It was November 2021 when I crossed from Nuevo Laredo to Laredo for the first time after the pandemic. I had the simple intention of buying Christmas gifts, but inspired by my friend Keyla, who frequently posts about her outings within the regional art scene, I decided to visit the Laredo Center for the Arts where I found a varied exhibition of oil paintings, drawings, and mixed media.
I was standing before one of the mixed-media works on a back white wall when one of the associates approached me, telling me, “Hey, I guess you got here early. The opening is at 7 p.m.” I went back to my shopping list and returned at 7. A full celebration was on by then, the center resonating with the sounds of Mariachi and joy in honor of the homecoming of artist César Martinez.
It was the second show of the Laredo Center for the Arts’ Art Acquisition Program, which has the vision of creating the first Public Contemporary Art Collection for the Laredo community.
Since then, we’ve experienced art that before we could only have seen by visiting museums or galleries in San Antonio, Austin, or Houston. We have seen the exhibitions of many Laredoans who are breaking ground elsewhere, such as Angelica Raquel and Juan Juárez, and works by artists collected by institutions like the Smithsonian, including that of Luis Guerra, Eric Avery, and Cruz Ortiz, alongside his lifetime partner, Olivia.
It was divine coincidence that I was there that night, and since then I’ve always been there — not only at the Center, but also at exhibitions at Daphne Art Foundation’s Casa Daphne, Casa Ortiz, and our beloved, now-gone Gallery 201.
Four years have passed since that November day. As the Center has become a space where we gather to experience and discuss remarkable artwork, we cannot speak of the evolution of art in Laredo without acknowledging the professionalization of artists through the efforts of Daphne Art Foundation. Through its Cultivarte Artists-in-Residence (AiR) program, the Foundation has supported more than thirty artists with a place to develop their practice, exhibit their work, and receive the guidance and mentorship so essential in the early years of an artistic career.
Another important contribution to the arts is the advent of this very magazine, Tragaluz, A Borderland Journal of Arts and Culture, another program of Daphne Art Foundation. We, its staff and writers, document the continuing growth of the arts in and around our community.
Writers play a significant role in the ecosystem of an arts community. The pages of Tragaluz celebrate the arts, informing and offering insight into the inspiration, drive, and method of those who create. The quarterly publication serves as a bridge between artists, artwork, and audiences — documenting in the present tense the pulse of a community creating with both joy and resilience.
A colleague recently told me that we, as writers, “need to stay close, to share, to dialogue, to gather, and to challenge our ideas.”
It is also important to have safe “third spaces” where we can gather and discuss. The first place is your home; the second is your workplace, and the third is the communal places where we meet to talk, exchange, and simply be ourselves.
At the Laredo Center for the Arts, every Thursday evening there’s a program called Third Space, a dynamic gathering where artists and creatives come together to work on their practice. And spaces like Los Olvidados Coffee Shoppe and Gallery and Jardín Contreras have become those third spaces for many of us. These spots on which local art graces their walls are where we run into after an art opening or a community screening, where we debrief and keep the conversation going.
San Antonio has varied examples of third spaces, among them Liberty Bar, Dwight Hobart’s bohemian dream, a restaurant inside a large pink church-like building on South Alamo Street in the vibrant, artsy historic King William District. Hobart recently launched the Liberty Bar Arts Department with an exhibition by artist Daniel Rios Rodriguez, a show that speaks to the forty-year legacy of the space and dialogues with his newly inaugurated solo exhibition at Ruby City.
An example of such a space locally is Lolita’s Bistro on McPherson, which reserves a wall featuring the work of Laredo artists. The work there is carefully curated by Gayle Aker-Rodriguez whose Gallery 201 opened its doors downtown to artists for twenty years.
Other restaurant and café owners can also create collaborations with artists by crafting immersive art exhibits by which their patrons can enjoy a meal, a drink, or an evening of entertainment while experiencing local art.
There is much to come, and so much still to do to foster, encourage, fund, and engender the continued growth of the arts. I encourage my fellow creatives to keep the momentum going. Read. Discuss. Show up. Be disciplined in your practice. Partner with fellow artists and seek the vision of mentors who have been here far longer than we have. Be humble enough to grow, to improve, to receive feedback.
I could never have imagined living times like these on the borderlands. I can’t help but feel proud to be part of this blooming art community. It has been the honor of my life to get to know the artists and the spaces, and the incredible people fighting for this beloved land.
(Neo Laredense Seyde García is a human resources professional in international trade and logistics. She lends her support to the arts in both Laredos in numerous ways, among them by writing about exhibits and artists. She can be reached at seydeg91@gmail.com.)
