Bastrop, heart of the Lost Pines Region of Texas, embraces artists & art lovers!

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Feb 11, 2014, 06:00 ET

BASTROP, Texas, Feb. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reviving the "lost arts" and creativity of all kinds is center stage in Bastrop, Texas. With a Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) grant, Bastrop's UpStart program is renovating an old building into a "Makerspace" for woodworking, painting, etching, and other "lost arts."

Bastrop's Abri Gallery has one of the most unique collections of fine Persian and American art including museum quality hand knotted rugs. The Bastrop Fine Arts Guild Gallery, Art Makers Collective, White Morpha Fine Art Restoration & Gallery, Pine Song Art Gallery, Art Connections Gallery, Lost Pines Art Bazaar and Lark show a variety of artworks. Artists also show their works at the city's monthly First Friday Art Walk with restaurants and shops staying open later for strolling art lovers. (PRNewsFoto/The City of Bastrop, Texas) (PRNewsFoto/THE CITY OF BASTROP, TEXAS)

Patricia Rendulic made "Pathways," a curved wall hanging, using 15th century techniques incorporating glass with metals such as gold, silver, copper, and bronze, and stains from old recipes. The process can take as many as 14 steps. Rendulic and many other artists, art restoration specialists like Jessica Miller at White Morpha Gallery, and unique resources like the Deep in the Heart Art Foundry that casts extraordinary work from around the world are drawing artists and art lovers to Bastrop. (PRNewsFoto/The City of Bastrop, Texas) (PRNewsFoto/THE CITY OF BASTROP, TEXAS)

"Bastrop Chickens" by Elizabeth Sullivan, commissioned by Bastrop Art in Public Places (BAIPP), along with designs by Jeri Moore , Susan Michutka and Ginger Baldwin, will turn utility boxes into art. BAIPP photography exhibits are installed at two city buildings and a multi-media project at the Bastrop Convention & Exhibit Center. The Bastrop Fine Arts Guild's project will turn an old mill into an art complex with a 4,000-square-foot exhibit space and an artist-in-residence loft and studio. (PRNewsFoto/The City of Bastrop, Texas) (PRNewsFoto/THE CITY OF BASTROP, TEXAS)

"This multi-generational community creativity project allows volunteers proficient in lost arts like woodworking or sewing to teach younger generations," said Nancy Wood, Bastrop Main Street Program Director. "The LCRA grant and another from Bastrop Economic Development Corp supports community learning, creativity and collaboration."

Visitors to Bastrop and the Lost Pines Region of Texas enjoy art events and attractions like:

Bastrop Frist Friday Art Walk (artists partner with restaurants and shops open late for art lovers who stroll the downtown area for a unique Friday night experience),
Yesterfest – April 25-27 with its new two-day juried Arts and Crafts Fair,
Art galleries including:
Art restoration specialists and unique resources like Jessica Miller at the White Morpha Gallery and the artisans at the Deep in the Heart Art Foundry who are currently casting the pieces for the Centennial Land Run monument for Downtown Oklahoma City.

The Bastrop Fine Arts Guild is turning the 100-year old Powell Cotton Seed Mill into the Lost Pines Art Center with a 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art exhibit space, 1,000 to 2,000-square-feet of classroom space, outdoor sculpture gardens, studio silos – for pottery, sculpture and art glass, and an artist-in-residence loft and studio.

The Bastrop Art in Public Places task force, charged with finding opportunities for art in public places, issued a call for submissions to turn utility boxes into works of art. Selected designs of local area artists Elizabeth Sullivan, Jeri Moore, Susan Michutka, and Ginger Baldwin will decorate boxes in downtown pedestrian areas. BAIPP has photography exhibits in city hall and the city's power & light building and a multi-medium project at the Bastrop Convention & Exhibit Center.

Projects like these, local artists like Patricia Rendulic who relocated here to raise her family and perfect an ancient technique for art glass that has put her pieces in high demand with interior decorators and collectors alike, and the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa that features local artists on their walls, show Bastrop's commitment to art.

"We have an active and growing art community," said Dave Quinn, Bastrop Economic Development Executive Director. "Bastrop invests in and supports our creative community because they bring in jobs and generate tax revenues, and just as important, they contribute to our quality of life in Bastrop."

For more information see VisitLostPines.com or VisitBastrop.com, or contact Nancy Wood, Main Street Director, [email protected].

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SOURCE The City of Bastrop, Texas