Laredo, Texas – Cultivarte Laredo, a non-profit arts organization, presents the artwork created by the first generation cohort of its virtual-artist-in-residency program called V-AiR during an exhibition program. The exhibition opens to the public with a reception at Gallery 201 on Friday, October 15 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. This is a free event open to the public.
The V-AiR Exhibition will include artwork created during a three-month at-home residency by the following four 2021 V-AiR Artists:
- Alexa Hernandez (Ceramics, April-June). Born and raised in Laredo and a TAMIU graduate (2020), Alexa is a ceramicist exploring a contemporary Japanese technique called nerikomi. Through her creative process of playful experimentation during her residency, Alexa demonstrated how stacking and slicing colored clays she created, and creating interesting color-patched slabs leads to endless unique designs.
- Juan de Dios Mora (Printmaking, May-July). Juan is a master printmaker who was born in Yahualica, Mexico. He was raised in Laredo and is now based in San Antonio where he serves as Senior Lecturer and Professor of Art at UTSA. During his V-AiR residency, Juan created an edition of 25 for each of his 10 new multi-color linoleum prints part of his unique series of Luchadores wearing animal headdresses. The animals represented embody spiritual and physical strengths that correspond to each animal.
- Krista S. Quintanilla (Painting, June-August). Born and raised in Laredo, Krista is a painter who graduated from TAMIU in 2018 with a BA in Art. During her V-AiR residency, she explored biographical issues in which gender plays a major role while working on her new series “Degrees of Pressure.” Krista created three large paintings depicting powerful females at different stages of their lives; from child to woman.
- Victoria Marquez (Painting, July-September). Victoria was born and raised in Laredo and is now based in Austin where she completed a BFA in Studio Art from UT Austin. She is a painter and muralist who is currently exploring abstract painting techniques including decalcomania, and issues around scale; moving from very large scale work to small scale paintings. For her residency, Victoria created a new series called Portable Portals that includes sixteen 8″ x 8″ abstract paintings.
V-AiR Artists were selected on a two-tier process by a committee of judges — Erika Buentello, Gil Rocha, and Jesse Shaw, all local artists and educators — after submitting a proposal and samples of their artwork. They received a stipend of $1,250 to invest in a new body of artwork and share their creative process. During their residencies, they had weekly check-ins with Cultivarte program staff to offer guidance, feedback, and critique. A major component of the residency was for artists to regularly engage with a virtual audience by creating content to share via social media platforms.
V-AiR emerged as a response to the pandemic and through the year has demonstrated how projects like it can continue to foster support and resources for artists on a virtual level. This program has allowed Cultivarte to institute an urgency to create critical and meaningful programming that sustains the work of emerging, upcoming, and more established local visual artists by creating space aligned with room for analysis, critique, guidance and development. The first year of V-AiR was supported by the Laredo Area Community Foundation and Daphne Art Foundation.
The 2021 V-AiR Exhibition will be on view by appointment from October 15 to November 5 at Gallery 201 at 513 San Bernardo Avenue. Viewings can be scheduled by reaching Maritza Bautista, Director of Programs at (956) 523-9522. To learn more about Cultivarte Laredo and V-AiR please visit www.cultiv-arte.org.
