Week I: Morning & Afternoon classes $200.
Week II: Morning & Afternoon classes $200.

Morning Classes: 9:30 – 12 noon $100 per week.
Drawing, Paper Mache, Printmaking.

Afternoon Classes: 1-3pm $100 per week.
Ceramics & Photography.

Instructors: Sheila Busceme: Drawing
Andy Ledesma: Paper Mache
Elizabeth Fontenot: Printmaking
Greg Busceme: Ceramics & Sculpture
Joe Winston: Photography

Students will experience the creative processes like the artists at the Studio! Emphasis will be on different techniques and time management PLUS there will be a small reception in the gallery featuring the artworks created by the students.
Friday Reception: Families are encouraged to attend the “opening” at the end of each week on Friday 5-6pm. Students can take home all projects after the reception Friday evening.

Students: Dress for Mess! An apron or smock is recommended. No cell phone use in class. Bring a lunch for students attending all day, we will provide beverages. All art supplies included in price of ArtSkool.

Parents: Pick up and drop off your young artists on time please. If they have special beverage needs beyond water, lemonade and fruit sodas please include in their lunch. Lunches will be stored in the refrigerator while they are in class.
For More Information, call 409-838-5393.

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Amy Faggard’s entire world is in fragments in her art, but her vision is whole.

The 2012 winner of The Art Studio, Inc. Member Jurored Art Exhibition, or TASIMJAE, will open her solo show, “0913,” May 4, at The Art Studio, Inc.

The show chronicles Faggard’s journey, from 2009 to 2013, while obtaining her master’s degree in art from Lamar University. The pieces range from a series of boots, self-portraits, a series of her hands, to her thesis, titled, “Fragmented Pieces.”

“It is a discovery of myself and things around me,” she said.

The first-grade teacher at Blanchette Elementary in Beaumont, said she can’t remember a time when she didn’t paint.

“There hasn’t been a week I haven’t painted since I was about 12,” she said, “I can’t imagine not ever painting.”

Faggard said that, of the pieces in the exhibition, the hand images are her favorites.

“It started out with a horizontal hand holding a paintbrush,” she said. “I left the wrist kind of broken on each one, almost like a statue. The next one is the hand painting— that hand holding the paintbrush.

“The third one is my hand, drawing the hand painting the hand.

“I guess I like them so much because it’s so much a part of me. What would I do without my hands? I use them for everything. About a year after I painted the hands, I had to go to the doctor because my wrist started hurting. I’m wondering if I created that scenario — painting them with broken wrists and then that happened.”

Faggard’s husband, Albert, is an adjunct art professor at Lamar State College-Port Arthur.

“It’s so nice to be married to someone that paints all the time,” she said, “He doesn’t gripe because I want to spend my Saturday at home painting, because that’s what he wants to do, too. He critiques a lot of my work. I’ll tell him to be brutally honest.”

Some of Faggard’s paintings are what she calls “fragmented pieces.” She shoots photos and then blows them up. Once enlarged, she tears the prints up and arranges them into a pattern before taping them together. Finally, she paints the collages onto a canvas.

Faggard said the idea for the “fragmented pieces” came to her when she was finishing the boot series, which uses the grisaille technique. She worked from photographs on the boot series. When she finished the last painting, which was more abstract, she decided to tear up the photos and see what happened.

“I have a vision when I start it,” she said, “It’s either a certain image, color or a swirling pattern. Maybe I’ll like this orange in one piece and I think it will go good with blue. It’s either a color theme or these patterns look good. There’s usually some idea behind it.

“Sometimes I wake up from a dream with an idea, and I’ll have to get up and sketch it while it’s still fresh. Sometimes I’ll see something, or I’ll see the way the sun hits something.

“I’m inspired by everything — a shadow, a sunset, or the way a person is sitting — you can get inspiration anywhere.”

Faggard said she often gets a picture in her head, complete and in color.

“I don’t know if other artists get them, but I can’t imagine that they don’t get them,” she said. “They don’t always turn out as perfect as I see them in my head, but I imagine that makes sense. That’s what happens. I get a completed painting in my head, and then I draw it and then paint it.”

