First-year art festival to showcase worldwide talent

Chilean artist visits Bishop’s class

By Jonathan Horn

Contributor

While Tomas Rivas’ unique style of art may come as somewhat of a surprise to the visitors of the inaugural Beyond the Border art fair, the Bishop’s students of Ms. Holland’s AP Art History know exactly what to expect.

That is because Rivas, a Chilean artist who uses drywall to make 3-D interpretations of centuries-old architecture, shared his experiences with the class in a guest lecture last week.

“With his interest in the history of art, we just had to have him because everything that he’s talking about we studied this year,” teacher Nicky Holland said. “It just brings it to life. It shows students that our history is such a living discipline, so we’re thrilled.”

Rivas will join four other spotlighted artists and 40 exhibitors for the three-day Beyond the Border fair. There will be more than 500 works of art available for purchase, with some sellers visiting from South America and Canada. The pieces will range from $2,000 to $120,000.

“We hope to sell, that’s the first thing, that’s why its called a fair and not a festival,” Rivas said.

But the founders of Beyond the Border want the event to be much more than just a large sale hall. Ann Berchtold, the event’s executive director, said another major goal is to make people of all ages interested in art.

“This is like speed dating for the art world,” she said, adding that the atmosphere will be very lively, with beverages, sponsors and great networking opportunities.

A one-day pass to the fair, which takes place in the ballroom of the Grand Del Mar hotel, costs $15. It began Wednesday, Sept. 2, and will run through Friday, Sept. 4.

Rivas, who showed the class time-lapse videos of him completing his projects, told them to come to the fair to get the full effect of his actual work. One reason, his art is too large to transport.

“The idea is to investigate the sort of areas that are in between sculpture and drawing,” he said. “You commonly associate drawing with 2-D techniques, but it’s done in 3-D ways so the gap in between is what I study or research.”

When asked if it is bittersweet to sell the pieces he spent so much time perfecting, Rivas said: “Not at all, I’m happy to see my work in places other than my garage. I’m delighted when that happens.”