Every year the San Antonio Art League & Museum (SAALM) closes its doors in late December. This year, the last day the museum will be open in 2022 is Saturday, December 17. It will reopen on Tuesday, January 3 2023. The artists and docents who run the Museum will use the break to enjoy holiday time with loved ones, and to prepare for all the offerings they have planned for next year. And boy, do they have a lot planned. Let me give you a sneak peak at what’s coming up in the early months of 2023.

Before I do that, however, let me point out that you still have time to see the current exhibits at SAALM before its holiday break.

Your Last Chance…

The Invitational Exhibit

"Four accomplished artists (Vikki Fields, Ovidio Giberga, Sabra Booth, and Sandy Whitby) provide stunning responses to the places that have profoundly touched their lives, exploring themes of chaos vs order, duality and struggle, and concerns both personal and environmental. This eclectic exhibit includes artwork that is figurative, abstract, and sculptural, utilizing mixed media, printmaking, surface treatment, and light – each work demonstrating how inspiration is transformed into artistic success."

The exhibit will be on display Tuesdays through Saturdays (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM) until Saturday, December 17th.

Members Gallery Exhibit

My favorite spot at SAALM is the Members Gallery, tucked away in a back room on the second floor. The work hanging there is not ‘curated’ in the traditional sense. It is not juried. It is not limited to prize-winning pieces or to the work of the better-known artists.

Each exhibit, which hangs for two to three months, includes the work of nine member artists. Each participating artist is given wall space to hang whatever pieces they want. Claudia Langford -- SAALM President — told me “we tell the artists that the space they’ll have is about the size of a queen-size bed, and they can do whatever they want with it.”

The result? Not a collection of curated pieces selected by an expert. Rather, the expressions of nine artists, each of whom is saying “This is me. This is what I want you to see”.

The current Members Gallery Exhibit features the work of Anita Centeno, Alston Cox, Anna Gordy, Becky Hadley, Kathrine Lamb, Steven G. Smith, Stefani Job Spears, Peter Szarmach, and Pamela Taylor. It will be on display Tuesdays through Saturdays (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM) until Saturday, December 17th.

Here’s what’s coming…

Texas Dimensional

This new exhibit, curated by Andre and Virginia Bally, showcases fine art in three dimensions in various media, including clay, glass, wood, fiber and metal. “Andre Bally founded Bally Studios, with his wife Virginia in 1994 and has been greatly influenced by the cultures and design motifs of the traditional Japanese Potters, that of the North American Indian Potters and various other Aboriginal Art Cultures. Along with a diverse Art and Design background, these influences are reflected in the design and finishes of Virginia's and Andre's work. Andre Bally has been experimenting with ceramics, glass, and metal for over forty years. The Ballys have curated numerous shows together and have pieces on exhibit in private collections in Canada, Europe and the United States.”

The exhibit opens on Tuesday, January 3rd and will be on display Tuesdays through Saturdays (10:00 AM to 3:00 PM) through Friday, February 17th. SAALM will host an opening reception on Sunday, January 8th from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.