From providing a space to create colorful and inspirational works of art to receiving on-going business training involving branding, sales and marketing, this new program has been giving artists months of hands-on experience.
As Art Business Incubator South Padre Island (ABISPI) enters its second year, it’s currently celebrating its graduating artists while also welcoming its next set of participants.
ABISPI Program Director Alexa Ray said this year went a lot better than expected and it definitely challenged everyone’s mindset and attitude.
“We had to be shut down for a few months and we have to assume that traffic wasn’t as abundant as it might have been,” she said. “I think the artists had a really awesome experience in the real world and in the real gallery world selling their art and engaging with customers. Even throughout it all, a lot of the artists sold a lot more artwork and workshop tickets than they thought they would.”
Ray said like with any business, making sales is important, however, ABISPI’s priority is educating artists in the program and making sure they have an engaging and beneficial experience.
“I think overall it was a really positive experience for everybody and by the board of directors’ standards, it exceeded all expectations,” Ray said.
ABISPI’s first group of artists included — Chelsea Fedigan, Kathy Schwarz, Sarah Truman and Andres Aceves.
“I know that something that the artists really enjoyed was just being able to bounce ideas off of each other and collaborate with each other and be around each other in general,” Ray said. “We got really lucky with a group of artists that all whole-heartedly support each other and have love for each other and want to continue the relationships with each other beyond this program.”
In celebration of the artists’ accomplishments, ABISPI has been hosting Final Shows to showcase their work.
Truman will have her final show on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at ABISPI, which is located at 2500 Padre Blvd. Suite 1.
“We just wanted to give the artists a night to themselves. It’s only their artwork that will be shown throughout the entire gallery and they get to display however they want to,” Ray said. “We just wanted to give them a chance to be celebrated as the first graduating class.”
Ray said she’s very excited about the program’s next group of artists.
“For this next class, we’ve had a ton of applications from around the U.S.,” she said. “It’s hard not to be inspired by our surroundings and a lot of our artists find themselves inspired, and it’s prevalent in the artwork.”
As of Jan. 22, Ray said four artists have been officially accepted into the program so far.
“A lot of artists are taking this program as an opportunity for maybe a change in their life and move down here for a year and see if they like it, give South Padre Island a chance,” she said. “They are really excited to be inspired by a new type of surrounding and to live on the Island so I can only imagine that the artwork next year will also reflect the Island life and beauty of the beach.”
According to Ray, the program is always accepting applications.
“We’re accepting applications year-round, no matter if we fill the five spots or not because we’re building a waitlist,” she said. “I know that capacity is limited, and we’re trying to be as safe as possible with the pandemic, but we are hosting little events and workshops throughout the year and we’re hoping to get that calendar out very soon too, once we get the new artists in.”
ABISPI is open Thursdays through Mondays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information about ABISPI or to apply, visit www.abispi.comor call (956) 433-8097.
