The residency program at Artpace, the museum Linda Pace created, has been a San Antonio institution.
Three times a year, Artpace invites a curator to select three artists — a national artist, an international artist and an artist from Texas — to come to San Antonio. Since then, 230 artists have been a part of the residency program, which has continued long after Pace's death in 2007, the museum's director Riley Robinson said.
IF YOU GO WHAT: Artpace Residency Potluck Dinner WHERE: Artpace, 445 N. Main St. WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday COST: Free. Bringing a food dish is encouraged
The artists in residence this time around come from London, Tucson, Arizona, and San Antonio. What makes this residency program unlike others is the curious way Artpace has devised to make artists from all around the world feel at home: they throw them a potluck dinner — and Robinson said you're invited.
"Please bring a dish, something that would feed 10 or 12 people,” he said. “It's really a casual event, but these artists are just giving a taste of the work that they've done. And the three artists give a 10- or 15-minute presentation with slides about their work."
The idea of San Antonio residents bringing food from home to feed new-to-the-city artists is a really small-town gesture for such a big city.
"San Antonio is a really arts-friendly city and it really shows,” Robinson said. “Usually, by the time the artists have had a few breakfast tacos — toward the end of their residency — they really don't want to leave. They've made a lot of friends."
The artists reside at Artpace, which is a non-profit art lab to create and exhibit new art, while nurturing new artists.
Robinson said Pace "set up Artpace so an artist could make their work without outside interference."
"During that two months they make an exhibition and show in our spaces,” Robinson said. “We give them an opening after two months and that exhibition lasts for about two more months."
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Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org
