The “Naco Verde” upcycling challenge is in full swing. Fun items created by 22 entrants are now on display in the gallery through Blueberry Festival June 8. All items are up for bidding and voting for People’s Choice now online through 3pm during the Festival.
Also during Blueberry Festival, we will screen the SFA film school production of “Found Footage: Nacogdoches in 1938”, a 22-minute film that uses footage of our town in 1938 along with interviews from people who remember that time. Screenings at 10am, noon and 2pm on June 8.
The next exhibition in the gallery will preview on June 8 featuring photographic stills from the 1938 film by Jan Dobbs Barton. Barton has done research into the people and places from the film and these discoveries will be included in the exhibit of photos. Opening reception with the artist is Saturday, June 15 from 3-5pm. The photography exhibition will be on display through July 27.
Make Your Mark art classes for kids continue on Tuesdays 10am-noon on June 11, 18 & 25.
Registration for our always popular NAC Kids Theatre Camp opens June 1. We are adding a tech/design option and a possible full day if students want to do both acting and tech. Camp events will be held at the Lamp-Lite Theatre starting July 15 and culminate in public performances on July 27.
Details on all of these events can be found on our website www.nacartscollab.com. The NAC gallery is located at 411 E. Hospital Street in Nacogdoches.
June Artist Spotlight
Meet Jan Dobbs Barton, a photographer with a passion for Texas history. “My first camera was one I sent off for with cereal boxtops when I was around nine or ten.” But her interest was encouraged by her father, who had a 35mm camera he had obtained overseas during WWII and a darkroom at home. “We had boxes and boxes of color slides and every Christmas we’d haul them out and project them for the family.” As a student at Nacogdoches High, her passion for photography took off. Even though she holds a BBA from SFA and has retired from a long career as an accountant for Brookshire Grocery Company in Tyler, Jan has been a freelance photographer all along. “If I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it 100%.”
Jan is a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Daughters of the War of 1812, and the Daughters of the Confederacy. Born in Nacogdoches, Jan’s love of local history has also fostered her social media feed. In order to share the old photos her father took in Nacogdoches, Jan began a Facebook page entitled “Remember in Nacogdoches When.” It will soon boast 10k members, who share stories and pictures of Nacogdoches events and history.
Jan’s involvement with the Nacogdoches 1938 film began when she saw it for the first time as raw footage. “I took screenshots from a digitized copy and began to look for ways to identify people, businesses and landmarks. The more people I showed the pictures to, the more information came forth. It’s been a wonderful exploration of my hometown’s history and the people who lived here more than 80 years ago.”
Jan is an author of two historical books: “Nacogdoches in World War II” co-authored with Peggy Arriola Jasso, and “The History of Bonaldo Baptist Church”. The former is available at the Visitors Center in Nacogdoches.