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River pollution woes focus of youth art camp


Lane Riggs

Staff Writer

Abel Ortiz, associate professor at Southwest Texas Junior College, is busy teaching mural camps throughout the summer at the Art Lab Contemporary Art Space at 227 N. Getty St. Ortiz supplies the paint, brushes and projector, but the students involved complete the mural – and add their own touches.

In one piece completed during the mural camp hosted July 15-19, featuring the Frio River running through Garner State Park, students are raising their voice on environmental and ecological issues.

The mural is available for public viewing at the Art Lab.

“The girls were very engaged and they got to know each other in the process,” Ortiz said. “They shared stories about seeing trash in the rivers: old sandals, beer cans, water bottles, plastic bags and dirty diapers. So, they decided to add these items to the scene of Garner State’s Old Baldy.”

Ortiz said the mural is inspired by seeing rivers trashed, especially during the holidays. Similarly, the idea and the goal behind the murals is to bring awareness to these issues.

“The girls were driven to help spread this message,” he added.

Incoming eighth-grader Alejandra Benavidez, one of the four girls who participated in the mural camp, said the message behind the mural is one she is concerned with.

“I’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up rivers, so it was pretty cool to draw the mural,” Benavidez said.

Benavidez – along with her mother, Muraya Gonzalez – have previously cleaned up the Frio and Nueces rivers through SWTJC’s STEM Club river cleanup projects.

Benavidez said she plans to continue volunteering and plans to attend the next mural camp.

The upcoming mural camp will most likely follow the outline Ortiz set forth in the week-long camp Benavidez attended.

Benavidez said Ortiz sketched the mountains and animals for them, though she did have the opportunity to draw a mockingbird.

“It was really enjoyable,” she said while reflecting on the camp.

Benavidez’s parents are Muraya Gonzalez and Catarino Morales, and Alex and Kayla Benavidez.

Marlene Horch, daughter of Denise and Florene Horch, also attended the camp; though she is also interested in environmental issues, she said she loves to paint.

“It was really fun, I hadn’t attended an art camp at the Art Lab before,” she said. “I like to paint. I use acrylics the most. I joined the mural camp because I wanted to do some painting.”

Horch was joined by Merit Kondschak from Germany, and the two got to work together painting a raccoon and various bits of trash.

“It was fun, we got to work together. We each had a part and we had to blend into other parts,” Horch explained.

Just like Benavidez, the two girls are interested in river cleanups.

“We’re interested in environmental issues and climate change,” Horch said.

Kondschak said she regularly protests climate change in Germany.

Kondschak and Horch are both incoming seventh graders and are 12 and 11 years old, respectively. Horch attends school at Knippa.

Kondschak is the daughter of Eva and Niko Kondschak.

Ten-year-old Alicia Teague, the youngest camp attendee, said she enjoyed the camp because she got to learn about textures.

“Painting the water was really fun because it was a mix of colors and textures,” she said. “It was the most textured part of the mural.”

Teague drew the turtle with the purple outline because she tends to paint abstract art rather than realistic art pieces.

“It was a neat experience,” Teague said. “It was really fun since we got to paint together.”

Her mother, Eliana Teague, said after every day of painting – with every day lasting more than two hours, Alicia would say, “We’re done already?”

Alicia is the daughter of Eliana and Ryan Teague.

There is one remaining mural camp, scheduled for the week of Aug. 12-16, from 3-5 p.m.

Abel Ortiz|Southwest Texas Junior CollegeA photo of the mural that four students painted during Abel Ortiz’s mural camp at Art Lab Contemporary Art Space depicts a scene of Garner State Park’s Frio River dotted with trash. The four students involved were Alejandra Benavidez, Alicia Teague, Marlene Horch and Merit Kondschak. The camp was hosted from July 15-19. Abel Ortiz|Southwest Texas Junior College The four students that joined Abel Ortiz for the mural camp are busy at work painting a scene of Garner State Park. (Left to right) Alicia Teague, Merit Kondschak, Marlene Horch and Alejandra Benavidez paint various wildlife and trash. The participants said they were interested in environmental issues and either protest these issues or volunteer to pick up trash.

Abel Ortiz|Southwest Texas Junior CollegeA photo of the mural that four students painted during Abel Ortiz’s mural camp at Art Lab Contemporary Art Space depicts a scene of Garner State Park’s Frio River dotted with trash. The four students involved were Alejandra Benavidez, Alicia Teague, Marlene Horch and Merit Kondschak. The camp was hosted from July 15-19. Abel Ortiz|Southwest Texas Junior College The four students that joined Abel Ortiz for the mural camp are busy at work painting a scene of Garner State Park. (Left to right) Alicia Teague, Merit Kondschak, Marlene Horch and Alejandra Benavidez paint various wildlife and trash. The participants said they were interested in environmental issues and either protest these issues or volunteer to pick up trash.

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