Gallery at Ground Floor
Come and enjoy our lobby gallery before the show, after the show, or anytime you like by appointment. We change our exhibits monthly and feature local artists
Kaci Beeler
Sept/Oct 2019
Painting is, without a doubt, my favorite medium to work in. I have a B.A. in Art (emphasis in Painting) from St. Edward's University. In addition to making several series of my own work, in Austin as well as in Seoul, South Korea, The Vermont Studio Center in Johnson Vermont, and Tulum, Mexico, I've taken on dozens and dozens of commissions - bringing someone's vision to life is second nature to me.
Drew Riley
August 2019
Drew Riley is an award winning, transgender artist based in Austin, TX who uses portraiture and storytelling to explore the complexities of gender.
Her series, Gender Portraits, documents trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming people through vibrant acrylic paintings paired with written accounts of the subjects’ experiences. Riley’s work has received accolades from critics and has been showcased in publications like the Austin Review, the Advocate, The Texas Observer, STEAM Magazine, and more. In 2017, Riley was awarded “Best Artivist” (artist-activist) by the Austin Chronicle, and received the Houston Transgender Unity Committee’s “Media Arts and Entertainment Award.”
Riley is also executive director of Gender Unbound, where she creates affirming trans and intersex events and promotes trans and intersex advocacy through the arts.
Daniel Conde
July 2019
Daniel Conde is a photographer based in Austin, Texas. He was born in Peru where he produced a great part of his photographic projects with a strong documentary influence which requires the necessity to tell a story demonstrating the most intimate side of what is seen and not seen, and that pretends to be a visual record of his work.
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He inherited from his parents the sensitivity to portray the most vulnerable and human of the facts with the goal to form a distinctive vision and without nuances of reality. Since a young age, found photography to be an expression of his vision, a way to manifest, and to have a proper reading that can be interpreted in many ways.
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Photographically recording scenic arts has been pleasantly absorbing at a creative level due to the complexity to transmit the emotional load of personalities and acts that transpire of one stage to an image.
Shannon McCormick
June 2019
Shannon McCormick is a twenty-five-year veteran of stage and screen, as well as a writer and director. He has appeared in films and TV shows such as Breaking Bad, Les Misérables, Day 5 and has provided the fan-acclaimed voices in anime and web series Red vs. Blue, RWBY, and Camp Camp. He is also an avid history buff and political junkie. He has been making digital art since 2012.
VSA Texas
May 2019
VSA Texas is a non-profit arts organization that challenges perceptions of how people contribute by creating an arts-inspired, inclusive community of individuals with diverse abilities.
We are an expert resource on inclusive arts. We create and maintain an accessible and open community where everyone can participate. Out goal is to provide support and training to the public, enhance personal growth and offer Texans access to the creative works of people with diverse abilities.
Through our Artworks: Creative Industries program we serve artists with disabilities and military veterans through exhibitions in the community.
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Artwork On View
This exhibition features the pet themed works of twelve artists:
Jody Clark
Gina Humble
Beverly Kemp
Kelly Lopez
TJ Maclaskey
Cindy Massey
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For more information about VSA Texas programs and services visit our website at: WWW.VSATX.ORG
Amanda Jones
April/May 2019
The works of Amanda Jones and Linda Kelsey-Jones compliment each other for a very good reason: as Linda's youngest child, Amanda grew up learning how to see the world's details through her mother's eyes. With cameras omnipresent during her childhood, Amanda gained a sensitivity to the abstract joy to be found in tar scribbles along the road, warped reflections in skyscrapers, long shadows, and piles of rubble. Linda's primary art form during those years was photo-collage using forward and backward printed duplicates, which showed Amanda (and others) that "Reflections create possibilities..."
Amanda was raised in locations scattered across the U.S. but mostly in San Marcos, Texas. She received her B.A. in Arts and Social Change from Hampshire College (Amherst, MA), after which she returned to Texas and soon settled in Austin in 2005. She has been creating visual art, performance art, and music these past 13+ years, as well as curating exhibitions and events in conjunction with others, primarily her partner, Chad Hopper. They currently run an in-home micro-gallery, Collection Rert, and present monthly rotating exhibits for the public.
