By Joel Langton The 830 Times
Dreams, imagination and the unexpected will take center stage Friday night when Southwest Texas College students display their artwork at La Bohemia-Lemon Drop in downtown Del Rio.
The student exhibition will be open from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at La Bohemia-Lemon Drop, 107 Pierce St., as part of Del Rio’s First Friday Art Walk.
Nancy Hill, a fine arts instructor at Southwest Texas College, said the exhibition will feature paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works created by approximately 15 to 20 current and former students from the college’s Del Rio and Eagle Pass campuses. Members of the college’s Creative Arts Club also contributed to the exhibition.
This is the second time Southwest Texas College students have presented their work at La Bohemia-Lemon Drop.
“It’s a great collaboration,” Hill said. “We came together to create this exhibition of surrealism. They’re exploring surrealism through dreamlike imagery, personal symbolism and diverse creative approaches.”
In plain English, visitors should expect the unexpected.
Surrealism is a 20th-century art movement in which artists attempt to move beyond ordinary reality by drawing inspiration from dreams, imagination and the subconscious mind. That can mean combining familiar objects in unusual ways or creating irrational, dreamlike images, such as a creature with human legs, Hill said.
“It’s quite a wonderful curiosity for people to come and look at and question,” Hill said.
Some students created individual pieces, while others worked together on group projects. The exhibition includes acrylic paintings, sculptures and mixed-media pieces.
Many of the participating students were enrolled in art appreciation courses and did not consider themselves artists when they entered the classroom. Hill said some arrived saying they knew nothing about art or had not created anything since childhood.
Through the class, however, students were able to experiment with different materials and sometimes discover a medium they genuinely enjoyed.
“They might find that they enjoy acrylic painting or that working with pastels is very calming,” Hill said. “We’re trying to breathe more art into our communities, especially in our border towns, and give students the opportunity to take a class like this.”
Students will also take part in preparing the gallery. They will help arrange the exhibition, display titles and artist statements and learn some of the behind-the-scenes work involved in presenting art to the public.
Hill said that experience can be especially valuable for students who may want to continue creating or exhibiting their work.
She recalled one student from the college’s first La Bohemia-Lemon Drop exhibition who had created and bound her own journals. The student was uncertain whether the handmade books even qualified as artwork.
“I said, ‘Of course,’” Hill recalled.
When Hill told the student she could place prices on the journals and offer them for sale, the student was surprised.
“She said, ‘What do you mean, a price?’” Hill said. “I told her, ‘You can sell them. This gives you a little taste of what it is like if you want to continue showing artwork and doing what you love.’”
The student doubted anyone would purchase her work, but her journals sold.
“She was ecstatic because she didn’t realize people would appreciate them and love them as much as she loved making them,” Hill said.
That moment illustrates one of the most important lessons students can take from Friday’s exhibition, Hill said. Artists are often their own harshest critics, and seeing strangers stop, study their work and ask questions can change how they view both their creations and themselves.
“It’s nice to see them feel proud that their work is on display and that people are enjoying it,” Hill said. “They brighten up when somebody is really asking them about what they created.”
The Southwest Texas College student art exhibition will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at La Bohemia-Lemon Drop, 107 Pierce St. in Del Rio.
Hill said she really appreciates the team from La Bohemia working with the college. “This is a great opportunity for our students and they wouldn’t have it if the staff at La Bohemia wasn’t so kind.”
