VAA and the Orange Show

Okay, today I went to my first meeting with the Visual Arts Alliance at the Orange Show. Needless to say photographing at the Orange Show is—here we go again—photographing someone else’s art. That’s what lead to the previous post.

The Orange Show is pretty disappointing. I thought it might be different from my first visit there a couple of years ago. Although today we did get a brief guided tour which answered why the Orange Show is not what it was when I first heard about it. There were actually shows there. Now all that is left is the structure. The originator died and the activity died. It is till interesting. The concept is still interesting.

What I really wanted to photograph today was Smithen Park which is part of the Orange Show organization. The park has a block long wall of assembled art (oh, oh) which is fascinating to photograph. It has been very active in the interim two years. They have added a pavilion and a band shell, both still in progress with a proposed finish date of August. There were several artist working on the band shell and the wall. We met Rachael who oversees the Orange Show warehouse where the materials for the wall are stored and she gave Paula and I a tour. Very interesting place.

Of course, I went off with an almost dead battery, no macro lens, and at the most colorful place in Houston I had the camera set to monochrome. Okay, so much for being an artist.

I am headed to Seabrook in the morning to have lunch with a friend from Wichita Falls and her daughter who just got back from a cruise. I may take an opportunity to stop by Smithen Park on the way to see if I can get some better shots, but all will be in vain until I replace the macro.

In all the meeting was worthwhile. Paula and I had a long talk with the President of the group regarding mostly presentation of photos. Paula had submitted four entries for an upcoming show and he was already familiar with her work which impressed me since this was her first meeting also. I mostly listened but it was a lot of good information. They have three or four activities each month and right now I am feeling very encouraged about being a member. Wish I could say that my early experiences with some of the other photography and art groups I have been interested in had gone as well.