Arneson River Theatre
July/August 2013 | On The Town 45
Tejas Rodeo 7/6-8/31, Sat @ 7:30pm Cesar Millan Live! 7/18, Thu @ 7:30pm Lila Cockrell Theatre Showtime Boxing Golden Boy Productions 7/27, Sat @ 5pm AT&T Center Culinaria – Restaurant Week 8/17-24, various restaurants www.culinariasa.org
Photo Credits Page 36 (L-R) Two Tons of Steel Courtesy twotons.com William Clark Green Courtesy County Line BBQ Music Series Dr. Mark Rogers Courtesy Heart of Texas Band Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio Photo by Liz Garza Williams
46 On The Town | July/August
Page 38 (L-R) Bella Hristova Courtesy Cactus Pear Music Festival Elena Urioste Courtesy Cactus Pear Music Festival Max Stalling Courtesy maxstalling.com Roger Creager Courtesy rogercreager. com Page 39 (L-R) Band of Heathens Courtesy County Line BBQ Music Series
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Photo courtesy Majestic Theatre Page 41 (L-R) Bart Crow Photo courtesy liveatfloores.com Amber Digby Courtesy amberdigby.com Page 42 (L-R) Almost Patsy Cline Band Courtesy almostpatsyclineband.com Asleep at the Wheel Courtesy sonicbids.com
Johnny Bush Courtesy liveatfloores.com Kyle Park Courtesy liveatfloores.com Page 46 (L-R) The Spazmatics Courtesy thespazmatics. net The Temptations Courtesy Majestic Theatre Charlie Robison Courtesy liveatfloores.com Ron White Courtesy Majestic Theatre Page 47 (L-R)
Cory Morrow Courtesy corymorrow.com
Dale Watson Courtesy liveatfloores.com
Page 40 (L-R)
Chris Knight Courtesy liveatfloores.com
Larry Gatlin Courtesy Sharity Productions
Page 44 (L-R)
Ilya Shterenberg Courtesy Cactus Pear Music Festival Stewart Mann and the Statesboro Revue Courtesy liveatfloores.com
Gary P. Nunn Courtesy live@floores.com
Brandon Rhyder Courtesy County Line BBQ Music Series
Gary Allan Courtesy liveatfloores.com
Radney Foster Photo by Marshall Foster
Pat Green Courtesy liveatfloores.com
Josh Abbot Band Courtesy liveatfloores.com
July/August 2013 | On The Town 47
48 On The Town | July/August
November-December 2012 | On The Town 48
Culinary Arts
50-62
July/August 2013 | On The Town 49
50 On The Town | July/August
Doug and Lori Horn:
Real Pizza, Real People By Chris Dunn Photography Greg Harrison ”
A
t Dough Pizzeria Napoletana, Doug and Lori Karsky Horn’s award-winning restaurant, everything is molto Italiano. From the handmade mascarponericotta filled burratas to pizzas precisely made to the Associazione Versace Pizza Napolitano standards, there is a faithfulness to native Italian cuisine rarely encountered in American Italian restaurants. Every bottle of wine on the menu is also from the Boot, and those from Campania, ground zero for Neopolitan pizza, are proudly pointed out. But if you were to ask what the most memorable bottle they ever had was, the Horns would tell you, “King Cobra malt liquor out of a champagne glass,” which they shared on their first anniversary. At the time, it was all they could afford. Doug was enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park and Lori was working as a waitress. She had given up her job as one of Marriott Hotels’ top-producing convention managers in sales and marketing in Anaheim, Calif., so she could be with Doug in New York.
Marriott Hotels, she was relocated numerous places, including San Antonio. “San Antonio really has the package,” she says, pointing to its history, culture and growth, adding, “Everyone is really pro women businesses here.” That impression stayed with Lori, and after Doug graduated from culinary school, she said, “I think we should go to San Antonio.” He agreed, and in 1993, Lori opened Creative Dining and Entertainment, a concierge service with locations at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Marriott Rivercenter and the Grand Hyatt. She recently sold the company in order to concentrate on marketing Dough. “I am so not the back of the house,” Lori says, making it clear she leaves the kitchen to Doug. “She’s director of marketing,” he says with considerable gravitas. While Lori was establishing her business, Doug was making good use of his culinary degree and years of food service experience by working in management positions at several area restaurants. During that time, he says, he got “bitten by the pizza bug.” He was particularly inspired by Kurt Kruczek, who owns the 900- square-foot “Naples Pizza” in Hartford, Conn. He says Kruczek taught him the fundamentals of the pizza business, including, “Did you ever see a pizzeria go out of business when the owners are there working?”
