Once every three months, artists from all over the Crossroads converge on downtown Victoria for the VTX Art Walk, some for the first time and others returning.
Over the last few years, the Art Walk has given artists the opportunity to grow creatively and financially.
Among the artists Saturday included Mike Michael, 37, of Victoria, who was showing his art for the first time at the Art Walk.
Michael grew up doing various forms of art as a child and used those skills when he was homeless in New York City to get by, and it eventually landed him a make-up artist job with Sephora.
He now uses those makeup artist skills on canvas to create beautiful pieces, including an original he sold for about $1,000.
Because what he uses to compose the art is makeup, it was very costly to make, Michael said. On his sale, he only made a return of about $200, which he plans to put back into his art.
It feels great to be able to come back to physical art and be able to showcase and sell, he said.
“It’s what I’m meant to do,” Michael said.
For many others, the opportunity is great to network, learn from other artists, collaborate and just get their name out there, said Chris Jaramillo, aka Dr. Boom Studio, 45, of Victoria.
“When it comes to the business aspect of things, it’s always tough to talk about it because we’re each trying to figure it out what works for us,” Jaramillo said. “I was talking to a girl who is showing for the first time, and she was worrying about how she should price her work, and I told her since this is her first time just use it as an opportunity for people to get to know you and your work, and that relieved a lot of stress.”
That opportunity for the community to get to know the artist has helped so many of the artists grow by learning from each other and getting the opportunity to make it another form of income, Jaramillo said.
To see the Art Walk evolve like it has since the first event has been a joy, said Claire Santellana, VTX Art Walk curator.
“When it first started, everyone was competitive with each other,” Santellana said. “Now everyone is talking and collaborating and realizes that there is plenty of opportunity for everyone’s art to be noticed, and and turn their art into a career or a second form of income.”
The Art Walk is a place where artist of all shapes can come and showcase their work, she said. Each of the work tirelessly to make to put their best work forward at the event and with each passing walk the pieces get better and more diverse.
Santellana is open to showcasing art in all it shapes, and if someone has an idea she wants to hear it because the Art Walk is the space to showcase it.
In the future, she hopes to continue to evolve the event to be even better and is open to any ideas to do so, she said, such as Jaramillo’s suggestion of a community live art project that can show attendees what the process is like and possibly inspire them to try their hand at art themselves.
With the renovations of DeLeon Plaza renovations almost finished, the near future on what the Art Walk can do will be amazing, Santellana said.
