cont.,

yea i am back in san marocs, do some profiles this week,
the Loisel collection
Stevo's folk art form San Marcos
Fred McCoo studio and his exit outta San Marcos

the history of the Warehouse system, as told by Drek

Yea in recolections of lusts and desires, its best to admite you have been defeated and rebuild yourself,
as Serge would say "the eye of the tiger " isnt on the fat and wealthy or content,.its seen on the malcontent starved and broke
i added the last part,

but man the aniexty, attack, its still got me freaked to a degree, i think i can get depressed and not know it,
so we have got to start focusing

David Elliot site!

art harry from Ten.

joe heeps check him out

buddies bemusings

my space Dolan check it out

ruralist
check out these links

fellow coffee goer looks at Amanda Jones work on display at Joe on the Go, san marocs Texas

this is the warehous history as written by guest write Drek Durham

San Marcos Warehouse Art Scene 2001-06
>
>
>Part 1: The Warehouse Art Space: Beginnings
>
>Established in January 2001 the Warehouse at 114 San Antonio St.
>became the first student-run studio and exhibition space in San
>Marcos in many years. Although previous efforts at establishing
>independent art-related spaces had produced a wealth of funky
>subversive sites in San Marcos, most of these efforts tended to wind
> down after short runs, usually only a couple of months or so. The
>Warehouse Art Space (also known as the West Side Warehouse) was a
>different venture from the start in many regards. First, it was a
>rentable space with a landlord who had an investment in the success
>of the venture. Second, although not officially a co-op, the
>Warehouse Art Space operated like a collective of like-minded
>artists who were equally responsible for the upkeep and success of
>the space. Third, the quality and temperaments of the artists
>involved help secure the Warehouse for a long run. Where other
>ventures had floundered under indifferent or directionless
>leadership the Warehouse kept its mission very simple and straight
>forward; to provide a working studio space to any capable artist
>who was willing to spend “X� amount towards rent and also to
>allow for occasional exhibition opportunities for local artists as
>space and time permitted. Although the Warehouse Art Space was
>witness to several well attended exhibitions and saw its share of
>wild rambunctious parties, the artists in control of the space
>never allowed the Warehouse to become a chaotic party place, as
>tempting as it was at times to do so. Lastly, the subleasing
>mechanism built into the warehouse gave it the ability to survive
>cash crunches and commit to improvements simply by allowing the
>leaseholders to add another artist resident into the space. As long
>as the rent was cheap for everyone involved the space could
>continue to operate indefinitely.
>
>The opening of the Warehouse Art Space in downtown San Marcos in
>2001 came at the tail end of what might be termed a “cultural
>renaissance� in San Marcos that started in the mid-90s and
>continues on to this day (although in a much less frantic manner).
>San Marcos has always had a reputation as a rebel-rousing college
>town that historically tends to differ its status as a culture
>waystation to its big neighbor up north I-35, Austin. Although San
>Marcos has never been lacking in artistic and creative talent, the
>mechanisms for the exploration and dissemination of those talents
>in the public arena have left a lot to be desired on the part of
>artists in San Marcos. Until the mid-90s, the only options for
>creative individuals in San Marcos tended to revolve around the bar
>scene or an occasional exhibition held by the Art Department at
>Texas State University. Occasionally a space would fire up such as
>the Bill Ivey/Bob Taylor led 14’x7� Art Space that opened on
>far N.LBJ in the early 90s, the whacky showing spaces at the
>short-lived Futon Forum on Hopkins and early Kismit Café, as well
>as the San Marcos Fine Arts Center which was housed in the Hopkins
>Street buildings now owned by the United Methodist Church downtown.
>These were spaces where notable San Marcos artists such as George
>Zupp, Josh Rios, Dennis Hodges, Grady Roper and many others got
>their first shows in San Marcos.
>
>Although the importance of the warehouse scene cannot be overstated
>it should still be placed in the context of other culture phenomena
>that were occurring in San Marcos in the few short years prior to
>the establishment of the warehouse Art Space. The first of these
>cultural waves came with the establishment of Kind Radio, a pirate
>radio station that went on the air in San Marcos in 1997 and
>continued as an active cultural force in the area until mid 2000.
>The second important cultural benchmark for San Marcos arrived in
>1999 with the first issue of Proper Gander Anticomics Zine. A
>third, but probably less important for the visual arts, was the
>opening of the Triple Crown on Edward Gary in 1996. Each of the
>previous ventures made a contribution to the overall desire of
>creative folks in San Marcos to develop a cohesive artistic scene
>that could exist outside the rigid academic confines of the local
>university on the one hand while attaining some sense of autonomy
>and value in a community traditionally opposed to anything that
>reacted against the established conservative hegemony enacted by