Lori says even as a young girl in Hartford, Conn., she dreamed of a career in the hospitality industry. “We traveled a lot, summers off,” she says, explaining that her father was a high school teacher and athletic director, so the family took advantage of school breaks for vacations. Lori took over the role of coordinating hotel and restaurant reservations and says the experience grew into a “love of In November 2007, Doug and Lori combined their people, travel and food.” wide-ranging expertise and experience in the food and hospitality services and opened Dough After graduating from the University of New Hampshire Pizzeria Napoletana. with a degree in hotel/restaurant management, she spent a year studying language and culture in Russia, The name for the restaurant came about serendipitously. which she says, “built my independence … not to be so Doug says, “The gentleman I purchased the oven from, afraid of taking a chance.” Marco, in Naples, would send me emails. He would always start the emails with ‘Ciao DougH’ instead of ‘Ciao Subsequently, during her decade of work and travel with Doug H.’ After a while, it just clicked.” July/August 2013 | On The Town 51
Word spread about a little place in a strip center on Blanco Road that made world-class pizza, and Dough became a local favorite, voted the 2011 and 2012 San Antonio Express-News Reader’s and Critics Choice for the best pizza in San Antonio. Dough also has been rated the top pizzeria in Texas by Zagat and featured in Food and Wine, USA Today, Every Day with Rachel Ray and on the Food Network. According to Doug, their formula for success is “to strip away and simplify. If it gets too complicated, something gets lost in the translation.” The Horns say the same is true of the other world cuisines they are passionate about, particularly Asian. When they travel, they seek out small, family run establishments that emphasize quality and authenticity, and prepare the food, as Lori puts it, “simply and thoughtfully.” “When you peek into the kitchen,” Doug says, “there’s a grandmother, somebody’s mother, cooking in the kitchen. They come from very humble backgrounds — not many ingredients, very fresh, very simple.” The Horns have applied that same philosophy to Dough. The food is inspired by the earthy, peasant recipes of Italy, with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. It has proven to be a winning formula. A second location in Dallas, operated by Brad Liles and Keith Hall, was opened in 2011 and was voted the 2013 Favorite Pizza Place in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by readers of The Dallas Morning News. Expansion is also under way at the original location. “We’re adding another restroom, a wine bar, 30 more seats and another oven,” Doug says. “Our goal is to drop the wait time for a table.” He admits that owning a pizzeria is “one of the most complicated and competitive businesses in the world.” But when it comes to running a restaurant or playing Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired blues guitar, Lori never doubts her man. “He can look at anything and fix it,” she says, adding with equal admiration, “He can listen to a song five times and play it.” Sounds like it’s time to open another bottle of King Cobra.
52 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 53
54 On The Town | July/August
FALL CREEK VINEYARDS Creating Poetry From the Vine to the Glass By Olivier J. Bourgoin; (aka. Olivier the Wine Guy). Photography courtesy Fall Creek Vineyards
W
hen the Texas wine Industry was still in its pre-pubescent stage, there were only a handful of wineries in the state capable of producing quality wines in sufficient quantities for commercial purposes on a consistent basis. Fall Creek Vineyards was one of them. A true pioneer and one of the first three original members of this exclusive fraternity, Fall Creek was conceived as a wild idea born from the aftermath of a 21-day trip through European vineyards. The year was 1973, and co-founders Susan and Ed Auler were young, adventurous and on their way to France.
providing them with a Eureka moment which would forever alter the course of their lives. “Why not grapes? That’s what Ed started thinking,” Susan said. Texas A&M University had just begun a program to encourage and assist people who were interested in planting vineyards. Four hundred additional acres were purchased near Lake Buchanan, with 65 of those dedicated exclusively to new vineyards. The first vines were planted in 1975, and the first harvest of any consequence was completed in the fall of 1979. By 1980, Ed had decided to give up his law practice to become a fulltime winery owner and executive winemaker. Even though he no longer was a practicing attorney, Ed continued to work on legal matters pertaining to the winery business. Most notably, he crafted laws designed to facilitate the growth of the budding Texas wine industry, and he lobbied to have them passed through the Texas Legislature. In 1986, he obtained an American Viticultural Area designation for the Texas Hill Country, which is now the second-most visited wine region in the nation, behind Napa Valley, California.
