The holidays are always a time of great stress and great joy. This was the first celebration without my mother, and it required some adaptations to cope with the changes that follow such a loss. I know many of us have lost a loved one this year, and we can only move on and honor their memory by our actions.
This year’s Beaux Arts Ball, held Jan. 19, was a huge success! Thanks to Gina Marí Garcia and Tack Somers for heading up the event and to the multitude of volunteers who donated their time and talents to make it memorable. The ball raised much needed funds for Studio operations. What next? It will take a lot to beat the bar raised by this show.
Also, a special thank you to all the people who came to the event. It’s not a party without partiers, and this year’s participants did an excellent job of making the event something to remember.
As most of you know, we were blessed with a grant from the Meadows Foundation, Inc. for the amount of $10,000, far beyond what we were expecting. We are grateful to the foundation for help in the continued improvements that stem from damage from Harvey and other much needed upgrades.
As an overall plan, we are improving the infrastructure of 720 and 840 Franklin to carry us into the next 25 years and, hopefully, beyond. This includes new roofs, better air circulation, heating, windows, electrical work, kiln reconstruction and possible expansion to a larger sculpture/ceramics studio giving way to a permanent performance center and expanded classroom space. All of this will take time, but I feel the need for an organization like The Studio to expand over the years as programs in other educational institutions reduce their arts activities because of costs. I believe The Studio will go beyond my years, and I hope to put it on a good footing for future generations and the leaders who will serve our community.
As you know, I have taken on more classes in Lamar’s art department, and this has reduced my hours at The Studio two days a week. Thankfully, assistant director Marilyn Tennissen is at the helm and holding down the fort (excuse the mixed metaphor). That being said, the work at The Studio has increased with our current surge of activities and our desire to be in better contact with our constituents, students, volunteers, residents and visitors. This requires more than one or two people to accomplish what we want to achieve, and so it is imperative we build our volunteer base. If Marilyn or I have discussed with you the possibility of working with us on a particular project, please call or come by to discuss if or when we can start. We want to continue the momentum that we are enjoying right now, and the help you can provide might be the key to our future success.
We also hold Volunteer Saturdays to do general maintenance and improvements on a regular basis, which is a good way to get involved and learn more about The Studio.
In June, I have the honor of visiting Beppu City, Japan as a visiting artist at the local university. In those three weeks I will create a series of works in ceramics and have an exhibition in the final week while engaging with the public through workshops and lectures. I hope that the experience is reciprocal, and we will have an artist come to Beaumont in the coming year. Thanks to Chris Troutman, Lamar University drawing professor, for arranging the event and helping with interpretation of our correspondence.
A little background is in order. In 1986-87, the cities of Beaumont and Beppu City agreed to be Sister Cities, an arrangement between the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Beaumont and the powers that be at Beppu City. How this came about is a mystery to me, but as new founders of The Art Studio, Inc. my then wife, Ange, and I went to the banquet that honored our Sister City delegates and ambassadors. In the hotel bar we struck up a conversation with a few of the reps from BC and asked if they would like to see an artist space, and they agreed. We took a van and brought them to the first Studio at 1076 Neches at Milam. We visited, laughed and wore the interpreter out, and eventually dropped them back at the hotel. In 2017-18 Chris Troutman visited BC with his wife, who is from that area. Visiting with city officials, he said he was teaching in Beaumont and from them he heard a story of a guy who had an artist space there and they would like to meet him again — that person was me!
The story of the visit to The Studio had endured for 30 years through the city hall as some form of “legend,” in Chris’s words, and they would like me to come visit. So, here I am, getting a passport and arranging my life to be gone for longer than I’ve ever been away from The Studio and my first time to ever leave the country.
This is to say that you never know the profound impact you may have on people and how that may affect their world or your world in the future, good or bad. One of the best things about The Studio is how many times we have the opportunity to affect the lives of people for the better. It is not written in our bylaws or our mission statement, our goals and purpose, or our Studio resident contracts. It is written in our hearts to welcome everyone who walks through our door, enters a show, needs community service, asks advice or just needs a cup of coffee and conversation. That is our human mission, and I can’t tell you how many times we receive emails and letters from young people, now grown, thanking us for giving them a place to go, to feel accepted, to feel safe, to feel needed.
It is a daunting responsibility but a relevant mission, and that’s why we are here.
Greg Busceme, TASI founder and director