by Rani Birchfield
T
Photo courtesy of Rani Birchfield
his November, Alpine will once
again transform from a quiet
rural town into a bustling art
crawl with businesses and streets
bedecked in art, music, food and fun.
Although ArtWalk came close to being
a Thing of the Past, the event will com-
mence its 24th year by going back to
the community and its own brand of
eclectic, cultural roots. Jon Sufficool,
will be the featured artist with a show
titled, “In the Hood.”
ArtWalk, still referred to by many as
Gallery Night, started in 1994 with six
galleries and a handful of artists. There
was almost no budget and 500 hand-
addressed invitations went out. Keri
Blackman, one of the founders and the
executive director of Artwalk, opened
her store, Kiowa Gallery, earlier that
year, and a town event circling around
art seemed like a good fit.
The evolution of Artwalk has seen its
ups and downs, even at one time being
voted one of people’s Favorite Events
of the Big Bend by Texas Highways mag-
azine. After Blackman’s husband,
John, passed away in early 2015, how-
ever, Blackman said she really strug-
gled with ArtWalk. Compounding her
20
Cenizo
personal heartbreak, the City of Alpine
cut the event’s funding by half.
Blackman met with her board and also
spoke with local business owners about
the possibility of ending the event.
Eventually she regained her spirit and
motivation by simplifying and going
back to the things people, as well as
Fourth Quarter 2017
Blackman herself, loved about
ArtWalk.
Several years ago art cars were a big
part of Artwalk. This year, they will be
A ppearing at A rtW alk. Photo courtesy of Jon Sufficool
back. Art cars, muscle cars, hot rods,
low-riders: these are elements that
brought back inspiration for Blackman.
“If I could have a really great parade
and make some changes, it will work,”
she said. With overwhelming support
to carry on, Blackman decided to con-
tinue the festival.
Every year, the ArtWalk board of
directors chooses someone to be the
featured artist, someone from the tri-
county area who contributes to the
community and makes a living as an
artist.
Jon Sufficool was unanimously cho-
sen as this year’s artist. He’s a natural fit
with art cars, as he customizes what
some people would see as junk automo-
biles and makes them into fantastical
pieces that can be painted and shown,
as well as driven.
Recognizable by a blue cowboy hat
atop a lanky frame, John Sufficool is a
local fixture of the Big Bend region. If
you look up “Renaissance man” in the
dictionary, you might find his picture as
the definition. Or you may have seen
his picture in Food & Wine magazine or
a rugged menswear catalogue. Maybe
you’ve experienced one of his cus-
tomized vehicles, like the rebuild of
Carl Thane’s old welding truck, aka the
rusty red motor home that used to park
at the brewery during events or per-