Ed was a fulltime attorney with a general law practice. Susan was a sought-after freelance interior designer. Having been married for six years, they decided it was time for a vacation, which they took in the form a 21-day driving tour of the French countryside. The ambitious and comprehensive circuit included visits to some beautiful wineries in several of France’s most important wine regions, including Bordeaux, the Rhone and Loire valleys, and of course Burgundy, which is where the Aulers spent a major portion of their time during their memorable and idyllic tour. At the time of their European junket, they had one son named Chad, age 3. Soon thereafter, another son, Mark, was on the way. “He was born on Dec. 31 Susan also gave up her former career to focus her of that same year, as a direct result of that trip, I’m energy on winery-related affairs. Today, in her sure,” said his mother, Susan. official functions as director of communications for Fall Creek Vineyards, she is as active as ever in the Located near the Texas town of Tow (pronounced Tâ- community. Among other things, Susan founded oh), the Fall Creek Estate had been recognized for its several noteworthy wine events in Texas, in particular fine herd of Angus cattle for four generations. In his the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, which role as a ward of the estate, Ed had been thinking begun in 1986 and is recognized as being one of the for a while about what he could do to increase most successful such festivals in the United States. the value of his family’s land and more specifically about what new crops could be planted and grown In true “garagiste” fashion, only 250 cases of wine successfully for profit on it. He understood that to were produced from Fall Creek’s first vintage, in insure the family’s legacy for his sons and for future 1979. Wine was aged in barrels stored in a three-car generations, he had to find a way to make the land garage near the ranch house before the winery was more productive. The Aulers’ trip to France ended up built in 1982. July/August 2013 | On The Town 55
“Our first vintage was very small, and it was made from five different grapes,” Susan said. This translates into an average of only about 50 cases per varietal. Today, Fall Creek Winery produces about 60,000 cases of wine per year, or approximately 142,000 gallons, which are spread among 23 types of wines. “One of the grape varietals that has thrived on these northern Hill Country slopes is Black Spanish,” Susan said. “We also grow some Chardonnay and some Chenin Blanc. In addition, we buy grapes from two other growers who grow exclusively for us. One of them is Scott Roberts. His vineyard is situated on Highway 1826 in Driftwood, near his famous Salt Lick Barbecue restaurant. From him we buy Tempranillo, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Sangiovese. We buy everything he grows. Our other grower is (retired NFL player) Alphonse Dotson. The varietals he grows for us are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Muscat Canelli.” “I’d like to think that we have something to offer to almost everybody because we cover such a board range of the taste spectrum,” Ed said. “We’re not trying to be all things to all people, but I do feel that we have most everyone covered.” “Our whites really run the gamut from dry to sweet. I’m especially excited about our dry Sauvignon Blanc and about our off-dry Chenin Blanc,” he said. “I think our reds are pretty awesome, too. Our 2010 Meritus Bordeaux Blend won a double-gold medal at the Tasters Guild International Wine Competition. We make this wine mainly from Cabernet Sauvignon plus a small amount of Merlot and a tiny bit of Malbec. We started out with all five (native, traditional red) Bordeaux grapes, but neither Cab Franc nor Petit Verdot ever did that well for us.” “We don’t make Meritus every year,” Susan said. “The grapes have to be worthy.” Ed added: “I would like to invite everyone to come out and see our beautiful winery. We are only 100 miles from San Antonio and a mere 85 miles from Austin. Please come see us and taste our wines for yourself. I’d be surprised if everyone in your party didn’t find something to their liking.” Fall Creek Vineyards: 1820 County Road 222, Tow, Texas (325) 379-5361, www.fcv.com 56 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 57
58 On The Town | July/August
May/June 2013 | On The Town 58
GET YOUR APPETITE READY...
Restaurant Week is Coming! By Ginger McAneer-Robinson
T
he end of summer typically means a busier schedule is around the corner and, for the last several years, that busier schedule includes a week of deliciousness and exploration known as Culinaria Restaurant Week. For the fourth year, the Culinaria Restaurant Week lineup includes a variety of stars in San Antonio that work to make each menu more impressive than the last.
community and guide the organization in its mission to champion the wine and food industries governs Culinaria.
Recently, the organization announced plans for what it considers its legacy project: the Culinaria Center and Gardens for Food, Nature and Agricultural Education. Besides hosting events year-round, the center and gardens also will promote healthy living and growth, and serve as an educational facility. It’s a way for Culinaria to Restaurant Week is a salute to some of the best give back to a community which is growing more every restaurants in San Antonio. It is truly a masterful year, as well as to reinvest in the future of San Antonio. culinary adventure that will satisfy the agonizing end of summer. The celebration kicks off Aug. 17-24 and is The long-term vision is to acquire several acres of land your opportunity to finally try new restaurants or to to grow a sustainable organic garden. The food grown support one of your favorites. will be used both for educational purposes and for those without the means to begin a healthy lifestyle. Participating restaurants will offer a prix-fixe menu, The grounds also will boast opportunities to promote which will consist of a three-course lunch for $15 or sustainability with water cisterns, composting areas a three-course dinner for $35. Reservations can be and solar energy panels. made with the restaurants. They are not required, but definitely encouraged. Not only will the gardens provide daily sustainability and healthy food, they also will be a fantastic spot for With the increasing popularity of food trucks and many locals. San Antonians and visitors alike will have the success of the food truck event during Culinaria’s a new place to go for day trips, chef demonstrations, Festival Week in May, a new addition to the lineup and education for children and adults. There will will be Restaurant Week on the Move. This will give be several places to sit and enjoy the outdoors for patrons a chance to enjoy new concoctions that food a relaxing day off to include playing, exercising or trucks have been cooking up. As part of the addition, community gatherings. Culinaria is working with the food trucks on designated locations for the trucks to meet at – so that guests are The organization currently is executing a capital able to find them easily. Their information also will be campaign to raise funds for the project and is included on the Culinaria website at www.culinariasa. applying fundraising efforts not only from the org. Their prices differ from those of the restaurants: $8 upcoming Restaurant Week, but from additional for lunch and $15 for dinner. events throughout the year toward the project. This fall, organizations and individuals will host a series of Culinaria is an independent, nonprofit organization garden parties in an effort to contribute financially to committed to promoting San Antonio as a premier the Culinaria Center and Gardens. wine and food destination while fostering community growth and enrichment and supporting local students For the complete list of Restaurant Week participants, in culinary arts and food-related aid organizations. Culinaria events and information on the Culinaria A volunteer board of directors who represent the Center and Gardens project, visit www.culinariasa.org.