Faggard said she wants the viewer to bring their own interpretation to the piece.

“You don’t want them to see how you created it,” she said. “It’s part of the mystery of the painting.”

The exhibition will feature a diverse group of paintings.

“I like to paint everything,” she said, “I don’t want to be the flower painter. I just want to paint what I want to paint. I don’t want to be put in a certain category. I just want to be the great painter.”

Faggard said she often paints with her three-year-old granddaughter, who reminds her to paint with the spirit of a child.

“Children don’t think about design or color, or if it’s good, or if other people will like it,” she said. “They just paint with their hearts. That’s an inspiration to me. That’s why I love painting with her.”

Faggard said it is important to paint what you feel or love.

“The boots I loved,” she said. “The collages were pictures of everything I loved. The hand paintings have the paint brushes. It’s all a part of me. You should paint from the heart. Don’t worry if a person likes it or doesn’t like it. Paint what you love to paint.”

TASIMJAE is a juried art show and Faggard’s solo exhibition is her prize for winning last year’s show. She submitted one of her fragment pieces that was created from pictures of rocks. It will be included in this show.

“It was an honor to win TASIMJAE,” Faggard said, “I can’t wait to show my work and I hope everyone enjoys looking at it.”

Faggard has been involved with many competitions and is a member of all of the art societies around Southeast Texas.

The paintings, which are all oil paintings, range from $450 to $650.

“0913” will be on display at The Art Studio, Inc., 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont, May 4 through May 25. A free opening reception will be held 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., May 4.

Faggard’s master’s thesis, “Fragmented Forms,” will be on display at the Dishman Art Museum on the Lamar University campus, beginning May 10. Faggard graduates in May.

Issue Magazine – May 2013
Story by Kristen Stuck 

Discovering the art of redacting everyday words

Poetry is difficult for most people. Whether it is struggling for a rhyme, or just worrying if that deep, personal meaning is either obscure or too obvious, it is an art form that people tend to avoid.

But what if there was a simple and effective way to “write” poetry without ever having to come up with just the right word? In fact, the only thing to consider is which words to discard.

Welcome to blackout poetry.

The Writing Center at Lamar University hosted a Blackout Poetry Workshop, April 4.

Poem by Lorin Carrell

“April is probably one of the most literary months,” Jennifer Ravey, Writing Center director, said. “The week of April 17 is National Library Appreciation Week and April 23 is World Book Night.”

Ravey said that when she was asked to organize an event to commemorate the month, she wanted to do something other than a reading.

“I wanted to do something more interactive,” she said, “something we can actually do as a group.”

Blackout poetry consists of taking a marker to a printed page — a newspaper, magazine or an old book — and redacting, or crossing out, some words on the page. What is left is the poem.

“The great thing about blackout poetry is that you don’t have to know how to spell, you don’t have to know how to write,” Ravey said.

“The restriction frees you. You are bound by the words on the page, but it also gives you the freedom not to have to think of them yourself. It’s just creative, innovative and fun. There were a lot of people laughing (during the workshop).”

Part of the fun of creating a blackout poem is manipulating the available words, often at the expense of “normal” syntax.

“(I was) asked, ‘What do you do about punctuation?’” Ravey said. “Well, you either put it in yourself, or you don’t have it. It gives the poem multiple ways to be read. For example, mine doesn’t have any punctuation. I know where the line break is, but the fact that there is no line break gives a freedom to the reader.”

Blackout poetry certainly has its roots in the calligrams and cut up poems of the Dada and Surrealist movements, but writer Austin Kleon is the man credited with the recent popularity of the form. In 2010, Kleon published “Newspaper Blackout,” a collection of poetry created by redacting articles in the New York Times.

“It’s actually a lecture he toured all over the country and his publisher asked him to write a book,” Ravey said, adding that she came across it about five years ago when a student did a blackout poem for a class project.

“I thought it was fascinating,” she said. “What Austin Kleon does, people will send in their poems and he publishes them on his blog.”

