Blue Star Contemporary Art Center
Encyclopedia
The Blue Star Contemporary Art Center (BSCAC) is the acting contemporary art museum of San Antonio. Known simply as Blue Star, it was established as a grassroots
response to the cancellation of a contemporary arts exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art
in 1985. The effort established a vibrant venue for the exhibition of contemporary art in San Antonio. The center is housed in an adapted 1920's era warehouse facility located on the banks of the San Antonio River
.
The organization was originally operated by artists and volunteers yet was formally organized with a professional director and staff in 1988. It is now run by director Bill FitzGibbons. Today the center is a primary destination for new art in South Texas and the center has over 20 exhibitions annually, having showcased artists including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ryan McGinness, Zane Lewis, Mike Bidlo, Oliver Herring, Chuck Ramirez, Sky Patterson, Julia Landois, John Mata, Kimberly Aubuchon, Vincent Valdez, Alex Rubio, Thomas Cummins, Linda Pace, Ed Saavedra, James Surls, Larry Leisner, Dayna De Hoyos, Jason Willome, Ron Binks, Justin Parr, Chris Sauter, Richie Budd, and Dario Robleto. In 2006, George Yepes had a show opening that was attended by film directors Robert Rodriguez
and Quentin Tarantino
.
Blue Star is a catalyst for the revitalization of the South Alamo neighborhoods that surround the facility. The Blue Star Complex and has been redeveloped as an arts-oriented mixed-use development that includes loft/studio apartments, galleries, retail, performance spaces, artists' work spaces, and design offices. Like many other cities, San Antonio has First Friday
art openings where Blue Star essentially acts as the hub of the downtown art walk on the first Friday of every month. In addition, Blue Star is credited with the City of San Antonio's establishment of Contemporary Art Month held annually in July at over 70 venues throughout the city.
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
response to the cancellation of a contemporary arts exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art
San Antonio Museum of Art
The San Antonio Museum of Art is a museum in San Antonio, Texas. In the early 1970s, plans were initiated to purchase the historic Lone Star Brewery complex for conversion into the San Antonio Museum of Art and following a $7.2 million renovation, the San Antonio Museum of Art opened to the...
in 1985. The effort established a vibrant venue for the exhibition of contemporary art in San Antonio. The center is housed in an adapted 1920's era warehouse facility located on the banks of the San Antonio River
San Antonio River
The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in north central San Antonio, approximately four miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the Guadalupe River about ten miles from...
.
The organization was originally operated by artists and volunteers yet was formally organized with a professional director and staff in 1988. It is now run by director Bill FitzGibbons. Today the center is a primary destination for new art in South Texas and the center has over 20 exhibitions annually, having showcased artists including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ryan McGinness, Zane Lewis, Mike Bidlo, Oliver Herring, Chuck Ramirez, Sky Patterson, Julia Landois, John Mata, Kimberly Aubuchon, Vincent Valdez, Alex Rubio, Thomas Cummins, Linda Pace, Ed Saavedra, James Surls, Larry Leisner, Dayna De Hoyos, Jason Willome, Ron Binks, Justin Parr, Chris Sauter, Richie Budd, and Dario Robleto. In 2006, George Yepes had a show opening that was attended by film directors Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
and Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
.
Blue Star is a catalyst for the revitalization of the South Alamo neighborhoods that surround the facility. The Blue Star Complex and has been redeveloped as an arts-oriented mixed-use development that includes loft/studio apartments, galleries, retail, performance spaces, artists' work spaces, and design offices. Like many other cities, San Antonio has First Friday
First Friday
"First Friday" is a name for various public events in some cities that occur on the first Friday of every month....
art openings where Blue Star essentially acts as the hub of the downtown art walk on the first Friday of every month. In addition, Blue Star is credited with the City of San Antonio's establishment of Contemporary Art Month held annually in July at over 70 venues throughout the city.
External links
- Blue Star official website
- http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/texas/san-antonio/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654608603
- http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1167675
- http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanantonio/A7663.html
- http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2008/05/05/story10.html
- http://www.americantowns.com/tx/sanantonio/organization/blue_star_contemporary_art_center
- http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/klblr.html
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_/ai_54432739