© stuartbur / istock.com
July/August 2013 | On The Town 59
60 On The Town | July/August
Quiche Lorraine, Anyone? By Olivier J. Bourgoin; (aka. Olivier the Wine Guy). Photography Dana Fossett
P
lease forgive the quasi-pun, but when the name of a place that makes lovely quiches also includes the word Lorraine, it is almost inevitable. However, Bakery Lorraine’s name doesn’t have anything to do with quiches. Instead, it’s a reference to the middle name of co-owner Anne Ng.
reconditioned bakery equipment.
“We are working hard on trying to find a schedule that works best for our bread production,” Mandrell said. “I want to keep the quality up as the different breads are rolled out. It’s a tremendous undertaking and a labor of love. Everybody likes good bread but no one wants Partners in business and in life, owners Anne Ng and to pay for it.” Jeremy Mandrell met while they were working in the heart of the Napa Valley at the illustrious Thomas Keller- Along with the ready-to-go French baguettes and owned Bouchon Bakery of “French Laundry Restaurant” sourdough boules, other new items that have been fame in Yountville, Calif. added to the menu recently are five types of paninis, Italian-style hot-pressed sandwiches. Made on either Keller, their former boss, has built a reputation for sourdough or focaccia bread, each version emphasizes expecting exceptionally high standards from his staff at simplicity, with focus on taste and texture and only each of his properties, from California to New York and three or four ingredients highlighting the bread. Choices Las Vegas, and it shows in the product he delivers. Ng and include Sweet Potato Jam with Goat Cheese and Toasted Mandrell absorbed the lesson well. Bakery Lorraine is the Walnuts, Spinach with Goat Cheese and Sun-dried realization of their common dream. Tomatoes, and a simple but effective Ham with Brie. There is also a Fontina Grilled Cheese and the ever-popular The young couple appears to be on their way to writing Prosciutto, Pepperoni, Ham and Provolone. All the meats a great recipe for a well-deserved success of their own. used in the making of the sandwiches are procured from Mandrell’s specialty is the crafting of breads, pies, quiches Gaucho Gourmet on Isom Road. and laminated Viennoiseries, while Ng is the master of the macaron and is adept at making things look esthetically As for the quiches, “They are always changing,” Ng said. pleasing to the eye. “We try to use as many ingredients as possible from our organic garden. We have a gardener, Ruben, who Everything I’ve sampled from Bakery Lorraine has been on takes care of it all so we can maintain our focus on the lovely side. Speaking of the quiches, their crusts are the bakery itself, and he is amazing. We are growing just flaky enough without falling apart, and the fillings of Swiss chards, leeks, collard greens, spinach, fennel, choice (there are several to chose from on any given day), cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, figs and tons of herbs create a sweet dilemma as to which one will be selected from at least 70 different plants.” to soothe your appetite and your craving. I find delight in all of it, especially the croissants and the tarts. Not to Also new are the upgraded coffee selections. “We forget the petits pains au chocolat, which remind me of switched to what we believe is a higher-quality brand of my youth growing up in Paris. coffee, Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea,” Ng said. The coffee comes from a progressive Chicago-based company that The bakery has been a hit since it opened last September. buys its beans directly from growers in Central and South Mandrell and Ng said that after searching for the right America and Ethiopia. unit for several months, they eventually found their recently installed new bread oven at Baker’s Best, a Bakery Lorraine: 511 E. Grayson St., 210-862-5582 Houston-based company that specializes in new and www.bakerylorraine.com July/August 2013 | On The Town 61
62 On The Town | July/August
Visual Arts
64-80
July/August 2013 | On The Town 63
ART AND STARS IN THE HILLS By Lorraine Benini
W
hen Italian artist Benini moved to the Texas Hill Country, he was seeking seclusion. Instead, his move generated a cultural project that has, for years, presented exhibitions of many artists and monthly cultural events at his ranch. It may be the largest privately funded fine arts project in Texas. But not for much longer ... Benini is getting restless.
All that changed when he granted an interview with a young writer from the Austin American-Statesman, and a cover article in their XL Magazine followed about this famous Italian artist living in the country, with paintings in the galleries and sculptures on the hillsides. With no ranch gate at the time, art lovers and the curious came, and the Beninis opened their doors.
In 1999, Benini and his wife, Lorraine, bought a 143-acre ranch with forever views near Johnson City. Their cedar and stone home sits on top of Rattlesnake Mountain. It was part of a ranch that Lyndon Johnson had bought in 1963 after becoming president — a getaway retreat that he retained until 1971, where he was raising angora sheep and writing his memoirs. A few months after their move here, the Beninis bought a nearby 12,000-squarefoot hanger to be a space to display 40 years of paintings, arranged by decade, to allow museum curators to preview work for his retrospective exhibitions.
Sculptor friends loved the chance to exhibit their work outdoors and that started the “Sculpture Ranch,” which grew to more than 100 large-scale sculptures in all mediums — bronze, steel, marble, stone and rope from around the country and abroad. Bringing this all together was a massive undertaking, often involving cranes, forklifts, dynalifts, manpower and ingenuity.
