Theater sophomore Laura Robles talks about a movie Oct. 30 that she is planning to show in her gallery at Blanco Studios 301. Photo by Altug Sami Icilensu
Local art studio, run by a student, is openx to artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers and actors.
By Sonya Harvey
As San Antonio’s art scene continues to grow and the culture quotient increases with the influx of new artists and galleries, Studio D, or Stud, gives up-and-coming artists a chance to exchange ideas and contribute to different mediums.
Much like New York’s Greenwich Village or the SoHo district, Stud, located at 301 Blanco Road in the Blanco Studio building, welcomes a thriving artist community.
The gallery was started by theater sophomore Laura Robles, to give artists, filmmakers, graphic designers, photographers, actors and musicians a place to exhibit while combining ideas and mediums.
“I enjoy collaborating with people,” Robles said. “Let’s make a mess; let’s have some fun and make something aesthetically pleasing.”
True to a hobo style, anything can happen on any given night.
Artists who call themselves the Subterranean Puppets dance in front of homemade films projecting random art and sentences such as “Free is dance in paint,” on walls covered with abstract paintings.
The paintings are intrinsically put together with shards of glass and broken mirrors glued to clear shower curtains to add light and reflections, while random artists and audience members add more paint to the already abstract wall art.
Multicolored lights fill the studio adding more and more reflections and shadows to canvassed walls as music by groups who call themselves The Last Minutes perform with a variety of musical instruments from acoustic guitars to bongos.
People are welcome to jam if they feel the urge to pick up a tambourine or the bongos.
“I think a lot of students feel they’re not talented enough or they think they have nothing to offer, but everyone has the capability to offer something,” Robles said.
Robles received e-mails from past participants who commented on how much fun they had and how it has been a long time since they experienced something like this.
“You don’t have to go to school or know how to play the piano to make music,” Robles said. “It’s more about the experience than the technique.”
In keeping with the idea of “community spirit,” Robles does not charge either exhibitors or visitors.
Instead, the studio generally sustains itself by hosting events and accepting donations.
Through word-of-mouth, artists, musicians, actors and designers are trickling in, attracted to the openness of the forum.
On Nov. 25, the artists associated with Stud will start off the evening by showing a foreign film called “Man With the Movie Camera,” directed by Dziga Vertov, and eventually, see where the night’s festivities take them.
A number of exhibitions, artists’ workshops, gallery openings and activities will take place throughout the year and the public is invited to attend and participate.
The goal of Stud is to enhance the visibility of the arts in the community, encourage cohesiveness among artists, arts and cultural organizations and the general public and to strengthen and perpetuate the role the arts can play, making Stud a thriving center for artistic and cultural activity.
For more information, go to www.yoapples.com.
