Laredo native Nancy Guevara works on a piece that will be showcased Dec. 3 in the Market Square Plaza in Downtown Brownsville. Guevara is an artist in residence in the Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator (AVAI)./Andrea Torres/The Rider
By Andrea Torres | THE RIDER
Laredo native and artist Nancy Guevara has always used the life in the Texas-Mexico border as inspiration for her work.
“I was doing work in other places,” Guevara said. “I did work in Mexico City. I did work in the East Coast, in the Midwest. There was something about the idea of coming back to the border and doing my work here. That felt very precious to me.”
She is one of three regional artists creating pieces inspired by Downtown Brownsville as part of the Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator (AVAI) project.
“My project, essentially, represents issues that women are going through,” she said. “I think that from the pieces I’m creating now, it’s mostly domestic violence, as an undocumented woman and reproductive justice.”
Her project focuses on the life of three local women who have described to Guevara their experiences and obstacles they overcame as undocumented immigrants. The images she is creating will measure 12 feet by 8 feet and will be covered with used clothing of different textures.
Guevara and Valley artists Celeste De Luna and Rigoberto Gonzalez participate in the AVAI’s artist six month residency program. Their artwork will be revealed during the “Abriendo las Puertas: Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator Capstone Event” from noon to 5 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Market Square Plaza.
AVAI originated as an art vacancy program created by BC Workshop, building community, which is a nonprofit, Dallas-based community design center that seeks to improve “the livability and viability of communities through the practice of thoughtful design and making,” according to its website.
BC was established in 2011 in Brownsville and expanded its Activating Vacancy program to create the art incubator in May where the artist residency program exists.
The program is funded by a $50,000 “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and $50,000 from the City of Brownsville.
“These grants go out to cities and cities working in partnership with artists to help use art as a way to build up a city and to have art that makes impact in a region that affects the quality of life for the people that live there,” said Christina Houle, AVAI program manager.
AVAI is also composed of a curatorial committee that assists the artists with suggestions regarding the pieces they are working on.
The committee is composed of the following members:
–Alejandro Macias, a UTRGV art lecturer and the Art Gallery at Rusteberg Hall coordinator;
–Hilda Ledezma, founder of the Carlotta Petrina Cultural Center and community services director at the Brownsville Housing Authority;
–Lidiana Ramirez, program manager and youth coordinator at Proyecto Juan Diego;
–Yvette Vela, public information officer for the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and a former Brownsville Herald photojournalist; and
–Rene Van Haaften, executive director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.
AVAI also sponsors and hosts events such as art workshops and symposiums.
Upcoming events include:
–“Painting Workshop Part 3: Portraiture Oil Painting with Rigoberto Gonzalez,” 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at 1106 E. Adams St.;
–“Noche de Filosofía: a Brownsville Symposium,” 6:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Brownsville Artists and Musicians (BAM) venue, located at 1045 E. Washington St.