64 On The Town | July/August
To honor the national and international talents shown on the ranch, the Beninis sponsored Arts Encounters for more than five years, a way for the public to meet the artists and learn about their work and careers.
Those salon-like events brought together musicians, It was this work, the 20-year focus on the rose, which poets, dancers, authors and more, sharing their history allowed him to create the illusionistic geometric paintings and techniques. of the 1990s – a result of impeccable hand-blending of acrylics on canvas stretched over a flat aluminum base. One of the first sculptors, a friend from the Beninis’ Since 1965, acrylics have been almost exclusively Benini’s Florida days, Johann Eyfells, an Icelandic sculptor/ chosen medium. architect who has shown at the Venice Biennale and the Corcoran, also moved to the Hill Country. Now 90, he He has had 162 solo exhibitions to date, primarily in still works daily at his studio museum on Highway 290, universities, public institutions and museums, ranging nine miles from Fredericksburg. from Duke University to his recent exhibition at McAllen International Museum (IMAS), a Smithsonian-affiliated Benini has always drawn a crowd. It seems his Italian museum in South Texas, showing the most recent nature, with the fast, wide gestures, the tales of adventures paintings. Later this year, Benini’s work will be the and the expansive conversations. But it is his work that inaugural exhibition at the new Georgetown Arts Center, signals his life. He has always been a painter. In his early north of Austin. years in Italy, his easel was on the back of his bicycle and he sold his work to buy meals and the freedom to live Since his move to Texas, he started the Courting Kaos and work throughout most of Europe. In his mid-20’s, he series – large abstractions that unite deep backgrounds crossed the Atlantic, living in Grand Bahamas for 14 years with the joyful frenzy of drops and spurts of colors like where he painted bright, brash canvases of fire eaters and captured action, ranging from complementary colors to conga dancers. All the while Benini continued European opposition chromatics … When this work was featured at exhibitions, first with his enormous Superoses, then the IMAS exhibition, executive director Joe Bravo wrote, mellow studies in hansa yellow of nudes and roses that “In this latest body of work, the artist has combined his made their debut at New York State University in 1973. preoccupations with science and metaphysics to create July/August 2013 | On The Town 65
viscerally evocative pieces that reflect a transcendental quality achieved by only a handful of abstract masters.” To visiting art students who inquire about the prices, Benini responds with words relating to the importance of reading, discipline and the creative process. He shares with them the one goal he seeks for each canvas – to be the best he has ever painted. This special ranch is now on the market. When the property sells, unless it remains devoted to the fine arts, the sculptors will come and retrieve their work, returning them to their studios and homes. In July, the Benini Galleries and Sculpture Ranch will open only the first weekend of each month. School tours and large groups will be accommodated when possible. This will depend largely upon Benini’s continuing exhibition and travel schedule. He is searching the mountains out west, seeking cool climates, at least in the night. That is when he paints. Every night. In his studio at Le Stelle (The Stars). The Benini Studio and Sculpture Ranch, 377 Shiloh Road, Johnson City, Texas (830) 868-5224, www.sculptureranch.com
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Photo Credits: Page 64 The Italian Artist Benini Page 65 Gallery Exterior Photo by Carol Watson Page 66 (Above) Rock Paper Scissors By Kevin Box (Below) Bluestar By Benini 66 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 67
BROADWAY REACH: EXPLORE. ENGAGE. ENJOY. By Candace Andrews
Whether it’s a “staycation” for the local resident or a vacation for a visitor, a great new pass has been introduced that invites cultural exploration: the Broadway Reach. Spanning a few miles and bridging a rich cross-section of arts, culture and nature, the Broadway Reach is becoming a mustsee destination in San Antonio, with four museums, the San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio Botanical Garden and Brackenridge Park along its route.
