By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
In a
recently renovated artist studio, Boerne artist Jay Hester is surrounded by his
art, Civil War memorabilia and documentary references of oil & gas tycoon,
George P. Mitchell. Hester is about to
take a larger than life size clay sculpture of the ‘Grandfather of Fracking’ to
the foundry to be cast in bronze, to be placed at the entrance of Texas A&M
University in Galveston.
His
reputation precedes him, but his legacy is ever growing. Hester’s history is littered with aspects of
evolution – reshaping the city of Boerne and its art community.
After
retiring as a Gallerist in 2013, Hester has been busy ever since. Reflecting his commanding personality, a mix
of Wild Western cowboy charm and focused artist, Hester’s studio is full of
activity with several large commissions.
He touts new gallery representation and chairs multiple advisory positions,
all the while balancing his coveted studio time.
Nowadays, it’s hard to catch up with Hester,
one of the original working professional artists of Boerne, to discuss the
various projects, commissions and events that paved the road for such
successes.
“Boerne’s population was less than
5,000 when my wife, Judy and I moved here from Lubbock in 1988. Boerne had one gallery that closed before we
got here…Bill Zaner was the only other professional artist in the area as we
began to explore the art community”, says Hester.
Jay Hester’s
wife Judy has been a steady muse, support and inspirational partner in Hester’s
lifelong pursuit of a tremendously successful career in the Fine Arts. The backbone of the administrative side of
his studio operations, she provides great insight and historical information.
“Before Jay established his studio on
Main Street, he had a small studio in a log building located off of Frederick
Street in Boerne. He began teaching a few classes and it was there that he was
commissioned by USAA to do several paintings for the Zaragosa Theater at Six
Flags in San Antonio, along with bronze sculpture for several executive
offices, which included a sculpture of Charles Lindberg for General McDermott”,
she says.
As many
Boerne-ites know, Jay Hester is the artist that designed and fabricated the
bronze bust statue that sits atop the limestone marker on the Veterans’
Memorial at the city of Boerne Veteran’s Park.
“In 1992 Jay presented his idea for
enhancing the significance of the Veteran's Park. Eventually, several veterans worked together
with Jay to make this dream a reality and the unveiling of the bronze cap took
place on Veteran's Day 1993”, says Judy.
Fast forward
a few years and things really begin to form, not only for the Boerne Art
Community, but for Hester as well.
“In 1994 Jay had an opportunity to
buy the historic Kaiser/Oxley house. This limestone residence with adjoining
property at 904 S. Main Street was converted to Jay Hester Studio/Gallery. The
garage became classroom space and a sculpture studio was built a few years
later,” continues
Judy.
With an
established reputation and calling Boerne home for about six years, Hester’s
professional connections, networking and city acknowledgement brought much
needed progress.
“It was at this studio that the first
concept of the now coined ‘Parade of Artists’ began as an open house/studio tour
at the request of then Mayor Patrick Heath”, says Hester.
This first
open studio tour was the catalyst that brought about change, the event that
planted the seed to help grow the arts environment. As Hester’s prominence grew in Boerne, he
became the go-to guy for other artists as well as the City of Boerne.
Judy
explains how it seemingly all got started.
“Mayor Heath invited Jay, along
with a select group of performing and visual artists, to gather at his studio
to discuss a formal Arts Council for Boerne. After eighteen months a 501
C3 was established and the Cibolo Council for the Arts began. Years later
it became known as the Hill Country Council for the Arts, representing various
art organizations. During this time, Jay
met with several other professional artists to organize the Boerne Area Art
Association.”
Now with
over 50 artists and regional associations and members, the Boerne Area Art
Association morphed into the present day Boerne Professional Artist (BPA) Association.
Under
Hester’s supervision, guidance and initiative, the members of the BPA formed an
invitational art exhibition originally exhibiting at the Tapatio Springs Hill
Country Resort & Spa. Starting with only 25 artists exhibiting, the fall
event grew to over 40 artists with the help of Jay Hester and other board members.
Going back
to Hester’s own artistic lineage, the year 1997 brought another large scale
commissioned sculpture; this time outside of Boerne, expanding his credentials
to Fredericksburg, Texas. To commemorate
the 150 year anniversary of the city of Fredericksburg, Hester was commissioned
to create a sculpture depicting the arranged treaty between the Comanche
Indians and the German settlers of Fredericksburg. "Lasting
Friendship" is three heroic size bronze sculptures located at the
Marktplatz in the center of Fredericksburg, a testament to Hester’s dedication
to the history of the West and Texas.
Eventually
Jay Hester sold his Main Street property, but the studio was replaced with a
hundred year old structure directly next to his own house on Highland Street. Circa 2000-2002 Hester did extensive
renovations to the property and opened Highland House Art Gallery. He took on other local artists for
representation, allowing the gallery to not only represent his own work, but that
of others from the Boerne area, and eventually added private art classes and
workshops.
“During his years in Boerne, Jay has
served on the Main Street Design Committee, Hotel/Motel Tax Advisory Board, and
as an officer/chairman of various committees of the BPA, as well as operating
Highland House Gallery for over ten years”, reminiscences Judy.
Highland
House Gallery officially closed its doors in 2013 as Hester decided to spend
more of his energy on his own art and commissions.
A full list
of exhibitions from Hester’s career are too numerous to mention, but a
spotlight of his curated selections from 2003-2008 include gallery
representation at Mountain Trails Gallery in both Santa Fe and Jackson Hole, as
well as Mountain Spirit Gallery in Prescott, Arizona.
“More recently, Sage Creek and
Worrell Gallery in Santa Fe have represented his art work. He has been a
part of Brookwood Gallery near Houston and Hannah Gallery in Fredericksburg, as
well as local galleries. For several years, Jay, along with Bill Scheidt
and Sidney Sinclair, attended the Phippen Memorial Day Show in Prescott, AZ,” says Judy.
In addition
to his local gallery, Texas Treasures Fine Art, Hester continues to support the
Museum of Western Art in Kerrville and will be attending the "Traveling
the West" Show in Dallas at Southwest Gallery.
As he
concludes the final touches on the large clay sculpture before the casting,
Hester speaks of an affinity and respect of his subject. Judy interjects and adds valuable insight into
Hester’s personal history with the Mitchell family and their support of his
art.
“The family of George Mitchell
commissioned Jay to do a sculpture for the Woodlands, a planned community near
Houston, of its founder. It was installed in 1997 which led to a
commission of Cynthia Woods Mitchell in 2001. Both pieces are near the
pavilion named in her honor. A few years later, Jay was asked to sculpt a
heroic sized standing figure of Mr. Mitchell to be placed in Town Green
Park overlooking the Woodlands Waterway. It was presented to Mr. Mitchell
by the Woodlands Development Company and was unveiled in 2008 at a ceremony in
his honor."
However,
this current depiction of the young cadet who will grow up to be a leading
figure in the oil and gas industry is
the first sculpture to be completed in Jay's new studio.
As the
looming figure on his metal armature base gazes out to the unforeseen distance,
contemplating the uncertain future of Boerne and the Hill Country, we take
comfort in knowing Jay Hester is still calling Boerne home and has more visions
of city collaborations, art exhibitions and large scale sculptures.
Article reprinted from the August edition of Plumage-TX Magazine
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