Contemporary Ghanaian artist explores themes from traditional ceramic and mixed-media art at STC’s Mid-Valley Library Art Gallery.

South Texas College Library Art Gallery presents artist Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng’s ceramic and mixed media exhibit. Asiedu-Kwarteng was born in Ghana and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Illinois State University. He was awarded a fellowship through the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and has exhibited on the east and west coast of the U.S. Asiedu-Kwarteng has previously served as a studio and lab Teaching Technician in ceramics for eight years at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. He is now a Lecturer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas.

“My work acknowledges the legacy of Ghanaian ceramics history and contemporary presence without restriction and often utilizes complex cultural symbols, such as those associated with Kente, the meanings of which are specific, layered, and nuanced. I make an imminently contemporary statement and exemplify an approach to my work which transcends form and questions the relationship between tradition and modernity, cultural exchange, and tension.”

There will be an artist talk and reception on March 6 from 10 to 11 a.m.

The exhibit opens on Wednesday, February 7, and will be on view until April 30, 2024. The display and event will be at the South Texas College Mid-Valley Library Art Gallery, E-1.210, located at 400 N. Border in Weslaco, TX.

The exhibition and reception are free of charge and open to everyone who wishes to attend.

The South Texas College Library Art Gallery organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage students’ understanding of art, support the academic curriculum, and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars, and original works of art.

For more information, call 956-447-6663, email gotvos@southtexascollege.edu, or visit https://library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.

Artist Talk: November 1, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. with reception to follow at the STC Mid-Valley Campus Library 

The STC Mid-Valley Campus Library Art Gallery presents “An Allegory of Abundance,” a mixed-media exhibition by artists Calder Kamin (Austin, TX) and Cecilia Sierra (Brownsville, TX).

Kamin earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2009. Her artwork has been featured in museums such as The American Museum of Natural History, The Contemporary Austin and the DoSeum. Kamin transforms trash into beautifully crafted creatures to inspire others to be creative and proactive about the future. As an environmental advocate, Calder is motivated by nature’s endless ability to reuse and adapt.

Sierra earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She has been active in South Texas creating Keep McAllen Beautiful murals, enhancing McAllen’s hike and bike trails and helping to organize a Steam Roller event that demonstrated large woodblock printing. Sierra’s work is heavily inspired by South Texas’ ecology, community and nostalgia from growing up in a Hispanic household.

If you were unable to attend in person, view the video on our YouTube page
https://youtu.be/L2hdTwnIz6w?si=2T2sYCmCaql-O0Dj

The STC Library Art Gallery organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage student understanding of art, support the academic curriculum and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars and original works of art.

For more information, call 956-447-6663, email gotvos@southtexascollege.edu, or visit https://library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.

Reception: April 26
10 am -12 pm at the Mid-Valley Campus Library

The South Texas College Mid-Valley Campus Library Art Gallery presents “Colorful Paradise,” a mixed-media art exhibition by artist Gerardo Medina.

Medina earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Dallas in 1991 before returning to McAllen and starting an advertising firm. Medina creates art without boundaries, developing an emotional process with each piece and never sketching first. Using strong illustrative images, bold colors, and abstract backgrounds, each of Medina’s artwork is a puzzle piece that tells stories of his past and present.

There will be an exhibition reception on April 26 from 10 a.m. to noon during the library’s annual Open House. Medina will be present to discuss his artwork and answer questions.

The exhibit opened on Tuesday, February 21, and will be on view until July 21, 2023. The display will be at the STC Mid-Valley Campus Library Art Gallery, E-1.210, located at 400 N. Border in Weslaco. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

The South Texas College Library Art Gallery organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage student understanding of art, support the academic curriculum and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars, and original works of art.

For more information, call 956-447-6663, email gotvos@southtexascollege.edu, or visit https://library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.

South Texas College Library Art Gallery celebrates folklore in new exhibit at the Mid-Valley Campus.

Artist lecture and reception: October 6, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Weslaco)

The South Texas College Mid-Valley Library Art Gallery presents “El Canción del Perro (Song of the Dog),” an installation featuring soft sculpture and painting by artist Angelica Raquel Martinez.

A reception with the artist will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where she will discuss the inspiration and process that led her to create this exhibition. 

Can’t join us in person? Register for the live broadcast at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom webinar:
https://southtexascollege.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_48YaSkhiRPGJLbBeoocA1Q

Angelica Raquel Martinez is a Texas State University and the University of Texas San Antonio graduate and is now a high school educator. In her multi-disciplinary studio practice, Martinez uses narratives focused on folklore, familial storytelling, and her personal experiences to investigate the ideas of morality and the soul using animal imagery.

“Canción del Perro is a celebration of the dog from stories and familial experiences I heard growing up in my hometown of Laredo, TX. A large installation of various soft sculpture techniques will conjure a terrifying moment from my late Grandfather, who told me how the dogs of his neighborhood kept a menacing spirit at bay one night while he was stargazing. Warnings, gritos, and cries appear in many of the works for this exhibition, centering on a leyenda I heard since childhood – ‘If a dog howls three times in a row, it means a spirit is approaching.’ The dog is a connection to our wild other, domesticated, but still, a thread tied to a spiritual side quieted by modernity. As familiar as we are with the dog, they have a mystery and magic that we seldom notice,” says Angelica R. Martinez about the exhibit.

The exhibit opens on August 22 and will be on view until December 9, 2022, at the STC Mid-Valley Campus Library located at 400 N Border, Bldg. E, in Weslaco, TX. The exhibition, artist lecture, and workshop are free and open to the public.

STC’s Library Art Gallery Program organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage students’ understanding of art and its role in culture, support the academic curriculum, and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars, and original works of art.

Contact (956) 447-6663, gotvos@southtexascollege.edu for more information or visit https://library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.

To view Angelica’s talk, watch here:

The South Texas College Library Art Gallery & the STC Mid-Valley Art Department present artwork inspired by the beloved opossum. Previously held in 2003-’06, this exhibition expands with pieces created by community members that visually describe the tlacuache (opossum) and what the idea, term, and animal mean to each artist.

¡Tlacuachismo! 2021 will be on display from October 28, 2021 – February 10, 2022, at the STC Mid-Valley Campus Library.

South Texas College Library Art Gallery thanks community members/artists for their participation in this exhibit. Artists featured within this exhibition are Linda Calderon, Azul Granados, Denise Santibanez, Irma Garza-Garcia, Amanda Gonzales, Gloria Lopez, Chris Leonard, Rachel F. Brown, Jessenia Herzberg, Jessie Rodriguez, Beatriz Montejano, Mariana Prado, Alexis Marie Ramos, Diego Gamez, Jessica Hogin, Mia Nuñez, Sophia Sarmiento, Jay Villescas, Diana L. Bryant, Kelsie Garza, Nashiely Soto-Garcia, Jessica Gutierrez, Angel Coronado, Isaac Segura, Alyssa Mendoza, Josue Puente, Miguel Angel Perez, Javia Cerda, Alondra Garcia, Jessica Gonzalez, Fatima Fuentes, Abigail Sanchez, Amber Quesada, and Elizabeth Hollenbeck.

For more information, contact (956) 872-3488, gotvos@southtexascollege.edu, or visit library.southtexascollege.edu/lag.STC’s Library Art Gallery Program organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage student understanding of art and its role in culture, support the academic curriculum, and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars, and original works of art.

Featured image by Azul Granados, titled Fire Eater.