Activated when first used, the card can be purchased online (www.broadwayreach.org), at each destination, and at visitor centers. MCNAY ART MUSEUM
The 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival residence of Marion Koogler McNay opened as the state’s first museum of modern art in 1954. See works by Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, The new seven-day pass is a bargain at $44/adult Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock ($19 savings) and $22/child ($7.50 savings) and and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Jane and Arthur permits one general admission per destination. Stieren Center for Exhibitions is the site of major 68 On The Town | July/August
exhibitions and outdoor sculpture galleries. carnivorous plants, this summer. Enjoy the Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera exhibit this summer. SAN ANTONIO CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Brackenridge Park San Antonio’s crown jewel among parks, Brackenridge Park is one of San Since 1995, the Children’s Museum has worked Antonio’s most accessible, relaxing and varied to grow minds, connect families and transform recreational destinations. The park is home to communities through joyful learning and the Witte Museum, the zoo and the Japanese Tea discovery. In that time, more than 2.5 million Garden. Activities include golf, fishing, biking, people have visited to connect, play and learn running and bird watching. Frequent tours together. In 2015, the museum makes its exciting enhance exploration of the extensive park. move from downtown to Broadway with exciting plans to grow future brainpower for San Antonio. SAN ANTONIO BOTANIC AL GARDEN Cultivate yourself at this 38-acre botanical garden. Explore the Emilio Ambasz-designed conservatory and Texas Native Trail. Perennial gardens, a cactus/succulent garden, and Watersaver gardens demonstrate climate friendly landscaping. See Savage Gardens, an exhibit on
SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART The San Antonio Museum of Art sits on a lovely bend of the San Antonio River’s Museum Reach, five minutes from the Pearl Brewery. The museum displays an encyclopedic collection covering 5,000 years of art from around the world. This July/August 2013 | On The Town 69
community gathering place offers more than 300 diverse programs a year. The exhibit Pasion Popular runs through Aug. 18. THE WIT TE MUSEUM The Witte Museum is San Antonio’s premier museum showcasing natural history, science and South Texas heritage. Founded in 1926, the Witte boasts historic artifacts, Texas art, textiles, dinosaur bones, cave drawings, wildlife dioramas, the H-E-B Science Treehouse and blockbuster traveling exhibits (including Dinosaurs Unearthed this summer). Experience the legend of South Texas in the Robert J. and Helen C. Kleberg South Texas Heritage Center. SAN ANTONIO ZOO The San Antonio Zoo, beloved by generations of San Antonio children, is open 365 days a year and welcomes more than 1 million visitors annually. It is home to more than 9,000 animals of more than 750 species. Interactive exhibitions include Butterflies, Lory Landing and Kronkosky’s Tiny Tot Nature Spot. Inquire about the Passport to Adventure.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Photo Credits: Page 68 San Antonio Museum of Art Page 69 McNay Art Museum Page 70 (Above) San Antonio Botanical Garden (Below) H-E-B Science Treehouse at The Witte Museum
70 On The Town | July/August January-February 2013
July/August 2013 | On The Town 71
72 On The Town | July/August
Portfolio:
The Art of Sage Gibson By Michele Krier Photography courtesy Sage Studio
S
age Gibson’s work will have you saluting this San comes naturally to her. Antonio-born artist, and not just for her creative signature flags. Gibson starts by coating the canvas with up to 50 layers of paint, letting each layer dry before topping it with Gibson became known for her flags ever since she made another color. To achieve the effect she wants, she covers one on the spot, having forgotten her brushes some years the work with a white acrylic layer that dries clear, giving ago. She grabbed a credit card and improvised, and in the painting a slightly shiny texture and an effective, the process stumbled upon one of her most popular art unusual finish. The clear layers add a glass-like effect, themes and a unique process. tempting fingers to touch the acrylic surface. And the From galleries to art shows, Gibson’s flags have flown off piece de resistance? A sign in her gallery clearly states: the walls and into the homes of art fans and collectors. PLEASE TOUCH. “I’ve been influenced tremendously by my mom, who is a great artist who works in oil and acrylics, as well as Andy Warhol and Picasso,” Gibson said. “In fact, I sold a huge flag painting to a major art collector, and he moved a Picasso to hang up my flag!”
Her calling as an artist came early -- she did her first painting when she was in the fifth grade -- and has been a lifelong joy and a successful career. Gibson’s pieces have been chosen for the official Fiesta poster and the Texas Folklife Festival poster, two favorite traditions in San Antonio. She also had an entry in the official Texas Gibson, who earned a BFA from the University of Texas Cow Parade. A walk through her spacious Hill Country in art and architecture, is showcased at the Monte Wade studio showcases a great collection of Texas work. Fine Arts gallery in downtown San Antonio. Located in historical La Villita, the Monte Wade Gallery has been in Red, white and blue starry triptychs, “Texas Trios” and business since 1986. The gallery is a true family affair: “Made in the USA,” have become favorites alongside her Monte’s wife, Betsy O’Haugherty, has run the gallery since flags. Gay and lesbian couples mark special occasions Monte passed away. Monte’s mother is artist Juan Dell by presenting her rainbow flags as gifts and mementos. Wade, a well-known sculptor, and his father, Joe Wade, Proud Texans and tourists take home flags ranging from was a gallery owner. His brother and sister are both $25 to $4,800. Other popular pieces are her 6-foot tall artists represented by the gallery. Texas Longnecks and a 6-foot Monarch butterfly. Variations on a theme is the best way to describe Gibson’s Her airy studio, built into the rock with soaring ceilings, signature flags, which range from the U.S. flag to Texas, is a perfect incubator for creativity. Gibson frequently the rainbow flag, and stylized interpretations of all. listens to piano and guitar music while she works. On a recent tour of the studio, we noticed a variety of flags in “I’m a flag girl!” she said. “I’m happy to do commissions of process, including one done in silver and gold. Several any size or style for individuals or for corporate collections.” nearly completed paintings were on easels, and a rock ‘n’ Gibson is French, German and Native American, so it’s no roll memorial collage was under way. wonder the idea of painting flags of any nation or state Old-school rock ‘n’ roll album covers are artfully converted July/August 2013 | On The Town 73
into 3-D pieces and are a tribute to a “Who’s Who” of 1970s and ’80s musicians. Working at full-tilt boogie, Gibson was getting ready for the annual Rockport Art Show over the Fourth of July weekend, which attracts thousands of art aficionados to the coastal arts extravaganza. Gibson has participated in the event for five years and will be doing art demos at the Estelle Stair Gallery in Rockport during the festival, which benefits the local community. “Kids love to see how messy and fun creating art can be,” Gibson said. “Drop in and see my new Bali Beach flag debut.” And catch her at the Big Tent Party Friday night fundraiser at Rockport, where they are auctioning off one of her large flag works. Most memorable Rockport moment? “A funnel spout formed and suddenly live shrimp were flying in your face!” See Gibson’s art work at www.sage-studio.com.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Page 74 (Above) Le Fluer Red 10”h x 8”w (Below) Peace Man! 12”h x 12”h Page 75 (Above L-R) Love Pink 20”h x 16”w Red Pepper 7”H x 5”w (Below L-R) Wine Bottle 2 24”h x 12”w
74 On The Town | July/August
Texas Flag Multi-media
July/August 2013 | On The Town 75
76 On The Town | July/August
Literary Arts 78-82
July/August 2013 | On The Town 77
Book Talk:
Rosemary Catacalos, Poet, Arts Management Consultant Story and Photo by Jasmina Wellinghoff 78 On The Town | July/August
T
hough San Antonians know her best as the dynamic former director of Gemini Ink, Rosemary Catacalos is also a nationally recognized poet whose output so far has been modest in volume but powerful in its reach. So powerful, in fact, that she has been named the 2013 Poet Laureate of Texas. To mark the occasion, San Antonio publisher, Wings Press, is reissuing her poetry collection Again for the First Time - originally published by Tooth of Time Books in 1984 - as well as a new chapbook of more recent poems titled Begin Here.
