HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM HABITABLE SPACES! 2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
As this year comes to a close, we are taking a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in 2019. In many ways it was our busiest year yet, with farm to table dinners, pop-up art shows, workshops and a fabulous array of resident artists.
We began the year with a whole cow butchery demonstration. The event would not have been possible without the help of the amazing Will Hemmick, whose land we raised and butchered the cow on. A big thank you also to Travis Emmons and Craig Bertling for all of their help and support with this event. Chefs Ian Lanphear, Kelsea Featherstone, Lionel Guerra and Veronica Fox brought their knowledge and their knives and made the whole event a success!
In February we saw the arrival of sculptor and performance artist Alex Wolkwicz. Alex creates sculptures with fiber and bronze, as well as dance and performance art pieces. During her time at habitable spaces, she created a permanent art piece that now lives under our grow roof and participated in a group art show in downtown Kingsbury. In February, we also hosted Swedish art collective “Restless Minds”. Restless minds is made up of artists Emily Al Ghussein and Fabian Olovson. They built the figurative sculptures that now can be seen as you approach the Habitable Spaces village. Emily and Fabian also participated in a group show held in downtown Kingsbury in February.
On February 23 we held a group art show and farm to table dinner in Shay and Johnny Harborth’s building in downtown Kingsbury. They graciously allowed us to use the space for a three day art exhibition called “Trans-it” curated by German artist Ronny Lischinski. This show featured artists from Berlin and South Central Texas and explored issues around human migration and the German heritage of Kingsbury. Kingsbury’s very own Margaret Taylor displayed her vast history of Kingsbury with historical photos taken from the earliest days of the town’s origin. On February 24, we featured a farm to table dinner in the gallery space. The dinner was created by Seguin’s very talented young chefs Lionel Guerra and Veronica Fox of Mise company.
On Mother’s Day, we joined with Mise company again to have another fabulous farm to table dinner in downtown Kingsbury. The evening featured music from Ethan & the Slyfoot Family. That same weekend we had a fiber art show in the space featuring local fiber artists Donna Maske and Katz Asbury- Harper alongside San Antonio painter Jessica Ward. We were thrilled to have such a wonderful response and turn out from our community!
On June 15 we held our Fifth annual Summer Solstice Festival. The festival featured a workshop on the monarch butterfly by Leah Brisco, a wild edibles walk with Ian Lanphear and Kelsey Featherstone and a mycelium workshop with the Central Texas Mycological Society. The evening featured documentaries about small scale farming and foraging. On June 29 we had a spectacular 12 course farm to table dinner with Ian Lanphear. The dinner was not only delicious, it was truly an otherworldly artistic experience of its own right!
At the end of October we welcomed our first writer in residence, Zach Saunders. Zach is working on a novel, and is spending two weeks with us in every season between 2019 and 2020.
This year‘s Fall Harvest was the biggest yet with almost 30 vendors and the whole community participating to create a bustling festival with interactive workshops, kid activities, and a free-form blacksmith demonstration by Colin McIntyre.
As we close out this year, we look forward to 2020. In January, we will begin pouring the concrete floor for our 2400 square-foot workshop. The space will hold a gallery, a maker space, a small commercial kitchen, and a woodshop. It will give us the ability to teach more workshops, classes, and lectures. If you enjoy what we are doing out here at habitable spaces please show us your love by donating to the cause! We cannot build this space without the help of your donations! And we encourage you to think of it more as an investment in your own education, and an investment in the infrastructure of Kingsbury itself.
