FESTIBA

Posted: March 27, 2008

We are 3 days into FESTIBA (Festival of International Books and Arts) at UTPA.  And 3 very exciting days lie ahead, with the finale being Community Day on Saturday.  The whole series of events has been nothing short of fabulous.  Tents are up all over the central campus near the College of Arts and Humanities Building and the Student Union. I can hardly wait to see the "jungle" that RIF (Reading is Fundamental) puts up in their tent, complete with palm trees. Of course, the Scholastic Tent will be very exciting. Texas Book Festival staff have worked so hard the last two days, giving out thousands of books to kids who may have never owned a book before.  Authors have visited schools and shared with elementary kids their experiences in getting books published.  I wanted to fast forward and look into the future to see how many of those kids become writers themselves!  There's much excitement in the air as librarians from throughout theValley come to campus on Friday to be honored. View the complete schedule: http://www.coah.utpa.edu/festiba/

On Thursday as evening falls, Elena Duran will raise her flute in concert at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, her "Flauta Sin Fronteras."  Tom Fuschetto and WILD (Writers in Literary Discussion) will host a reading, music and art contest at South Texas College in McAllen.  Down in Port Isabel, another segment of "Telling Our Stories" will be hosted at Treasures of the Gulf Museum.

On Friday the Pharr Hub-Phestival begins the first of 3 festival days.  "Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf" under the direction of Tom Fuschetto opens at STC in Weslaco.  Raquel Hinojosa has a special art opening at her McAllen studio that evening.

Saturday brings the "Artworks: Dream Big" event to Lark Community Center in McAllen, the annual Museum of South Texas Heritage Ranch Gala and a fundraiser concert by the South Texas Lyric Opera to help prepare for "Tosca" in May.   

Mark Twain comes back to life on Saturday and Sunday as Dr. William Strong from UTB goes into character at UTPA as "Mark Twain Unplugged."

Now if you have never visited a Mennonite Church, Sunday is your big chance at the "Great South Texas MeatOut" held once again at the Good News Mennonite Church in San Juan. "This Face Behind I Hide", a book just out by Brownsville author Dr. Arpad Gergely will be featured at Brownsville Heritage Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Monday is the big deadline for those McAllen Arts Council Grants for which $35,000 will be distributed.  I know, people are asking why is this only done in McAllen.  The reason is, of course, the strong efforts by a growing team of arts advocates working together such as McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Texas Commission on the Arts, Futuro McAllen, McAllen City Comissioners, the Mayor of McAllen, Heart of the City members, McAllen Arts Council members and individual artists. Chairman Juan Carlos Suarez encourages you to download the grant form and get it completed and delivered by 3 pm on March 31 if you are a McAllen visual or performing artist. If you have any questions call Greg Schuller at the McAllen Creative Incubator at 956-687-2787.  

Download application and guidelines from http://www.mcallenartscouncil.com/#ovII. 
 

In early April we will be gearing up for Valley Symphony, McAllen ArtWalk, McAllen Memorial Library's Book Sale, Weslaco's Onion Fest, and two separate filmmaking fundraisers in one day!  Go ahead and prepare yourself by taking a sneak peak at the April Calendar in www.ArtsRGV.com