selected as the 2013 Poet Laureate of Texas?
RC: A colleague of mine on the Texas Commission on the Arts called about two months before the announcement to say I had been nominated. Then a month later she said, “You’ve gone through the peer panel, and you’ve been put on the short list.” And then she called one day and said, “You are the new poet laureate.” I was just completely stunned and so happy. (The nominees) don’t know how the nominations are made or who is on the peer panel. And after the peer panel makes its recommendation, the In an afterword to the new edition, Arthur Sze, the man names go to a committee selected by the House and the who solicited a manuscript from Catacalos for Tooth of Senate, and they make the final decision. I was told that Time, writes: “As the new Poet Laureate of Texas, Rosemary there were around 400 nominations. Catacalos will be a great ambassador for poetry, and it is important that her own work be available to readers. JW: Did you wonder why now, considering that you have Bryce Milligan (Wings Press’ owner) is to be congratulated been in arts management for a long time? for reissuing Again for the First Time. And it is my pleasure to read these poems and to discover their splendor again RC: I was very happy to be seen as an artist. Because I had for the first time.” devoted myself to management for years, I had not been as attentive to my (poetry) work as before, so to have my Splendor, indeed! Drawing on her dual Greek-Mexican work as an artist validated -- I can’t even say how happy heritage, Catacalos’ verses weave myth, reality, memory, it makes me feel. daily life, family ties and history with eternal human frailties and strengths in a transformative way. In the JW: The title is honorary and comes with no requirements. words of Naomi Shihab Nye, Catacalos’ verses “are among What are your plans as the poet laureate? the richest, most humane and thoughtful texts ever encountered.” The book won the Texas Institute of Letters RC: Some of the things are happening already, with Poetry Prize in 1985. Wings Press bringing back my book from 1984. That’s very exciting to me because that book was a long time in Yet this talented poet has devoted a huge chunk of her the making. I am a very – how to say? – not a slow writer career to arts administration. After serving as the head because I write all the time, but I publish little and very of the literature program at the Guadalupe Cultural carefully, after many revisions. I want my artistic process Arts Center in the late 1980s, she moved to California. to be slow, thoughtful and very careful. where she was first a creative writing fellow at Stanford University and later executive director of the Poetry So that’s one thing. The other thing is, this position brings Center/American Poetry Archives at San Francisco with it a certain amount of attention that makes people State University. She subsequently spent several years ask the very question you asked: What do you want to as the visiting scholar at the Institute for Research on do, what do you care about? For me, it’s the connection Women and Gender at Stanford before returning to her between community literacy and literature. It’s important hometown to help take care of her aging parents and for us to approach the issue of literacy through literature, lead Gemini Ink. including community stories. You make literacy happen through what’s already there. For example, the We talked to Catacalos in her cozy, colorful home where grandmother has the story, she needs to tell the story, she family mementos are part of the décor. Most striking is an tells the story to the child, the child hears the story which almost life-size wood sculpture of her Greek grandfather may relate to something in a book, and the child gets Stratos Katakalos created by her father, Demetres Samuel interested in that book. That’s how I learned, not only to Catacalos. “At Thanksgiving, we bring him to the table with read but to care about books. My Greek grandfather told us,” she says. Below are excerpts from our lively conversation. me stories every night before I went to bed, great stories. Well, I didn’t realize until I got to high school that these JW: How did you hear the news that you had been stories were the classics; that he was telling me tales from July/August 2013 | On The Town 79
the Iliad and the Odyssey. So, I thought, “Oh, what else is in those books!?” That’s how personal need and interest in stories can lead to reading. And another thing I am going to be on the soapbox about is literary translation. I am devastated by the lack of translated material from other languages. In this world, we need to learn how to get along with one another, and if we are not reading the stories of other cultures and understanding how other people think, we are in deep trouble. JW: Have you returned to writing since you left the helm of Gemini Ink a year ago? RC: It’s been wonderful. I have been going back through years and years of writing and sorting the wheat from the chaff, deciding what to keep and what to throw away. I am merciless about throwing things away. And I have been reading and reading and reading, and immersing myself in wonderful things that I did not have time to do before. But most importantly, I am writing in a way that my rhythm demands. I tend to immerse myself for days, going through 40 to 60 drafts of a single poem. Within the next three years I do intend to have a new collection ready. JW: How have you changed as a poet from the time Again for the First Time appeared? RC: That’s a very interesting question. (Hesitates for a moment.) I believe I have moved from the personal to encompass a larger part of the world; a larger presence of the world is in the poems. Formally, the