My background is in contemporary visual art, art administration, and commissioning works of public art. After 20 years leading San Antonio’s public art program, Public Art San Antonio (PASA), my attention has shifted to making art, art advocacy and supporting the cultural community I love.
I grew up in the 70s/80s in an area called Alamo Heights. I had a bit of a journeyman collegiate experience attending UT Austin, San Antonio College, Chautauqua Art Institute, San Antonio Art Institute, and finally Kansas City Art Institute, getting my degree in sculpture. What I gained most in my experience was the quality of artists I was exposed to during those years, including Mel Casas, Mark Pritchett, Bill FitzGibbons, Leslie Koptchko, Don Kimes, Ed Smith, Dale Eldred, Lester Goldman, among others.
Returning to San Antonio, my first job was with gallerist Dorothy Katz at her Sol Del Rio Gallery. My wife Joy and our artist friend Bob Bird had our first post-student exhibit in a converted Sol Del Rio storage space entitled “Reverie in the Raw”. we started an art service business called Michael & Gello Fine Art Services, primarily creating custom canvases and frames. I worked off and on as wax/metalworker at Stevens Art Foundry and as an exhibits preparator at the Witte Museum. I became full-time Program Manager at Blue Start Art Space (now Blue Star Contemporary) under Carla Stellweg for three years. Throughout these years I participated in various exhibits showing paintin
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My background is in contemporary visual art, art administration, and commissioning works of public art. After 20 years leading San Antonio’s public art program, Public Art San Antonio (PASA), my attention has shifted to making art, art advocacy and supporting the cultural community I love.
I grew up in the 70s/80s in an area called Alamo Heights. I had a bit of a journeyman collegiate experience attending UT Austin, San Antonio College, Chautauqua Art Institute, San Antonio Art Institute, and finally Kansas City Art Institute, getting my degree in sculpture. What I gained most in my experience was the quality of artists I was exposed to during those years, including Mel Casas, Mark Pritchett, Bill FitzGibbons, Leslie Koptchko, Don Kimes, Ed Smith, Dale Eldred, Lester Goldman, among others.
Returning to San Antonio, my first job was with gallerist Dorothy Katz at her Sol Del Rio Gallery. My wife Joy and our artist friend Bob Bird had our first post-student exhibit in a converted Sol Del Rio storage space entitled “Reverie in the Raw”. we started an art service business called Michael & Gello Fine Art Services, primarily creating custom canvases and frames. I worked off and on as wax/metalworker at Stevens Art Foundry and as an exhibits preparator at the Witte Museum. I became full-time Program Manager at Blue Start Art Space (now Blue Star Contemporary) under Carla Stellweg for three years. Throughout these years I participated in various exhibits showing painting and sculpture. In 2000 I left Blue Star to work for Felix Padron with the City of San Antonio’s Design Enhancement Program (Public Art) in the City Architect’s Office of the Public Works Department. I took over the program in 2002 when Padron became Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs. Over the next 18 years I developed the public art program and commissioned hundreds of permanent artworks, developed master plans, and established collaborative relationships to advance public art throughout the city. In recent years my interest in returning to a studio art practice led to my first solo exhibit at Lone Star Studios during the 2018 Contemporary Art Month. “Late Bloomer” was an exhibit of 2D and 3D artwork that consisted of intricately cut pieces made of masking tape, cardboard and found materials.
“INCOGNITO” is my most recent exhibit, installed this February 2023 at Flight Gallery. I’ve continued producing artworks using alternative materials that explore the formality of art. A lot of the recent works are both paintings and sculpture, and make use of common everyday materials like salvaged burlap, wood scraps, paper bags and packing materials, conceiving them as functional raw materials for making art.
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