March is the month where spring returns, but it's also the month dedicated to celebrating Contemporary Art, as the Blue Star’s Mary Heathcott explains.
“Contemporary Art Month is an independent nonprofit that Blue Star Contemporary partners with every March to help highlight the artist studios, the exhibitions and events that are happening in contemporary art around the city,” Heathcott said.
As one of the city’s flagship contemporary art outlets, Blue Star Contemporary is also ground zero for festivities celebrating the month.
“We're hosting the official opening ceremony on our front steps, and that will involve a food truck, celebration, breakout performances by San Antonio artists,” she said. “And there's also a video program that will be projected on the façade of our building beginning at 7 o'clock.”
A focus of the Blue Star celebration is inside exhibitions by the three artists who were part of the residency program in Berlin at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
“Bluestar Contemporary’s Berlin residency program has been sending four San Antonio artists a year for three-month residencies at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, which is a renowned residency program for artists that's been in operation since the late 1970s,” Heathcott said.
That residency allows artists to create without the distractions that they know here day-to-day. Now, a recent crop of three artists are back from Berlin, and their creations are being featured at the Blue Star.
“We have the work of Justin Korver, Megan Harrison and Jimmy James Canales. Additionally, we have our Threads Bare group exhibition in the Black Art Library, rounding out the program here at Blue Star,” she said.
Since 2020, the pandemic has kept the celebration far more contained than it previously had been. This year will see a return to in-person fun.
“The last the last couple of years, Contemporary Art Month has had to look different, so we're excited to be able to host the kickoff again and to invite people to be outside with us and celebrate contemporary art, as well as see the new exhibitions that will debut that evening here at Blue Star Contemporary,” she said.
Friday’s event, March 4, is free and open to the public.