While some people choose to neatly black out the words, other scribble or draw lines from one word to another. There are no rules as to how it “should” be done.

As Ravey thumbed through the examples from the workshop, she said she loved the variety of techniques. She referred back to a blackout poem she had seen before.

“What I like is that someone created a map out of theirs, so it became not just the words, but also the image,” she said. “It’s like e.e.cummings — the structure is part of the meaning.”

Ravey said that some of her favorite art incorporates words with the images.

“Poetry that incorporates the visual is a whole other level,” she said. “I love a photograph that there’s one word, and it might be completely obscured, but you see it and it informs your opinion of the photograph.”

“When I teach poetry, students have hang ups about it, they just do,” she said. “So one of the things I say is, ‘What do you not like about poetry?’ So they say, ‘I don’t know what it means, I don’t understand it.’ Well then, pick me out the words in this poem, the words that stand out to you. They do and I ask them, ‘Why did that word stand out to you? What is it about that word? Is it the meaning that you derive from it? Is it the order?’ Once they look at it that way, sometimes if you change the perspective and have them pick out those images — those feelings — it completely changes it for them.”

Ravey said that people tend to go through phases when they are young when they write poetry.

“You go through this phase where you are young and hormonal and you get all that out on paper,” she said. “Then suddenly it’s an embarrassment. And it is personal and that becomes harder for people.”

Blackout poetry, with its restrictions, allows people to be free to compose poems in a fun way without the worry of being judged.

So for any budding poets out there, grab yourself a Sharpie and go for it. You can even use this article.

For more information, visit austinkleon.com.

Poem by James Fairchild

Poem by Lanna Eaves

Poem by Jesse Doiron

Poem by Andy Coughlan

Poem by Josh Aych

Poem by Deante Alexander

Issue Magazine – May 2013
By Andy Coughlan

“Every writer — and reader — needs a guide,” says Rudolfo Anaya in an interview about the process of writing the novel which brought him international fame. He talks about a vision which became the cornerstone of his inspiration: an old, withered woman miraculously appeared in his room as he was writing the first draft. She said that the book would not be good if she were not in it. “A healer became my guide, so I could look deeper into the reality and time.”

Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955), LA ABUELA, oil on canvas, 18.375 x 14.625 inches,                   Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.28.18

Ultima is a curandera, a medicine woman. Using a variety of medicinal herbs, she heals bodily disease as well as sickness of the soul caused by evil spells. She is more than a healer — she is a medium between our world and the world of spirits, between the present and the past. Her presence in the novel empowered Anaya to transcend the personal story of Antonio, a young boy coming of age, and create an epic narrative that reflected the collective psyche of Hispanic people of New Mexico.

Ultima belongs to the generations of healers, witch doctors, medicine men and women, often collectively referred to as shamans*, who safeguarded their communities from multiple perils since the earliest days of humankind. Historians believe that shamanism was a dominant pre-religious practice for humanity during the Paleolithic period. Shamans performed the duties of naturopathic doctors, midwives as well as mystic intercessors on behalf of individuals and the whole community at the times when it was necessary to seek assistance of — or protection from — supernatural forces.

It is believed that, in order to communicate with the supernatural, the shaman’s soul has to leave his or her body and undertake a dangerous journey to the world of spirits. The shaman achieves this by getting in a trance and entering the body of a bird or other animal. This belief is echoed in Anaya’s novel. Ultima has a mysterious connection to the owl. The owl protects Antonio and metes out punishment to evil Tenorio. The owl and Ultima are inseparably linked to each other: when Tenorio shoots the owl, Ultima dies.

When organized religions replaced paganism, shamanic rituals were forced to the periphery or underground, but they never completely disappeared. For example, in Europe, shamanic traditions continued to manifest themselves in popular folk beliefs through the Early Modern period (1500-1800.) Scholars argue that medieval beliefs regarding the soul were based on earlier shamanic ideas. The continuing practice of shamanic rituals might have played a role in the conceptualization of witchcraft, including the idea of the witches’ Sabbath, and led to witches’ trials in the Middle Ages and later.

