Visitors wandered through displays and paused to examine family photographs, layered maps, and mixed-media artwork Friday evening as the Patrick Heath Public Library unveiled its first-ever No Blank Canvas exhibit.
The exhibition, titled “Their Absence is Our Presence,” features six multi-media works. At the reception, visitors were able to hear how the artwork was created and to ask Artist-in-Residence Isaac Grigar about his process and interpretation of the community.
In researching his project, Grigar, a sixth-generation Texan, met with Boerne residents and immersed himself in the community to create his works, which capture the people, landscapes, and histories of the Texas Hill Country.
“While it is easy to think Boerne is a monolithic community, in my studies I found so many elements of Boerne and the Hill Country that weren’t as readily known,” Grigar said. “That really allowed me to challenge common assumptions and shed light on topics I think people will find interesting.”
The project challenges audiences to explore untold history through art, with a focus on stories that have had limited resources in the past.
“It has been a lot of fun to work and bring this project to fruition,” Memory Lab Coordinator Sarah Habeeb said. “Growing up in Boerne, I am excited to see our community experience our collective history in a new way.”
Pieces touch on Native tribes’ presence before German settlers arrived, the Flats neighborhood freedom colony – a historically Black settlement established after emancipation – and family albums highlighting the people that have called Kendall County home. Each provides a facet into the many components that make up Boerne’s history.
For Bryden Moon, a longtime local historian, seeing this art evoked strong emotion as it told the community’s past.
“I can relate to it,” Moon said. “These are images I can recognize. It touches me.”
The exhibit will be on display throughout the month of May. Once its run at the library is complete, the library will coordinate with the Hill Country Council for the Arts to find additional venues for the works to be displayed.
The exhibit is part of the library’s new No Blank Canvas initiative, designed to connect artists with local history and underrepresented community narratives. It is also supported by the Hill Country Council for the Arts, with funding from the Mellon Foundation.
Additionally, the Hill Country Council for the Arts will host a No Blank Canvas workshop with Grigar on June 5 at 2 p.m. Purchase tickets online.
