A Community of Art

Here's a wall mural from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. For a funky village by the Gulf, it is probably the art capitol of the Gulf seashores.

I wish we had more art here on South Padre Island. Sure, we have some sand sculptors like the Sons of the Beach, artists like Sharon Campbell, the Camp Craft Girls, and the Whaling Wall but we're not a pimple compared to funky little Ocean Springs, home of over 100 full-time artists.

And people come from all over the world just to see the art - not the beaches, fishing, or booze barns that may be there, but the art. My brother lives there now and loves it, like real potters and foundries you can watch them work. Art-in-action includes glass blowers, wood workers, and blacksmiths as well.

The reason I write this is because many powerful folks down here on SPI don't like wall murals, art, or any of that baggage. "We need to promote boomers and zoomers" they say. Such poor wayward individuals, if you had great art you'd have more of those zoomy kind of people, whatever you call them.

I think its a major mistake to not promote art on SPI. But nooooooo, public art is bad, murals are worse, and if you got some art please keep it to yourself or do like seagulls on the beach or something harmless. I swear, even Port Isabel has public art and they're certainly no connoisseurs (kudos to the great art shops and no offense, Isabellians!).

Maybe someday we'll see the light.