Artist in Residence – Part 1 of 2
Examiner photo by Connie Clements Initially, an art therapy major, Navasota artist in residence Sara Nevius decided her real calling was to be an artist. She said, “It’s interesting to see how that influence of art therapy interacts with my work today.”
Since 2014, the City of Navasota and the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley (ACBV) have provided artists an opportunity to focus solely on their art as participants in the Navasota Artists in Residence (AIR) Program. The current resident artists, Sara Nevius and Siana Smith, are about to wrap up their six-month stay in Navasota but not before exhibiting their work at an open house Friday, Feb. 17. The hours of this free event at the Horlock House Art Gallery & History Museum, 1215 E. Washington Avenue are 4:30-6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
***
Sara Nevius – Love letters to the community
Resident artist Sara Nevius has “grown up a little bit of everywhere.” San Antonio is home now but as a military child she lived in six different cities, including Jackson, Tennessee, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Union University in 2022.
Nevius’ portraiture and figurative work focuses on people and their stories. Her mediums of choice are oil paint and charcoal which produces a “timeless, almost documentary feel.”
Nevius credits her artistic nature to her mother, a graphic designer who transitioned to fine art.
She said, “We did a lot of art projects growing up. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time. I just really enjoyed the activities and took some art classes in high school.”
When it came time for a college, Nevius said, “The only thing that I could imagine myself doing that I had a real passion for was art.”
Embrace the season
A self-described introvert child of extrovert parents growing up in a mobile environment, Nevius’ interest in people and their stories developed over time.
She said, “I never really had a physical place to call home. People around me became my home, especially my family. I got to interact with lots of people and learned how to talk with adults really young.”
Nevius said, “In middle school and high school, I was so introverted. I was so socially anxious and I totally understand that phrasing ‘why bother’ warming up to people because at the end of the day, you’re going to move away from them and what’s the point of forming these friendships if you’re just going to leave them behind.”
She continued, “In college I worked through all those relationship issues and see the benefits of getting to know somebody regardless of how temporary. Sometimes people are in your life only for a season and it’s such a great thing to get to know them even for just a short amount of time. I was an adult in college when I realized I really am a people person. I blossomed through my art and found a way to combine both people and art.”
2020 hindsight
A factor in Nevius’ epiphany was the pandemic. A sophomore at the time, Nevius said, “I was pretty much living in my university bubble when they closed it and I had to go back home. I was in Texas for most of covid. It was very difficult having to do things online. I do think that somewhere in 2020, a lot of things came down in American society. I think it changed a lot of things I had thought previously and it kind of radicalized me in a way.”
Nevius’ family moved to Abilene during covid. With limited artistic opportunities there, she concentrated on improving her work and returned to campus “a more mature person, a more well-rounded person.”
She said, “I think covid not only affected my art but me as a person. It was a really crazy year.”
Identity
“Ipseity,” Latin for individual identity or self, is the name of Nevius’ senior exhibition which she considers “a great study on people’s willingness to be depicted.”
Nevius said, “I was beginning to do portraiture and things like that before covid but I think coming out of covid I was definitely getting more interested in the people aspect, the identity aspect of my work rather than on the surface level portraiture things that I was doing.”
According to Nevius, of the 60 people she approached as subjects, 40 accepted.
She said, “Most people are willing and happy to be involved in a portrait. I think for all of human history - cave painting, baroque portraits - it’s such a vital aspect of our human history to be remembered in a portrait or drawing. We’re very selfish people. We want to be heard. This gives people a chance to be heard and for me to listen and learn from other people. It was such a great experience to see people passionately tell their stores…it’s a great dynamic I’ve got going on with people!”
Rookie benefits
Beginning with learning how to discuss their work with the media, the gallery shows and participation in community events, Nevius describes the experience with the ACBV as “wonderful.”
She said, “Everything they do for the artists is totally beneficial, especially for a rookie like me. I’m so grateful to have this experience.”
Nevius has nothing but praise for City staff and the residents who made them feel at home and welcome in Navasota.
She continued, “We can’t do this without the community and I hope everybody comes to our show. For me, it’s like a total love letter to the community.”