>the so called “Gray- haired Belvin Street set.� It was in this
>spirit that the first warehouse on San Antonio St. was established.
>
>
>Warehouse
>
>Owned by former glass artist Dave Foglia, the Warehouse had
>previously been used by Foglia as his own personal studio. The
>approximately 2900 square feet of space that comprised the warehouse
> studio provided ample room for an artist’s studio, workshop, and
> storage. In the fall of 2000 Dave Foglia decided to shut down his
>studio in the warehouse thus leaving the space vacant and up for
>lease. Seeing the potential of the warehouse space as both a studio
>and a living space Brandon Petree and Derrick Durham approached
>Foglia about the prospect of renting out the site and converting it
>into a studio/living space hybrid. In the plan pitched to Foglia,
>Petree and Durham agreed to improvements to the warehouse such as
>adding plumbing (shower, toilet, sinks, etc) and repairing and
>replacing the massive hinged bay door to the warehouse that was
>rapidly falling apart. In addition Petree and Durham would be
>responsible for removing approximately 5-8 tons of dirt, concrete,
>and other debris that Foglia had accumulated for a floor-raising
>project that he never completed. The debris piled into one of the
>corners of the warehouse presented the biggest initial challenge as
>the project required the need for a rather large roll-away dumpster
>to be dropped into the warehouse which was not an easy feat
>considering the floor of the warehouse was considerably lower than
>the level of the alley used to access the space. However, the task
>was completed in the space of one day with the help of several
>friends and with the removal of the debis the lease on the warehouse
> was signed and the Warehouse Art Space was open for business.
>
>With a starting monthly rental of $600 the 2900 square feet of the
>warehouse seemed insanely affordable. As of January 2001 the initial
> residents were Petree and Durham (the latter living in a tent in
>the space for most of a very cold January and February). Shortly
>after moving into the space Foglia gave Petree and Durham the
>approval to sublease space in the warehouse to other artists.
>Although the idea to sublease space to other artists was not
>originally considered, both Durham and Petree found that the
>warehouse provided more space than what either of them needed and
>the temptation to further cut their monthly rent provided extra
>incentive to invite other artists to share the space and the cost
>of maintaining the warehouse. With the addition of artists Jen
>López, Carlos Cuevas, and Paul Panamarenko to the warehouse in
>February of 2001 the space quickly began to develop into a group
>work-space and eventually into a venue for exhibiting the artistic
>byproducts of the warehouse residents as well as work from other
>local artists.
>
>By the end of March 2001 Petree and Durham had completed the
>construction of a redesigned hinged bay door for the warehouse and
>had given the exterior of the building a fresh coat of “split-pea
>green� paint. The exterior of the bay door was finished off with
>corrugated tin sheeting and a smaller domestic sized door was
>installed into the center of the bay door to allow for easy access
>into the space. The new improvements to the exterior of the space
>gave the once dilapidated façade of the warehouse a somewhat
>polished contemporary look. In addition, bathroom and shower
>facilities were installed and a shack that doubled as a living
>space and storage unit was built into the space by the end of March
>2001. With all the amenities necessary to operate an artist’s
>studio in place, the warehouse began to become a hive of creative
>and artistic energy. It wasn’t long before folks in the community
>began to hear about this new space and requests for studio space
>started from other local artists started coming in. The warehouse,
>due to its central location in San Marcos, easily fell into the
>role of a place to “hang out� after bar hours and many a
>drunk-rambling artist’s sessions occurred within its confines
>late into the morning hours. In the space of a couple of months the
>warehouse space went from being a hollow shell of a building to a
>site for young (and not so young) creative types to congregate and
>talk about art and even in some cases make art. The warehouse was
>now on everybody’s radar in San Marcos. The next logical step for
>Petree, Durham, and crew would be to consider the warehouse space
>as an exhibition venue as well as studio. In March of 2001 the
>first exhibition of artwork at the Warehouse Art Space would take
>place as a resident show featuring the work of Warehouse artists
>Carlos Cuevas, J. Derrick Durham, Jen López, Paul Panamarenko,
>Brandon Petree, and Luann Winter.
>
>
>
>
>Images to accompany text

View imageBrandon Petree with Renee Riddle at a Warehouse Art Space shindig.

View imageDave Foglia
>

View imageLaura Lindley helping to shovel debris out of the warehouse space
>while Brandon Petree goes for beers.
>

View imageJ. Derrick Durham and Mario Foglia removing big pile-o-shit from the
> warehouse prior to opening the space.
>

View image J. Derrick Durham with the lovely Rachel Reyes at Warehouse Art
>Space exhibition of work by Rebbeca Burt, Eric Gibbons, and John
>Joyce.

Posted by chickengeorge at May 21, 2006 1:50 PM