Robleto Receives Tobin Grand Prize

Barbara A. Renaud Gonzalez (left), one of two winners in the Literary Arts category, and Linda Hardberger, at the Artist Foundation of San Antonio Awards Ceremony, held at the Havana Riverwalk Inn, Nov. 6. Photo by Joan

Dario Robleto Receives
Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence

San Antonio, Texas – An accomplished artist desiring to create a sculptural installation exploring “how humans change the physical nature of a substance through faith or belief in it” is the recipient of the first Robert L.B. Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio. Bruce Bugg, a trustee of the Tobin Endowment, presented the award to Dario Robleto in ceremonies at the Cool Café in the Havana Riverwalk Inn on November 6.

The award was the climax of the event recognizing the recipients of grants awarded by the Artist Foundation of San Antonio to nurture the creativity of some of San Antonio’s most talented geniuses. Nineteen grants totaling more than $92,000, more than double the amount awarded in 2006, are being provided to artists working in visual, performing, literary and media arts.

In addition to the excellence award, new awards in 2007 include the George Cortes Award for Classical Singing; the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Set Design; the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Costume Design; and the Lifshutz Foundation’s Chez Bernard Awards for up-and-coming artists. The award process is extremely competitive; 137 entries were received by the Artist Foundation. Twenty-eight judges critiqued the entries and selected the winners in each category.

Within the coming year, San Antonio will be experiencing the positive impact of this second round of grants awarded by the Artist Foundation. One example of the artistic endeavors stimulated by these grants will be the construction of 3-D panoramic lightboxes to immerse viewers in Thomas Cummins’ nocturnal images of San Antonio. The photographer says, “I attempt to capture surrounding structures in order to discern how we contextually attempt to create selves through our environment that ultimately defines us.”

Clarinetist Stephanie Key plans to use her grant to enlist the help of guitarist/composer Joe Reyes and dancer/choreographer Amber Ortega-Perez to compose an improvisational new work revolving around the effects of global warming. In addition, Ortega-Perez was awarded the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Choreography for another project. David Heuser, PhD, plans to compose a jazz-influenced work for saxophone quartet scheduled to debut throughout the country in performances by a consortium of 12 saxophone quartets during the 2008-2009 concert season. Joey Fauerso will use her grant for new computer hardware and software to enable her to complete a video piece combining digital video with 16-mm film and hand-painted animation exploring the complex relationship of art, religion and revolution.

Other recipients include Linda Poetschke, the George Cortes Award for Classical Singing; Martha L. Penaranda, the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Set Design; John McBurney, the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Costume Design; and Justin Parr in the category of Media Arts. Additional Visual Artists receiving grants include Daniel A. Borris, Leigh Anne Lester and Constance A. Lowe. Winners in the Literary Arts category are authors Barbara Ras and Barbara A. Renaud Gonzalez. Artists selected for the Chez Bernard Awards provided by the Lifshutz Foundation are Kristy Perez, Visual Arts; Rick Frederick, Performing Arts; Pete Barnstrom, Media Arts; and Michael Barrett, Literary Arts.

The purpose of the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, founded by Patricia Pratchett and Bettie Ward, is to grant monetary awards and recognition to artists in the San Antonio area, which will in turn grow and diversify the art market throughout Bexar County. The cash awards are made possible through the private fundraising efforts of the Artist Foundation of San Antonio and supported in part by The Cultural Collaborative of the City of San Antonio.