These days, the western and southwestern life is all the rage (we see you, Jeff Bezos), with the most non-country folk jumping on the spoked-wheel bandwagon of cowboy fashion, music, the ranch life, food, and art.
Is this a passing national fad? Hard to say, but here in Texas, cowboy/Southern way is a generations-old way of life for many, like the multi-talented gallerist Magen Pastor, who is opening her new Eastern End art gallery, aptly named Southern Kindness.
Pastor is welcoming all to a free, grand opening event of her expansive new space (at 2005 Commerce St.) with a grand opening celebration from 6 pm to 10 pm Saturday, February 3. Visitors can take in the work of 32 whose impressive works range from paintings, fiber art using textile, wood, ceramics, and leather, and more.
A celebration of Southwestern and western art — for all
Art fans and newbies — Pastor wants a “different, more welcoming” gallery — can take in an eclectic collection of artworks, including paint, fiber art using textile, wood, ceramics, and leather from 32 talented artists.
Half of the featured artists have been previously hosted on Southern Kindness's online platform’ the others are new to the gallery. Casual art fans and aficionados will recognize many of the local, regional, and nationally renowned artists, such as Texas-based Jeff Forster, the esteemed Ceramics Chair at Museum of Fine Art’s Glassell School of Art.
Image via Southern Kindness Gallery
Other notable names include nonverbal abstract artist Sevy Marie; Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth; Angela Fabbri; JM Stubbs; Jade Tantillo; and nationally recognized artists David Krovlit, Ana Sneeringer, and Jessie Rose & Co, among many others.
All ages are welcome, with sips and bites throughout the evening via Bites and Bevs, a bar sponsored by Southern Pours. Walk-ins are invited, or visitors can register for the event here.
Image via Southern Kindness Gallery
Art fans, who’ll no doubt be wowed by the gathering artists who hail from across the country, can score early access to artwork and exclusive perk by becoming a online. Southern Kindness member is encouraged. The diverse array of art pieces tange from $500-10,000, with many of the artists available for meet and greets at the event.
Cowboying up before the trend
More than clever branding, Southern Branding is a way of life and value system for Pastor, who launched her gallery online just a year ago to promote themes of kindness, true connection, and mental health awareness — and celebrate the essence of the South, which many are starting to gravitate to in these often turbulent times,
“I think everyone's starting to ask themselves some bigger questions and what really makes them feel good and what makes them feel calm,” Pastor tells CultureMap. “There’s just been so much chaos in the world. I know a lot of people who just wanna get some land and kind of get out of the city, and start reading chickens and stuff.”
Raising chickens and stuff in the country is exactly how Pastor spent her early years, before she changed. “I grew up and then I revolted against it for a while until I was older,” she recalls. “And then I really started to appreciate that a lot more.”
As she met more artists doing the same, and quickly created a support system and network. “I helped kick off an artist’s career who was kind of more in that contemporary Western realm,” she says. “ And while doing that, I met a lot of different artists along the way. There were a lot of them coming up, but not really a platform for them.”
A home for the Western way
Before the era of Yellowstone and tech billionaires trying to dress like ranch hands, the visionary Pastor understood the timeless appeal of western/cowboy lore — she even dubbed it “cowboycore” — and saw a specific marketplace, even when artists themselves didn’t.
Image via Southern Kindness Gallery
“I would talk to people and they were like, ‘Oh, nobody does that because they’re gonna pigeonhole themselves, and then you won't be able to make that much money. But I wanted to do more of just the contemporary western, and I was like, “well, I just wanna be known for that.’”
Her vision paid off, evidenced by a 5,000-square-foot new space opening just a year after her online marketplace, and cowboycore and Western culture the toast of pop culture.
Not one to rest in her stirrups, Pastor is already planning themed art dinners, activations, fashion events, and even a singles party.
“I don’t think that it’s ever gonna go away,” Pastor says of Western allure. “I mean, even like New York City, there are people who live there now from Texas, and they want a piece of home. Or they live somewhere in the West Coast and they want to have that like, familiarity around them."
“I think there will be a fluctuation in the art market,” she adds, “and so I’m sure I’m gonna ride through some things along the way. But I have more ideas: I wanna do workshops. I wanna do a series of dinners. We have some cool things planned throughout the year. I can always make things fresh.”
Photo by Ama by Aisha
Magen Pastor has opening Southern Kindness Gallery to welcome all to Southwestern art and celebrate themes of inclusion, community, and mental wellness.
The cowboy way, indeed.
-----
The Southern Kindness grand opening runs 6 pm to 10 pm Saturday, February 3 at 2005 Commerce St. For more information on the event, artists, and gallery, visit Southern Kindness online.
