Exhibits and galleries will be featured in multiple locations throughout the month.
By Wally Perez
gperez239@student.alamo.edu
Contemporary art will be celebrated throughout the city, including at some of the Alamo Colleges, for the 31st annual Contemporary Art Month, which is the one-stop spot to discover local artists throughout March.
A variety of events will take place at Palo Alto College, Northwest Vista College and the San Antonio Museum of Art.
According to the CAM website, “CAM seeks to promote and raise the national profile of San Antonio contemporary art and artists by organizing and facilitating a month-long celebration of contemporary art, providing marketing support, and by organizing and facilitating public education programs.”
The month begins with the CAM kickoff 6-9 p.m. March 3 at Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum.
Miss CAM Antonio, the ambassador of contemporary art for CAM 2016, will be crowned during the event at 6:15 p.m. There will be an opening of a new exhibit, food, drink, fun and art.
Roberta Hassele, director and co-chair of CAM, said the month is a great time to celebrate artwork and artists around the city.
Hassele and art adjunct Norbert Martinez worked together to host an exhibition at this college.
“I was the co-pilot for the exhibition at the visual arts center,” Hassele said. “I drove to New York City with the curator, Norbert Clyde Martinez Jr.; we conducted studio visits and brought back art for an all out-of-state featured art exhibition.”
SAC will be hosting the exhibit “We’re Talking About Practice,” curated by Martinez, which brings 10 visiting artists’ work with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. March 10 in the visual arts center gallery.
There will be an on-campus artists’ lecture 7-8 p.m. afterward in the theater of McCreless Hall. For more information on this event, email Martinez at nmartinez20@alamo.edu.
NVC will host “Fibers of Design,” curated by Carol Cunningham, featuring the works of three artists, Amada Miller, Delaney Smith and Meghan Shimek.
These artists explore the complex relationship of fibrous materials and astute design.
The exhibition combines large-scale weavings, paper sculptures and works on papers, each examining minimalist concepts investigating the theme of line. The opening reception is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. March 24, with an artist talk at noon in the Palmetto Center for the Arts. The exhibit continues until April 30.
PAC will host “East Meets West,” the grand finale event for Contemporary Art Month 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. March 31. In partnership with Palo Alto, The Olaju Art Group is presenting a contemporary art exhibition that takes a multinational approach.
It will be a comparison between Kenya and Nigeria by infusing authentic aspects of two dominant African societies, Maasai and Yoruba.
Curator Obafemi Ogunleye is able to bring pieces of Africa to Texas and foster cross-cultural awareness.
Outside of the colleges, the San Antonio Museum of Art has reinstalled its contemporary art galleries, which are reopening March 19.
Reinstalled by Anna Stothary, Brown Foundation curator of modern and contemporary art, the gallery features paintings by Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler and Kehinde Wiley, plus new acquisitions including works by Sarah Cain and Matt Connors.
A monthly four-part Art History 201: Contemporary Art lecture series will be 6-7:30 p.m. March 18 in the auditorium of SAMA.
The lecture will feature Los Angeles-based artist Sarah Cain and her work.
For more information and event listings during CAM, visit www.contemporaryartmonth.com/ or call 210-630-0235.