Practitioners of ancient rituals were known under different names in different countries, however, in all cultures they were most often referred to as “the wise men and women” or “the cunning folk.” They were the keepers of the collective knowledge upon which the well-being and, ultimately, the survival of the community depended. Naturally, this knowledge was closely guarded and restricted to the initiated practitioners to whom it was passed orally by the older generation. In Anaya’s novel, Ultima says that her powers were given to her by “el hombre volador” (“the flying man”), and the name of this great healer has a terrifying effect on Tenorio who “drew back as if slapped in the face by an invisible power.”

For centuries, “the cunning folk” were the only ones who acted as physicians for the general population while medical science was slowly evolving. Their importance, particularly for rural and remote areas, is impossible to fathom. Every folk culture has ceremonies, typically accompanied by chanting, of giving thanks to midwives, which was an area of specialization among “the wise women.” Even as late as the 1930s-1940s, medical assistance was not readily available in rural communities in New Mexico: it is Ultima who performs the duties of a midwife when Antonio is born and who treats him when, later in the novel, he becomes seriously sick.

Curanderismo as the art of curing physical and spiritual illnesses emerged in Spain-dominated areas of the New World. It blends Native American traditional healing practices with Catholic elements, such as holy water, saint pictures and Catholic prayers. However, there must have been one more ingredient which added its distinctive flavor to the mix: the ages-old legacy of the European “cunning folk” which presumably was carried across the ocean by surviving keepers of the ancient tradition.

Ernest Leonard Blumenschein (1874-1960), HAWK SHIELD, MEDICINE MAN, c. 1917, oil on canvas, 16.5 x 14 inches, Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.30.15

Although little is known about Spanish curanderos and curanderas around the time of the colonization of the Americas, the number of witches’ trials during the 16th and the 17th centuries in Spain attests to the persistence of folk customs which the church was mercilessly trying to suppress. Other indirect evidence pointing to the continuing practice of ancient rituals in Spain is the well-documented history of “the cunning folk” in nearby Italy where they were known as “praticos” (wise people), “guaritori” (healers), “donne che aiutano” (women who help) and “mago” (maga). One of the most well-known groups among them was the Benandanti (good walkers), who claimed they performed nocturnal visionary flights across the sky in order to ensure good crops. Between 1575 and 1675, the Benandanti were tried as heretics and witches under the Roman Inquisition.

In the New World, curanderos and curanderas could practice their ancient art of healing more freely. Although the threat of persecution by the Inquisition remained, it was easier to hide in these vast and sparsely populated lands. At the same time, the need for a local healer dramatically increased due to the distances to towns and scarcity of doctors even in urban areas. As a result, curanderismo flourished on a new soil and expanded its arsenal of remedies and techniques by incorporating into its practice the traditional healing methods and knowledge of local herbs of American Indians.

The actions of “the wise men and women” have often been misinterpreted as witchcraft and, as mentioned earlier, practitioners suffered severe persecutions including imprisonment, torture and being burned at the stake. However, there is a fundamental difference between the art of healing and witchcraft — the difference that also is underscored linguistically in many languages. In Spanish, the former is called “curanderismo” while the latter is called “brujería.”

In the course of the novel, Ultima addresses this difference several times. In her last words to Antonio, she describes “brujería” as an attempt to disrupt the harmony in the world, while her mission, as a curandera, is to maintain this harmony. This task may warrant the use of magic, particularly in a situation when a witch has cast a spell on a person. A curandera demands the witch to remove the hex and, if this does not work, she has to “hex the hexer.”

The episode with the healing of Antonio’s uncle Lucas reads like a classical example of a spell removal procedure. Ultima locates the hexing agent — a ball of hair which was magically placed in Lucas’s stomach — and expels it from the patient’s body by giving him a powerful emetic. But this is not the end of her mission. In order to restore harmony in the world, Ultima “sends” the evil back to where it originated by putting a hex on the witches, Tenorio’s daughters, which results in the sickness and death of two of them.