In addition to the formative influence of her mother, Amanda takes inspiration from the changes wrought by Nature upon man-made materials and structures, as well as Dadaism and the materials of her "day jobs", currently carpentry.
She is pleased and proud to be included with one of her artist daughters, Amanda, in this exhibition!
Jonathan "Chaka" Mahone
February 2019
Jonathan ‘Chaka’ Mahone, considers himself more of a 'visualist' than a traditional painter, primarily using his creative output as a tool for social change and/or empowerment.
First and foremost, his style and work is influenced by the most powerful art form of the twentieth century: graffiti. As a young child, Chaka was captivated by the bold letter styles, colors, and imagery of graff writers in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Surrounded by the sounds of hip hop, the Graffiti murals were like cinema to the imaginative youth.
Mahone takes secondary influence from the art of ancient civilizations and cultures. Indigenous art and design contain a complex code of symbols with sometimes 'hidden' layers of meaning. As an artist, Chaka includes spiritual, social, and/or political coding in much of his work. Something familiar, but with a twist that represents a combination of the native/indigenous and the modern/urban energy: together.
Deb Loucks
January 2019
Deb Loucks is a mixed media artist raised in Venice Beach, CA where she currently lives with her husband Jim and their dog Joe. These paintings are her series of "Sheroes," images of females doing bad-ass things. Her goal is to portray adventurous women taking on the world.
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She has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Theatre Production Management from UCLA. She is the co-owner of Small World Books on the Venice boardwalk, and the curator of the Small World Books Gallery (in association with the Venice Art Crawl), where her paintings are currently on display.
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She also produces her husband Jim's one-man plays, which they travel with to theaters around the U.S. and Canada. Sometimes the paintings come too!
She’s thrilled to be able to display her art at the Ground Floor Theatre while their new show “Booger Red” is here as a part of the FronteraFest Long Fringe.
Each image is hand-painted in black acrylic paint on collage paper mounted on gessoboard, with unpainted wooden sides that can serve as the frame.
They all come in 2 sizes:
Medium: 12 inches wide by 16 inches tall.
Small: 8 inches wide by 10 inches tall
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David Tarafa
Dec 2018
David Tarafa is a queer Cuban-American artist and comic creator. His comics combine intimate, character-driven stories with truly inventive and explicit erotica. The characters in his comics represent a broad range of queer people who use sex and magic to explore their bodies and their identities.
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Joe Mastropieri is a pop artist living in Austin. His Italian last name when translated means “Master Foot”. This may have something to do with his fascination with shoes and his idea to design a series of high heels that are everything from simple comfortable to outrageously unique. Called THE 100 SHOES, this installation is an omage to the high heel which as far back as the 10th Century was meant to accentuate the calf muscle, make the female taller, and protect the feet.
Mastropieri is also a collector, bon vivant and renaissance man. His eclectic collection of art and art pottery is probably one of the most extensive in the state of Texas.
Call 512-928-3339 for more information
Joe Mastropieri
October 2019
Shefali O'Hara
2018
hefali O’Hara is a Round Rock based artist. Her preferred medium is watercolor though she also uses India ink and charcoal. Her art is infused with whimsy, vivid color and a sense of joy.
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Ms. O'Hara is a stage IV cancer survivor. Diagnosed with inflammatory breast disease 14 years ago, she was given 6 months to live. This experience transformed her life.
Formerly an electrical engineer, she became an artist 4 years ago. The training and discipline of her engineering gives her a unique perspective as an artist. Conquering a deadly disease acts as an inspiration.
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Other inspirations include the natural world, particularly animals, and children. Many of her paintings explore innocent interactions and the sense of wonder inherent to these subjects.
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Ms. O’Hara does take commissions. You can view her work on her Facebook page, Austinlace.
To contact her:
Phone: 512-423-7945
Email: shefali.ohara@gmail.com
Facebook: Austinlace
VSA TEXAS
2018
VSA Texas is a non-profit arts organization that challenges perceptions of how people contribute by creating an arts-inspired, inclusive community of individuals with diverse abilities.
