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San Antonio Express-News Sunday, July 4, 1993 5H _____________________________ [[bold]] The CARA-CAM connection worth celebrating [[photo]] Eduardo Diaz [[/bold]] July is a favorite time of the year for me. For the eighth year, San Antonians are celebrating Contemporary Art Month. As usual, a virtual cornucopia of exhibits and other events will be laid out. Begun by the founders of Blue Star Art Space, Contemporary Art Month has gradually evolved into a true community-wide celebration. More inclusive than ever, this year's event truly represents contemporary art expression from a wide spectrum of cultural experience in this city. Many thanks to the staff of the Southwest Craft Center, which once again stepped forward to take principal responsibility for the Contemporary Art Month guide. If you need a guide, please call the center at 224-1848. [[bold]] Appropriate place [[/bold]] San Antonio is a particularly good place to stage such a month-long jubilee. This city is home to many fine contemporary artists, a fact that is probably underappreciated by the general public and even the gallery- and museum-going public. Audiences know (and often like) how contemporary art interprets changing conditions in our city, as well as in national and international settings. Art lovers relish how contemporary art breaks with past norms through an array of new techniques and ideas. Growing audiences accept the irreverence (when it is present) and trust that people accept the message that change is inevitable and, I hope, positive. There is something decidedly different in this year's range of offerings. There is a better representation of Latino artist community-wide, in both publicly supported exhibitions spaces as well as private art galleries. In the past, Blue Star and other contemporary art exhibitors have been criticized by those who felt that Latinos were under-represented. I am sure everyone has an opinion on this. It is probably time for the disgruntled to cease and desist, and to partake in the progress. Maybe it is necessary to look at this year's Contemporary Art Month in the context of "Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation" (CARA). CARA, on exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art, is the most comprehensive national exhibition ever presented on the history of Chicano art from 1965 through 1985. It runs through Aug. 1. [[bold]] More than 130 works [[/bold]] CARA features more than 130 works by some 90 artists from throughout the United States. Included are paintings, sculpture, posters, projected mural images, group installations and graphic works. Several San Antonio artists are featured, including Mel Casas, Cesar Martinez, Jesse Trevino, Kathy Vargas, Rudy Trevino, Louis LeRoy and Pedro Rodriguez. CARA had a successful opening, and attendance seems to be doing pretty well. the Museum of Art is doing a particularly good (and unprecedented) job in reaching out to the community. Admission-free Tuesdays, a longtime feature at the museum, have attracted hundreds of first-time visitors from the Mexican-American community, and the gallery talks (many of them bilingual) are being very well received. Given the exhibition's strong San Antonio connection. CARA seems to be dominating the contemporary art landscape for 1993. I think what is important about CARA relative to Contemporary Art Month is that the exhibit provides a political, social and historic context for Chicano art in San Antonio. Chicano art, by its very nature, has been and always will be contemporary art. It has never been conventional; it could not afford to be. From the beginning, Chicano artists were called upon to create something out of nothing. As Lost Angeles writer Max Benavidez recently pointed out in an article in the Los Angeles Times, "In the mid-to late '60s, there were no grants, no art degrees; just a burning need for artist to say something about themselves and their situation." It is this "rascuache" (unpolished, yet full of vibrancy) sensibility that so clearly defines the character, resonance and ultimate popularity of Chicano art. Whatever our personal involvement with "El Movimiento" or our contact with the civil rights movement, this July is a good time to absorb a range of artistic production in multiple venues that will help us recall the past, honor those who had the audacity to step forward, and salute the younger voices that will continue to challenge us all. CARA will leave a legacy in San Antonio for Latino artists of all generations. It should leave a lasting mark within the context of Contemporary Art Month for the benefit of the entire community. ________________ [[italics]] Eduardo Diaz is director of Arts and Cultural Affairs, City of San Antonio. [[/italics]] ________________________ YOUTH ORCHESTRAS OF SAN ANTONIO SUMMER STRING CAMP July 19-30, 1993 Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm St. John's Lutheran Church (across from La Villita) featuring 3 Orchestras (Beginner's, Junior, Senior Division) Chamber Music, Private Lessons, Lectures For more information, call 737-0097 _________________ From the creator of "Les Miserables" ... "The biggest theatrical event of the year!" -Time Magazine The stage event of a lifetime. The greatest story of [[italics]] all [[/italics]] time. [[ad cut off]]
