Preserving resacas one art piece at a time

The 5th Annual Resaca Art Exhibition, which raises awareness of people’s impact on the environment and native species unique to resacas, continues through Sept. 9 at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts.

The exhibit, much like the rest of the museum, is sponsored by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board and is working together to encourage the community to respect wildlife and take care of the resacas and its green areas.

Deyanira Ramirez, executive director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts, said the museum continues to take this project on to support the utility board’s efforts to keep resacas beautiful.

“We also want to see the other point of view, not only [when] visiting the resacas in person, but also viewing those resacas through the art, how the artists or people or community express themselves,” Ramirez said.                 

She said people from the Rio Grande Valley support a lot of the artists and the museum, and it showed during the opening reception, which took place Aug. 12. 

There were seven total art pieces sold on opening night.

“We were lucky that [Aug. 12] we had a lot of community from different cities,” Ramirez said. “Like I [said] in this exhibit in particular, the community was really impressed and they were really awesome purchasing artwork.”

The exhibit showcases 20 artists and features more than 30 pieces of art, including paintings, photographs, prints and mixed media.

UTRGV alumna Cecilia Sierra, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in studio art in 2022, submitted a piece titled “Roadrunners Along the Resacas of the Rio Grande Valley” for the exhibit.

Sierra’s piece is a black and white print featuring two roadrunners midway the resaca, surrounded by native wildlife.

“It’s just my way of showing appreciation for my hometown and the region through nature and art,” she said.

The art piece sold almost immediately for $800 during opening night. 

“It was exciting,” Sierra said. “I honestly didn’t anticipate anything out of it, cause it was $800. I didn’t think anyone would spend that much here… It was a nice surprise to know that local people do support art.”

The opportunity to submit art pieces to the museum for the Resaca Art Exhibit started two months prior to opening day, yet there was no cut off as to how many art pieces were accepted by the museum.

Thirty percent of the profits made from art pieces from the Resaca Art Exhibit stay in the museum to help bring new exhibits regularly and educational and cultural programs for the community.

The Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, located at 660 E. Ringgold St., is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Admission is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children, students, senior citizens and veterans and free for children under the age of 6.

The next art exhibit will be the International Art Show and will showcase artists from Mexico, the United States and Canada Sept. 22 through Nov. 3.