Events this Mother's Day weekend will fill you with music, a wide variety of artwork and creative writing that celebrates motherhood.
Waddle Through An Artwork Market
First, on Saturday take I-10 to Boerne to the Art Waddle, named for the city's most-feathered art lovers, the ducks at nearby Cibolo Creek. Mary Morton created the Waddle in 2012.
"When we decided to put together this art walk in our neighborhood, we decided to call it the Art Waddle," she said. "And it was very small. And we've now grown to 57 artists, and I believe 13 houses that open up their yards for artists to sit in and sell their art. Some of the parents will pull their children around in wagons. Some ride their bikes. So it's just a great afternoon."
Maps and golf cart transportation are also provided to get you around the roughly one-mile area where the art is displayed at those 13 houses. As to what artists are selling, she said it's a wide variety of options.
“From painting to pottery to photography to glass jewelry to musical instruments,” she said. “It's Mother's Day. You might find something for Mother's Day you'd like. The prices range from probably $20 to $200.”
They’re featuring two artisans displaying musical instruments they’ve made, including one guy making Australian didgeridoos.
IF YOU GO WHAT: Art Waddle WHERE: Across Cibolo Creek from Main Plaza downtown WHEN: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free
Mom Is The Story
Also on Saturday afternoon, check out an event which started with a writer and a blog called "Listen To Your Mother."
"Listen to Your Mother"is a 90-minute well-crafted journey of storytelling," said event co-producer Jennie Badger. "This year we have 13 women who are going to be sharing their own personal essays related to motherhood."
If you've heard NPR's "The Moth Radio Hour," it's much like that.
"It's similar to 'The Moth.' The difference is they actually read their essays. Some of them are published writers. They write for a living. But the majority are just people that want to get their story out. And they're awesome -- they're really great stories."
The show's timing is pretty appropriate, given that that it's Mother's Day weekend.
"It's a great thing to take your mother to. It's a great thing to take your family to. I would say it's probably PG-13."
IF YOU GO WHAT: Listen to Your Mother WHERE: Carlos Alvarez Theater at the Tobin Center WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m. COST: From $20
A Devilish Performance
Saturday night, and in the same building, opera!
"To see it up on stage in a grand opera with a grand chorus and the San Antonio Symphony in the pit, you've got a full acoustic and visual adventure in the Tobin Center. "
Garnett Bruce is directing Opera San Antonio’s Faust.
"This is based on Goethe's poem, which is sacred to the German language. And it's French music by the composer Charles Gounod, about a man who sells his soul to the devil for youth, and he realizes too late the consequences."
Bruce says if you're thinking of coming, expect a lot, because that's what you'll get.
"You can expect three hours of beautiful French music and two intermissions. We will let time stop for a while. We're in a very go-go world right now, and opera is from a different era."
He says to look carefully at the set, where the devil's in the details. Literally. Skulls and little creatures that gaze out, giving the opera's upshot an edge.
IF YOU GO WHAT: Opera San Antonio’s “Faust” WHERE: The Tobin Center WHEN: Saturday, 8 p.m. COST: $35 to $175
Jack Morgan can be reached at Jack@TPR.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii.