We are an expert resource on inclusive arts. We create and maintain an accessible and open community where everyone can participate. Out goal is to provide support and training to the public, enhance personal growth and offer Texans access to the creative works of people with diverse abilities.
Through our Artworks: Creative Industries program we promote visual artists through exhibitions in the community and mentoring. For more information on our programs and services visit www.vsatx.org.
This exhibition features the paintings of five Austin artists with disabilities: David Chapple, Nancy Doyle, Stephanie Gill, Carol Gonzales, and Pearl Wilbanks.
Tom White
2018
Tom White was born among the piney woods of Northeast Texas in the small town of Pittsburg His parents were editors of the weekly newspaper where growing up around printing presses and deadlines taught him verbal and organizational skills. After high school (valedictorian), he attended the University of Texas, graduating (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1973 with a degree in English literature, and a minor in playwriting.
For several years he was director of music publishing for Moon-Hill Management, an Austin company from the early scene sometimes referred to as “progressive country.” Songs published include recordings such as Willie Nelson’s “I’d Have to Be Crazy” (written by Steve Fromholz), Bonnie Raitt’s “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance?” from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack (also released by Jerry Jeff Walker; written by Rusty Wier), Lyle Lovett’s “Bears” (written by Fromholz) and Lovett’s “The Sun and Moon and Stars” (written by Vince Bell), Nanci Griffith’s “Woman of the Phoenix” (written by Bell), Brooks and Dunn’s “My Maria” (co-written by B.W. Stevenson), and recently Shawn Colvin’s “On My Own” (written by Stevenson)–to name a few. Many of Moon-Hill’s songwriters appeared on the very first Austin City Limits.
Mr. White has written a number of plays, several of which have been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and many here in Austin. His “Silo Stud” received two New York productions after its initial performances at Capitol City Playhouse (formerly on 4th Street). Tom’s “Colonel Mustard” enjoyed a sold-out run at the Hyde Park Theatre and received a B. Iden Payne award for Best Play. It was later produced at Zachary Scott Theatre. He has had three plays produced by Austin theatre company Different Stages; most recently his “What I Want Right Now” premiered at the Vortex Theatre. Great playwright Edward Albee attended two of Tom’s plays, once here in Austin. Tom served as a member of the Board of Directors of Salvage Vanguard Theatre.
Tom studied painting from a very early age, watching his grandmother paint, then later taking watercolor classes with Jo Taylor of Dallas, and in art class at UT with Robert B. Levers. When he began to paint, his works began to sell right away, and he hasn’t looked back. White has become an organizing member of a growing online community of Facebook-based painters who review each other’s work, exchange ideas and contacts, and are creating a virtual art “scene” with participants all over the world.
Adam Rodriguez
2018
I was born in Galveston, Texas on October 7, 1973 to an Irish American mother and a Mexican American father. Our family pulled ourselves out of poverty in the Gulf Coast refinery town of Texas City. I was raised in the shadow of The Vietnam War, break dancing, and the rise of arcade games. Sadly I never learned to properly moonwalk.
Cartoons, album covers, and comic books were among my first artistic influences. Jack Kirby, Bernie Washington, and Frank Frazetta were some of the first artists I came to admire because of how their art inspired me and they are probably the reason I have always loved monsters, science fiction, and mythology. I began reading, on a college level, very early and began to absorb all the books I could my chubby little hands on. I loved the fantastical, I loved the macabre, I loved the romanticism of epic literature.
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I have been working in the arts my entire life. My skills in art aren't limited to just painting. I am also a writer, a game designer, and an actor. I believe all these skills are a an integral part of my artwork. My ability to define and create images and emotions from the page, to the stage, to the canvas are a culmination of my various abilities in artistic expression. Over the years I have had original plays produced, performed in professional theaters, and painted countless commissions.
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Most recently, I have been focusing on visual art for the last couple of years and since then my work has been featured in illustrated stories, comic books, and in stage productions. I have always said, of all the arts I excel in, painting is the skill I am best at. I am always seeking new and fun ways to challenge myself artistically. I look forward to what the future holds in store.
See and learn more at: adamwrodriguez.com
