Meet The Artists Behind Come To Your Census, Texas
Image courtesy of featured artist Sarah Bork.
Texas, it’s time to come to your Census.
We’re partnering with Art+Action this month to call on our community to fill out the 2020 Census. Completing the Census this year is a big deal, as the data will determine how our government invests in our communities over the next ten years. And when you fill it out, you play a direct part in bringing resources, political power and potentially $20,000 in funding to your community.
To spread the word about the Census, Art+Action commissioned six Texas artist to erect billboards across the state. In this post, you can meet them all, and if you’re here to fill out your Census, please click here.
MEET THE TEXAS ARTISTS BEHIND COME TO YOUR CENSUS:
WHO: Sarah Bork
Sarah Bork lives in Austin, TX, with her husband and two daughters. Her ongoing projects include: Liquid Love – a photographic study of reflections on the surfaces of swimming pools, Legacy – an examination of silverware, Heritage & The Hereafter – a series of quilts constructed from post consumer fused plastic and GIRLS GOTTA EAT – an exploration of the grocery shopping and eating habits of drag queens.
WHO: Armando Aguirre
Armando Aguirre received his Bachelors Degree in Visual Arts from the University of Texas at Dallas. Armando’s artwork is informed by his Mexican American background and reflects his interests in Mexican Muralist, Chicano culture, graffiti colors, and Aztec Mythology.
WHO: Andy Benavides
Andy Benavides is a native of San Antonio, TX. As an active contemporary artist, and entrepeneur he utilizes his knowledge of art mediums to explore, discover and translate his personal feelings into responsive art. His intention is to engage his viewer. He and his wife (Yvette) and son (Agusto) together run their arts complex which is also their home. The location is where they operate their two creative service businesses (Benavides Picture framing and Benavides Studio Inc.). Their warehouse also functions as an arts incubator in San Antonio where they house 15 professional art studios as well as their arts education non-profit (smartsa.org). Collectively, their ventures have been building community through the arts for 30 years to date.
WHO: Kim Bishop
While Kim Bishop is currently a San Antonio-based artist, her roots are in Austin, Texas, where she was raised and graduated from High School. She received her BFA in Commercial Art from Southwest Texas State University and her MA in Gifted and Talented Curriculum and Instruction from Texas State University in San Marcos. After thirty years of working in the Art Education field she is currently working on completing her MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Bishop has maintained a full time studio practice in San Antonio for over fifteen years. Her extensive nationally recognized exhibition record reflects her focus on community engagement through the arts. She is co-founder of Art to the Third Power, a large-scale industrial street print press, Bishop & Valderas LLC, a creative group and 3rd Space Art Gallery. She is a part of several permanent collections like the City of San Antonio Library, the University of Texas San Antonio and A&M Kingsville along with many private collections. At present she instructs drawing at Southwest School of Art.
WHO: Caroline Ryan
Caroline Ryan was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Houston with a BFA in Painting, a BS in Psychology, and a minor in Art History. Her work consists of mainly figurative work done using acrylic paint, gouache and watercolor. Ryan uses photographs as the references for her paintings; these photographs are a mix of photos she has taken and old family photos, along with found photographs. Ryan references these photos to reflect on the relationship between photography and painting, and the ways that the two capture memories. Her work has shown in a variety of galleries including the Asian American Resource Center in Austin, Texas, Beeville Art Museum in Beeville, Texas, the Lawndale Art Center in Houston, Texas, and Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas, among others.
WHO: Xavier Schipani
Xavier Schipani born in Washington DC, lives and works in Austin. He got his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2009, with a concentration in Illustration and Painting. He has continued his painting practice participating in exhibitions all over the country, as well as abroad and created several public works as well. His work is heavily influenced by his identity as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community using his personal as a political intersection between art and activism. The subject of the trans masculine body and its portrayal are essential to him, the goal being to represent them and their undeniable existence. He believes that Art can be used as a tool for agitation, to keep reminding people that there are several ways to look at something without defining it, to keep seeing it as it evolves.
LOOKING FOR MORE?
To find out more about bbatx, check out everything we’re doing virtually for women and nonbinary creatives and leaders (plus the people who support them) here.
To fill out the Census, head to 2020census.gov to complete the nine question, ten-minute survey—you have until September 30!