So who is Ultima for a modern reader — a person who may or may not believe in curanderismo? Is she a kind of “good fairy” that one finds in the pages of a children’s book, a “white magic woman,” a holistic healer, a fearsome shaman? Did she really perform magic when she treated Lucas or did she simply cleanse his body? Did she really cause the death of Tenorio’s daughters? Did a part of her spirit reside in the body of the owl? The answers depend on how each of us perceives the world and all that remains unexplained in it.

At the same time, regardless of our position on the supernatural, there is something that we, people of the 21st century, share with Ultima. We all are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of a holistic approach to curing illnesses that ravish our bodies. All things in the body are related to each other and an action administered to one part inevitably starts a chain reaction. More importantly, we now recognize that physical, mental and spiritual health are intrinsically linked and it is impossible to affect one without affecting the others.

The next step is to take to heart Ultima’s message: open our minds to “all that is good and strong and beautiful,” and keep in harmony between ourselves and the world around us.

The novel “Bless Me, Ultima” has been chosen for the 2013 Southeast Texas Big Read program. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

For more information visit library.lsco.edu/big-read/big-read.asp.

* The term “shamanism” was originally applied to describe belief systems of people of Northern Europe and Siberia; later, it became a blanket term for diverse beliefs and practices around the world which involve contact with a spirit world in an altered state of consciousness. While anthropologists argue about the true meaning of shamanism, it continues to be used in scholarly literature as a general term, which justifies its capacity in the present article.

Issue Magazine – May 2013
Story by: Elena Ivanova 

The retirement celebration will be held at three different locations starting with refreshments at the Beaumont Art League from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a cocktail reception at Art Museum of Southeast Texas, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and finishing at 8 p.m. at the Art Studio, Inc., where she will be an honored guest during the exhibition opening of local artist Amy Faggard.

All events are free and open to the public — everyone is welcome.

Lokensgard began her Beaumont teaching career at Lamar University in 1973 and soon began taking a leadership role as advocate and supporter of the arts both inside and outside the classroom.

In the classroom, her enthusiasm for art history benefited many hundreds of students, including many who were not art majors, enrolled in her Art History Survey and Art Appreciation courses.

Jarvis Quach, a former student, recently commented on her inspirational teaching: “Dr. Lokensgard is the one who made me love art so much.”

During her tenure at Lamar, her repertoire of courses spanned the history of civilization and included numerous disciplines from Architecture, African and Asian Art to the Renaissance, 19th Century, Symbolist and Contemporary art.

Paul Manes, New York artist, former student (and Beaumont native), said, “Dr. Lokensgard has a vast knowledge of art history. Her years of singular teaching capabilities leave the university at a loss with her retirement. It will be hard to fill her shoes.”

Outside the classroom, she has been a tireless organizer and curator of art exhibitions within the Dishman Art Gallery at Lamar, where she served as director for 20 years, as well as assisting numerous other arts organizations including the Golden Triangle Aids Network, Beaumont Art League, The Art Studio, Inc., and Art Museum of Southeast Texas.

The event is being hosted and organized by a group of former students, spanning several decades, working in partnership with the Beaumont art community.

“It’s a perfect way to celebrate the career of someone who has had such an influence — who helped nurture an amazing culture of artists, collectors and supporters throughout Southeast Texas,” said former student Amy Richard.

“We can’t ever thank Dr. Lokensgard enough for the knowledge, encouragement and passion for art that she has imbued to us all, but we’re going to try.”

Evelyn Brown, another former student, said, “Her professional career is one to admire and celebrate. What an engaged, active, and approachable educator and friend she has been in our art community and in friendship through the years.”

For more information about this event, email Melanie Lanuza  at melanie.lanuza@gmail.com, or Amy Richard at amymiami.richard@gmail.com.

The production, which features Roxane Gray as Ann Landers, will take place in the grand ballroom following a four-course dinner.

Tickets are $65.

“After the very successful Valentine’s Day dinner theater show, we decided to do another production,” director Ramona Young said.

“The Lady With All the Answers,” written by David Rambo, takes place in 1975, 20 years after Eppie Lederer took over the Ann Landers advice column that changed the social landscape of the last half-century and made her “America’s Therapist.” While struggling to write the most difficult column of her life, Ann Landers breaks down the fourth wall and shares some of her favorite letters and memories with us.

