Cruising Crickets by Tom Curry

By Danielle Gallo

In 1994 , a small group of artists and galleries got together to host “ Gallery Night ,” an event that would prove to be the forebear to Artwalk Alpine , one of the Big Bend region ’ s most storied cultural traditions .

The overarching purpose of Artwalk is to support the arts throughout the region . Far from being merely a two-day event , Artwalk gives $ 1,000 a year to Sul Ross State University for art scholarships . The 501 ( c ) 3 organization that underwrites the event , Alpine ’ s Gallery Night , Inc ., has donated $ 12,000 to area schools for art programs . The silent auction , held every year , donates funds to the Alpine Public Library . Comprising donated works from exhibiting artists , the auction is the library ’ s largest annual fundraiser .

After 20 years of celebrating Artwalk , the organization gifted Alpine a series of downtown murals celebrating the region ’ s Hispanic heritage . Stylle Reed , whose murals can be seen throughout the Big Bend , designed and executed the works with the help of local artists . A decade later , Alpine is peppered with murals down its streets and alleys , showcasing the work of dozens of artists , giving us all a reason to pause and consider our surroundings on nearly every corner .

Each year , Artwalk features a local artist . This year , it ’ s Tom Curry . Tom and Susan Curry moved to Alpine just a year before Gallery Night began in 1994 . They ’ ve participated in every Gallery Night and Artwalk since .

The first year , they displayed Tom ’ s work in their home on Sul Ross avenue . Tom helped promote the event in the old Alpine Observer with a cartoon depicting the hardware store , reimagined as a fictional Joe ’ s Tire Shop . The cartoon depicted a clerk hanging a tire from a rope in the window – his own little work of art . A few years later , a local artist recreated the cartoon in an empty shop window downtown .

Artwalk is held on the weekend before Thanksgiving , so it ’ s subject to the vagaries of West Texas weather . Susan remembers years when ice storms and howling winds made walking the streets impossible . For Artwalk 2022 , the biting cold wasn ’ t much of a deterrent to the crowds , who huddled around barrel fires at venues and on the sidewalks or danced to keep warm .

Fantasmos

This will be the second time Tom Curry has been the featured artist for Artwalk . The first was 2008 . Born and raised in Coleman , Texas , a small town near Abilene , he graduated from the University of North Texas in 1969 . After a stint in the Army stationed in Stuttgart , Germany , he traveled extensively in Europe before returning home to Texas . When he moved to Austin from Dallas in 1975 , he paid $ 50 a month for studio space around 6th and Congress . He started his artistic life as an illustrator .

In those days , illustrators weren ’ t considered artists . “ I used to go to art openings in Austin ,” he remembers . “ They ’ d tell me , ‘ You ’ re not an artist , you ’ re just an illustrator .’” That perception has changed somewhat in recent years ; commercial artists have been more widely recognized for their abilities , and illustrators have become generally more coveted .

In the beginning , he shared studio space with several other illustrators and graphic designers . Texas Monthly was a new magazine , and he began doing illustrations for them .

Soon , ad agencies and other publications took notice of his work , and he got busy .

“ I didn ’ t have a style starting out ,” he says . “ A friend told me that we should just go out and draw , so that ’ s what I did . I ’ d go to all the bars and cafes and draw — people , cars , whatever .” Curry credits his style as a byproduct of this practice . “ Once you have a style , making art is like riding a bicycle ,” he says .

Curry ’ s work has won major awards and has been featured in such prestigious publications as Time , Newsweek , Mother Jones , Rolling Stone , Esquire , Atlantic Monthly , The New York Times , The Washington Post , Texas Monthly , and The New York City Opera . Curry draws inspiration for his work from artists like Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera and the Belgian surrealist René Magritte . He appreciates the exaggerated forms of American regionalist Thomas Hart Benton . His clean lines and bright colors are instantly recognizable .

His artistic medium isn ’ t limited to illustration . A longtime proponent of papercrete , he and Susan built their home studio on historic Murphy Street in Alpine out of it . Its highly insulating properties , coupled with its sculptural lines , appeal to them . The bulk of the material is recycled paper ; keeping it out of West Texas landfills is an added bonus . Curry would like to write a how-to book about papercrete someday , passing on the practical knowledge he ’ s gained from a quarter century of working with the material . The clean lines , compelling curves and iconic contrasts of his paintings and illustrations are echoed in his papercrete architecture , itself a work of art . He and Susan both live and work in the sculptural buildings that dot the property , with their dog Hank at their side or zooming around the yard .

In his free time , Curry plays guitar and sings with many like-minded musicians from the neighborhood . He and Susan spend some of their time at their cabin in the desert wilderness near Terlingua . These days , Curry does very little illustration , having transitioned to painting full time , except on request . A portion of his work is commission , with the rest of his time devoted to personal paintings . His work strongly reflects the Big Bend region — its landscapes and iconic images , like Dia de los Muertos skeletons , as well as archetypes of its people .

For Artwalk 2023 , Curry will show all of his prints in various sizes , with a handful of originals on display as well . PrintCo will produce the prints on their large-scale printer . It seems perfectly fitting that an Alpine artist who was present for the very first Gallery Night will be the featured artist for Artwalk ’ s 30th anniversary .

Artwalk 2023 takes place Friday , Nov . 17 , and Saturday , Nov . 18 , all over downtown Alpine . For more information , visit www . artwalkalpine . com . �

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