‘1,2,3. What do you see?’ Too many toucans to count.

postcardsfromsanantonio2 Comments

And the hardest part of counting must have been choosing what colorful images to include in 1, 2, 3, Sí! A Numbers Book in English and Spanish. The partners creating this new bilingual board book had to narrow down what to count from the immense holdings of the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Can’t imagine how they managed. And never have Pre-Columbian earthenware babies looked so appealing and downright ticklish, or a combination of images of eight animals from artisans of different centuries from five different countries seemed so logical.

With the assistance of many donors, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation provides the more than 25,000 babies born in Bexar County each year with their first books. Shortly after the newborns arrive, the books are delivered in the hospital to their parents in a Born To Read tote bag that also contains a Library card application and a map of branch locations throughout San Antonio.

Fluffy rabbit from "Pat the Bunny"

A baby’s first books are so important in starting a child off in the direction of a life-long love of learning. If a book is fun and appealing, a baby will want it read again and again. And again and again.

Our daughter wore out her first copy of Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny, but could not bear to be parted from it. We were forced to buy a second copy and perform countless more readings. Alas though, soon “Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.” We finally had to alter the words for the second over-petted rabbit to “Love the poor bald bunny,” foreshadowing her impending graduation to The Velveteen Rabbit.

The Library Foundation changes the books in the Born To Read bags every other year so families with more than one child receive different books. The idea to create a book based on the San Antonio Museum of Art’s collection was inspired by My First ABC.  Each letter in this bright board book is illustrated by a work of art drawn from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from Paul Cezanne’s “Apples” to an X-shaped painting by Frank Stella.

The expertise of Trinity University Press was tapped to publish 1, 2, 3, Sí! The bright and colorful look of the book was designed by Madeleine Budnick, with photography by Peggy Tenison.

While promoting counting, bilingual literacy and art, 1, 2, 3, Sí! contains smaller-font hints for parents, grandparents, sibling and sitters to use the images for additional interaction. For example, the pages containing ten masks prompts “Which mask would you like to try on?,” with options including a rabbit mask from Mexico, a dog mask from Ecuador and a spirit figure from Papua New Guinea. A mesmerizing pair of eyes from an Egyptian coffin provides an opportunity for playing peek-a-boo.

Other suggestions for stimulating babies’ growing minds will be found in a companion activity booklet being designed by César Proa of Proa Design. Trinity University Press is creating a website – www.123-si.com – with ten related coloring and activity pages for teachers or parents to download and print.

Mayor Julián Castro officially will unveil all of these during a Family Launch on Saturday, September 10, at the Museum of Art. Families need only show their library cards to gain free admission to the museum during the event.

While the publication of 1, 2, 3, Sí! is exciting, there is more to come. The partners promise board books focusing on colors, shapes and animals will soon follow.

For those of us with no babies being born in San Antonio hospitals, 1, 2, 3, Sí! will retail for $7.95. 

Born to Read from SAPLF on Vimeo.

Digital collages of history continue at King William Art through July 27

postcardsfromsanantonio3 Comments

To read more about this art exhibit, view the King William Association Newsletter or visit here.

Update on August 5: Nancy Cook-Monroe wrote a fun article about the exhibit in the Express-News. And the prints are still lingering around King William Art but will leave at the beginning of next week.

Ribbons of Gaudi-inspired steel ripple above the river

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

By the time I started this blog, most of the public art projects on the Museum Reach of the river seemed like old-hat. That is not to say the art is stale; I love it. I walked along there only this morning.

But I think the newest addition, a design inspired by balconies on a Gaudi apartment building in Barcelona, is by far the most stunning.

I already was a George Schroeder fan. Even though the stoplight is outrageously prolonged, I find myself driving south down New Braunfels, cutting across Funston and sitting at the intersection on Broadway to admire his entryway to Brackenridge Park. Its lines are so sensual and distracting, the poor car behind me generally is forced to honk.

I’ve become more of a Mission Reach kind of girl, but watching the installation of the railings on the Camden Street Bridge keeps drawing me back to that part of the river. That, and the fact there are no b-share stations south of Blue Star.

Steve Bennett of the Express-News wrote such a great story about the sculpture, I simply will defer to him:

“The whole design is based on the river,” says Schroeder…. Like a lot of Schroeder’s monumental public sculpture, such as “Passage” at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, “River Movement” was inspired partly by wanderlust.

“When I do these projects,” he says, “I try to make something that is drawn from my international travels. I try to bring something from that back to San Antonio.”

A longtime admirer of iconoclastic Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí‘s sinuous 1912 building Casa Milá, also known as La Pedrera (The Quarry) for its undulating limestone walls, Schroeder finally got a chance to see it in person during a trip to Barcelona…..

“The tangled-up metal (on the balustrades) looked very organic, an integral part of the building. So I kept that inspiration and drew on it for this project.”

My favorite part of Steve’s story is his assessment of the importance of this work:

What he’s done is create another San Antonio landmark that will endure for decades, a work that mimics, in an abstract way, the ripples on the water and the breeze blowing through the plants on the banks, even the wakes of the tourist-laden barges that cruise by regularly.

And, my other favorite part: I had not realized there was more to come. The San Antonio River Foundation also is funding more of Schroeder’s work at Newell. 

Thanks.

And while you are in the neighborhood, don’t forget to look upward for the Jesus Moroles stellae….

November 11, 2011, Update: So often when I walk this part of the river, it is barely light. But yesterday morning, I waited for it to warm up a bit. The bright morning sun reflected from the rippling river onto the underside of the bridge makes Schroeder’s design inspiration even more obvious.