poems have become much less linear; they are still narrative but they are narrative in a different way. Elements may come from a variety of places. There’s a lot more layering of different elements. JW: Does that make them more challenging for the reader? RC: I think it does. It requires the reader to consider various elements in an almost cinematic way. My newer poems have been “accused” of being cinematic. I don’t know that that’s the best word for what I am doing but it begins to give you a sense of the difference. There are many more perspectives; many more things are going on. On the other hand, my themes and preoccupations have not changed as much as they have expanded. The themes of family, culture, history, language, negotiating differences, are all still there but I have found more ways to express them. I don’t know that they will ever change. My teacher (the renown, prolific writer) Denise Levertov 80 On The Town | July/August
talked about that once. She was in her 70s at that point, and she said that her concerns never changed; she was the one who changed because she became aware of more things that applied to her concerns. Which makes sense -- our perspectives expand as we mature. JW: You often refer to mythology and history. Do your readers need to be familiar with the events or personalities mentioned to enjoy the poems? RC: I hope not. My hope has always been that the poems can work on different levels. In other words, a poem can speak to someone who doesn’t know who Ariadne is, for instance, but if you do know who she is in classical literature, that adds another dimension to it.
libraries, community organizations, etc. The regular reading series (by professional writers) and the classes were wonderful, and they are part of any literary organization, but what we did with Writers in the Community is something that this city desperately needs. Again, it relates to literacy. I hope the program continues on. JW: What advice would you give to a new poet trying to make a name for him/herself?
RC: Go to readings, go to open-mike events to present your work, and read a lot in all traditions and periods. Then begin to submit to small publications and online journals. Self-publishing has become respectable so you can publish your own chapbook. And there’s YouTube. JW: How would you describe the role of poetry in society? One could spend weeks listening to poems on YouTube. RC: I think it’s one of the most essential means humans It’s useful for learning about presentation. have to deeply connect with each other. Poetry is akin to -----------------------------------------------------music in that regard. You want to feel it. Connecting with Insufficient Light one another has never been more critical than today. JW: You spent many years in literary arts management, By Rosemary Catacalos including almost 10 years at Gemini Ink. What do you For Thanasis Maskeleris consider your major accomplishments in that area? RC: I would say the work I did in that area was very important because when I started there were very few Latinas in those kinds of positions. I saw my role as opening doors that hadn’t been open before. I always tried to make it possible for all the voices to be heard, to have a multiplicity of cultures represented as well as all kinds of styles of poetry. Doing that for all those years and also giving a lot of young people a break, I think that was my contribution.
Under the stairs, the light is going faster than in the courtyard where Yianni strikes sand from the hems of his trousers and only that briefly knows the woman is weeping in the shadows, that her tears are partly his doing, that the light’s going is not, but is somewhat related.
Dusk catches in the crook of her elbow, in the sleeve she raises to wipe her face, As for Gemini Ink, the most important thing about the embracing odors of fish, basil, roses hard won work there was our effort to make the larger community from rocky soil. But now the sand is off aware of the richness of voices they hadn’t heard before, his clothes, Yianni turns away, through the Writers in the Community Program -- voices demands the coffee be set to boil, of kids from the juvenile detention center, voices of their little bread divided. homeless people or battered women or residents of a senior center, voices of people who are not normally Years later Yianni sits alone in the courtyard asked to express their take on life. That was very important at dusk. Gazing at a cat near the boats, to me. (Writers helped these groups tell their personal he suddenly recalls how the woman wept and is stories in writing, and Gemini Ink published them and confused by the terrible bellow that rises organized readings for the authors.) One of the most out of him, the way he smashes his cane against long-lasting and valuable aspects of community writing the whitewashed wall under the stairs, his wanting workshops is that each participant receives a book to to stroke her hair in the going light. keep, to share with family and friends and to remind themselves that they’ve made something of lasting “Insufficient Light” first appeared in”Fioricanto Si, A value that’s published. The books are also distributed to Collection of Latina Poetry” (Penguin, 1998). July/August 2013 | On The Town 81
82 On The Town | July/August
Out & About with Greg harrison 84-94
July/August 2013 | On The Town 83
84 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 85
86 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 87
88 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 89
90 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 91
92 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 93
94 On The Town | July/August
July/August 2013 | On The Town 95
96 On The Town | July/August