Media Contacts:
Yvette Benavides
210 748-3181
yvettebenavides@sbcglobal.net
Therese McDevitt
210 232-5759
mcdmedia@mac.com
SMART Presents “smARTCHITECTURE” Photo Competition
With Historic SAISD School Architecture as Theme
Winning photos to go on display beginning January 22
San Antonio, TX – January 18, 2011 -- SMART (Supporting Multiple Arts
Resources Together) presents the results of its 2010 photo competition centered
around historic school buildings in the San Antonio Independent School District
at an opening reception at the SMARTart Project Space from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
on Saturday, January 22. The competition, entitled “smARTCHITECTURE,”
seeks to capture in photographs the art and science of designing and producing
smart buildings that make history, according to SMART Director Yvette
Benavides. The winning photographs, with First through Third Place awards in
two categories, along with 26 Merit Honorees, will be unveiled at the opening
reception at the SMARTart Project Space at 1906 South Flores.
“For our 2010 competition we challenged students to compose and produce a
cutting edge photograph featuring historic school architecture,” Benavides said.
“Students selected the SAISD learning institution of their choice and captured an
object, detail, or perspective of that particular building that they decided best
represents the historic design elements that make it smARTCHITECTURE. More
than half of the SAISD buildings are more than 50 years old and some buildings
date to the late 1800s, so the students had a wide variety of historic architecture
from which to choose.”
A panel of three judges (architects, photographers, artist) selected winners in
categories based on originality, technical skill and personal voice or vision.
“This photo competition offers excellent exposure to capturing the architectural
history of schools in the SAISD and engaged students in critical evaluation of
their educational surroundings, which hopefully will incite further interest in
design, architecture, and photography,” said John J. Speegle, a local architect
and principal at Speegle-KIM-Davis Architects serving as one of the judges.
The photo competition is sponsored by SMART, the SAISD Foundation, SAISD,
Southwest School of Art and Architecture Foundation of San Antonio. Additional
details can be found at www.smartsa.org)
“An Art City is a SMART City.”
Judges’ Bios:
Barbara Justice
Barbara Justice was born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Southern New Mexico.
In 1998 she moved to San Antonio for the summer to experience a new city and
loved it so much she relocated permanently a year later. In September of 2007,
Barbara Winner categories:
started Justiceworks Studio, a small, alternative gallery space located in the Blue
Star Arts Complex. As co-director, she has organized and curated over twenty
exhibits of San Antonio and South Texas artists there.
She is a graduate of University of Texas at San Antonio where she earned a
bachelor's degree in fine art photography. Her work has been published in
Photographers Forum, Wildlife In Focus Volume II, and San Antonio Visitors and
Tourism Guide. Barbara's work has been evolving, within the last few years,
into taking photographs of historical, architectural structures of San Antonio,
West Texas, and New Mexico. As an advocate for the preservation of structures
for historical purposes, she believes in the photographic process as a way of
documentation, record keeping, and storytelling.
Barbara has had the pleasure of working with and learning how to photograph
architecture from local San Antonio architect John Speegle.
Al Rendon
Al Rendon is a photographer and owner of Rendon Photography & Fine Art, a
photographic fine arts gallery, located in historic, Southtown San Antonio. Al’s
work has been featured in several significant exhibitions including an
International Book fair focused on Mexican American literature and art in
Caracas, Venezuela, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy. “On the Trail of the
Virgen,” presented by the Smithsonian Institute. “Charreada Mexican Rodeo in
Texas” an exhibit shown at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Cattle
Raisers Museum in Fort Worth, and the Mexican Heritage Corporation in San
Jose, California. Rendon Photography & Fine Art exhibits include artist from
Canada, U.S., Mexico and South America.
Born and educated in San Antonio, Al’s artwork reflects his natural born ability to
photograph, beginning with concert and event coverage. Al has documented and
accumulated an extensive collection of San Antonio images. Respect for his
ability to capture a moment has led to official assignments covering some of the
citys most important visitors and events, including Pope John Paul II, Prince
Charles, President Bill Clinton, the NCAA Final Four, and the Latino Laugh
Festival. In the past he has served as the official photographer for Images
Magazine (the San Antonio Express-News Sunday insert), the Guadalupe
Cultural Arts Center, the San Antonio Fiesta Commission and the Southwest
School of Art and Craft. He currently is on staff with San Antonio Woman. He
has also performed important assignments for the San Antonio Convention and
Visitors bureau and many local government and corporate clients. Al's
photographs have appeared in many books and national magazines, including
People, Newsweek, USA Today, People en Espanol, Hispanic Magazine,
American Style, Texas monthly and Us Magazine.
John J. Speegle, Architect
Born in 1953 in Vinita, Oklahoma, into a career Air Force family, John has lived
throughout the nation and world: California, Texas, Louisiana, Libya, Crete,
Maryland, back to Oklahoma, Alaska, before moving to San Antonio in 1970. He
graduated from South San Antonio High School, where he attended classes at
the Architecture Department of San Antonio College for two years, and later
graduated at University of Texas in Austin in 1976 with a Bachelor of Architecture
with Honors.
John moved here in his junior year of high school. After college, the recession
was almost ending, so he could only find a job here. After six months he fell in
love with this town because of the sense of community and the ability to get
involved with civic activities and “do good!”
John joined the architectural firm of Ford, Powell, & Carson (FPC) where he
worked under the tutelage and philosophy of O’Neil Ford. In 1980 after a threeyear internship, he accepted an offer to be an instructor at SAC in the
Architecture Department. After leaving FPC, he opened his own firm. A
registered architect, his firm celebrated 30 years of independent business
ownership in February of this year.
John brings a passion for design excellence to his career of architecture and
exudes it to his many friends and associates. His large number and wide range
of project experiences have taught him many facets of design; whereas he
specializes in designing churches, custom residential, unique commercial and
industrial projects, and interiors.
His personal labor of love in architecture is restoring and maintaining his office
building, an 1825 Irish Flats house just north of downtown San Antonio. The
office includes an art gallery where he curates and conducts exhibits for “artists
of the design profession”.
Active in the arts in San Antonio, he is the founding secretary and current board
member of the Artist Foundation of San Antonio; a board member of the Blue
Star Contemporary Art Center, tri-chairing the 2009 and 2010 “Arts & Eats”
fundraiser.
His other civic activities consist of being a founding board member and current
secretary of the newly-formed Brackenridge Park Conservancy. And he was
recently elected to the board of directors of the San Antonio Conservation
Society. Even as busy as he is, he finds time to enjoy Americana Music at
Casbeers and attend art openings.