The Arts Center of the Brazos Valley continues 55-year mission of creativity, education

Along with Texas and the greater United States, art from countries featured in this exhibit include Laos, France, Germany, Hungary and Japan. All of the wood for the works comes from wood native to the artist’s states or countries.

Zooming out

One of Bowlin’s main goals with the museum is to challenge the perception of art with its visitors.

“I want people to know that it isn’t just watercolors hanging on the wall,” she said. “Art is everywhere. It’s music, dance, visual art, culinary art. People express themselves in lots of different ways.”

Bowlin also studies visitors’ reactions to the art, taking note of how their views have changed and loving to see how much they can change in a short amount of time.

“They’ll come look and find a favorite or they’ll look and fixate on a certain piece,” Bowlin said.

Two pieces feature photography that are similar to an inkblot, but are on trees.

“This is nature’s inkblot,” she said. “What’s great about this exhibit is looking at wood in its natural state and then these pieces that feature a lot of views on something that is a part of our nature.”

Giving back

Along with displaying the art of the community, the center educates novice and experienced artists alike. With artists on staff and visiting artists on location, any person in the Brazos Valley is welcomed to learn, including children.

“We have summer camps and we have a huge variety of options for summer classes,” Bowlin said. “They range from [ages] 6-12. With our current class, we want them to understand mixed media and collage work.”

The adult classes can focus on many different types of art, which can create a diverse experience for different people’s skillsets.

“We have a six to eight week beginner water color class, which can go to an advanced level,” she said. “We also host quilters who come on Tuesdays. We also have ‘Canvas Club’ on Wednesdays, where artists can bring their work and mingle together. We have a notecard making class. We have a variety of things.”

The local impact

While the center is located in College Station, Bowlin said she wants the center to serve the entire Brazos Valley and its diverse output of art while being a free asset.

“We have people that come all over, but the big thing people don’t [know] is that we’re free,” she said. “If you wanted to see a Frida Kahlo exhibition nowadays, you would have to pay $40 for a ticket easily.”

Being free has attracted many different types of people to the center, including students.

“It’s kind of a date night thing,” Bowlin said. “They’ll go to an art exhibit and then go to dinner. It’s really huge to have this quality of art available without having to pay.”

Bowlin also spoke of the importance that the center has with funding art through grants and bringing the community together, “We write grants and we fund grants to the outside, but we also host events. We do a lot of literary things, including book signings, receptions. Not everything is for free because we have to stay afloat, but we always want people to come.”

The takeaway

The Arts Center caters to many art interests and their offerings can be found on their website, along with the schedule of events planned throughout the year. Entry to the museum is always free and they welcome everyone from in and outside of the community to visit and enjoy the exhibits and classes.

• Open Mon-Fri, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• 4180 Texas 6 Frontage Road, College Station
• www.acbv.org