“The playwright, David Rambo, has found an artful way to tell the story of America’s transition from the calm of the 1950s to the constant flux of the 1970s. He tells us the story of one woman’s struggle to cope with the changes in the world around her. The true beauty of the work is that he chooses the irrepressible Ann Landers to be that woman,” Young said. “Through her wit and straight-talk, he is able to tackle huge themes like marriage and divorce, war and peace, celebrity and privacy, without lecturing.”

Drawing from the life and letters of Ann Landers and with the cooperation of her daughter, Margo Howard, Rambo has created a touching play that the Los Angeles Times calls “…folksy, funny, straightforward and validating …a smile-inducing, tear duct-activating reunion with a woman who might have been a stranger but seemed like family…engaging from beginning to end.”

Since its 2005 debut at the Old Globe in San Diego, “The Lady With All the Answers” has been mounted in more than 50 regional productions, including an off-Broadway production at the Cherry Lane Theatre that earned Judith Ivey a Drama Desk and Lortel nomination for her portrayal of Ann Landers.

The Beaumont Woman’s Club is located at 575 Magnolia in downtown Beaumont.

Reservations may be made by calling 409-543-4915, or online reservations at facebook/com.outsidetheboxbeaumont.

Reinauer previously placed first in 2003. Reinauer, who is chair of the art department at McNees University, earned first place for her oil painting, “Chronos Rings,” above right.

Second place was awarded to Faye Nelson and third place was awarded to Jody Reho.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Michael Mason, Cynthia Courville Fontenot, Joyce Philen and Sam Keith.

“Rosie,” a papier mache sculpture by Avril Falgout

More than 80 entries were submitted for the show, and 30 pieces were accepted for exhibition by juror Megan Young, director of the Dishman Art Museum at Lamar University.

Reinauer was awarded a cash prize and will host a solo exhibition in May 2014.

From Greg Busceme, TASI Director

The gas heaters return to collecting dust for the next nine months as we go into the warm days of summer, looking forward to enjoying the toasty respite from a chilly, wet winter.

As far as a “State of The Studio” report goes, we are in a stable state of existence. We are spending less on operations and earning more from sales.

We have all spaces rented to 20 artists in residence, along with a couple of intermediates.

Classes have revived after a four-year slump, as is evidenced by the Life Drawing class and the work of individual teachers.

Although not to 1990s levels, classes are showing a good comeback for young people and adults, as interest outweighs economics and stimulus outweighs boredom.

Band Nites are showing modest but steady gains with expected increases in enthusiasm, reflected in a new crew in charge of the event. As always bands must play their own original music, and this is the draw we depend on for innovative and unique presentations.

Young musicians see The Studio as a rite of passage for their band.

Because of this, and the potential for future members, Band Nite is one of our strongest assets for the inovation of new music and the investment in the interests of young people. If you haven’t been to a Band Nite lately, you owe it to yourself to go.

Art exhibitions are the only events that did not go through a slump as participation seems to peak during especially tough times economically. This is attributable to the lack of weekend travel and a lack of funds. Art exhibitions, as an event, open the door to people looking for cheap family activities.

Art sales have been considerably better than average and has held to that trend after the new year. I account for this in light of a buy local mindset and other economic conditions.

We continue to work on our facility, but we must make some key decisions on what to build and for what function. Near future- — a covered deck out back of the clay studio would really help with the Studio congestion we are suffering.

Further in the future — a metal fabricated facility divided into one part warehouse/ metal works, one part performance space.

While I’m dreaming — A/C everywhere and new bathrooms, too.

View the current issue of our award winning magazine in a digital format.

Greg Busceme is organizing an Adults Only clay class that will start Saturday, April 27th and ends May 25th, meeting each Saturday morning from 10 am to 12 noon. Everything is included. $100 per person.

This class is intended for the rank beginner to intermediate level. It is a complete course in the process of making things in clay. Bring your favorite morning beverage. Coffee provided.”