Tag Archives: Texas Country Reporter

The 2014 Arts Enrichment Award

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The Seguin Commission on the Arts

2014 Arts Enrichment Award

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Steve Tschoepe Announcing the Award Winner

Steve Tschoepe Announcing the Award Winner

Barbara Weyland Cheering

The Seguin Commission on the Arts honored Marika with the  2014 Arts Enrichment Award for her unwavering support and promotion of the arts.  Mayor Don Keil made the announcement at the Texas Theater as part of the ArtsFest event, Pachanga del Arte, the annual fundraiser for the arts in Seguin.

She was awarded a special certificate and an enthusiastic round of applause.

In announcing the award, Mayor Keil noted that since Marika and her husband Dennis Martin chose to settle

Seguin Mayor Don Keil

Seguin Mayor Don Keil

in Seguin she has been at the forefront of public art in Seguin. She has spoken about the arts to local groups, exhibited her art work in shows throughout the community, contributed two commissioned sculptures to enhance the public art at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, and was a key participant in the first ArtsFest, working with children and adults to create a public art piece for Seguin.

She has taught wood carving classes, helping others discover their artistic talents and was a driving force behind the creation of the Seguin Commission on the Arts as well as the creation of the Bird Sculptures in Walnut Springs Park, raising funds, working with other artists, and creating sculptures that celebrate Seguin’s status as a bird sanctuary.

IMG_6501Her accomplishments are many and include raising over $10,000 in funds through art for disaster relief in Haiti, being featured in numerous publications and on Texas Country Reporter, and being showcased in a National Endowment for the Arts-funded Folklife project through the Institute of Texan Cultures.

Through the years and in spite of challenges, Marika has held on to her vision for Seguin to become known for the arts.  He closed saying she is very deserving of being recognized as the Outstanding Contributor to the Arts for 2014.

Past recipients of the recognition include the Texas Theatre and Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguin.

 

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Helen Stein, A Founding Member of the Seguin Art League

Helen Stein, A Founding Member of the Seguin Art League

Texas Country Reporter Festival

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This past weekend, Marika participated in the 16th Annual Texas Country Reporter Festival in Waxahachie, TX.  The weather was fantastic as were the many people who attended.  This year for the first time,  the TCR Festival and CBS 11 Dallas decided to present awards to the vendors.  There were approximately 250 vendors but only 5 awards.  Marika was one of the fortunate 5.  She received the “Crafty Artist” Award.

Below are a few photos from the event including one of Bob Phillips.

 

The Story of Marika and a Small Texas Town

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The Holidays: Central Park, Seguin, TX

The Story of Marika and a Small Texas Town

A woman from Haiti by taking mallet and chisel to wood, and a small town are writing a Texas story.  Five years ago, Marika arrives in Seguin with her tools, wood, and sculptures.  Something beautiful happens.

Folks meet her and soon thereafter she is speaking before civic organizations and church groups;

The Seguin Main Street Program appoints her to the Advisory Board;

Texas Lutheran University hosts a solo exhibition;

For the new maternity wing, The Guadalupe Regional Medical Center commissions a sculpture;

The Seguin Oakwood Art League sponsors the Haiti Benefit Art Auction “in honor of sculptor, friend, and member Marika Bordes;”  and

The Seguin Heritage Museum schedules a three-month exhibition for Marika and her students for Fall 2010.

Her love for sculpting and the desire to share this life-changing passion places her before diverse audiences:  Rotary International, The Shakespeare Study Club,  Zonta International, Wesley-Harper Vacation Bible School and other venues.  The topics vary.  Always, the theme is the importance to both the individual and the community of hard work, discipline and the creativity within us.

Shortly after joining the Main Street Advisory Board, Marika accepts the mandate to develop a plan for promoting and supporting the arts in Seguin.  Though her efforts and others, the City of Seguin now has an Arts Commission.

Marika’s passion for sculpture and giving to others shines through when she teaches sculpting.  The artist wants the story to continue.  A story that begins with the carvers of Africa, then to the carvers of Haiti, and now to the carvers of Seguin.  In a small Texas town, from the rising of the sun, until the rising of the moon, mallet and chisel ring out against the intrinsic beauty of wood.

Photo: www.BilSullivanPhotography.com