regret not taking this chance.
“Instead of being mad and brooding
over how life didn’t work out how you
wanted, move! Go start again. You’re not
a tree, you can move,” Laurie ascer-
tained.
The same applies to her new life in
Zacatecas. She jokingly admitted that
friends were taking bets on how long she
would last before returning. Six months?
A year? Their doubts only fuel her desire
to make the transition work, but she can
roll with the jokes. “We’re gonna have to
see if Laurie has any self-discipline at all!”
she roared back.
It’s not a permanent goodbye to Big
Bend. Laurie will be back frequently to
visit her son, who will be attending class-
es at Sul Ross State University; and to
visit friends, and possibly even have an
art show or start some international
commerce.
Zacatecas is filled with beautiful
clothing and other crafts that, who
knows, may find a market here one day,
Laurie suggested. For now, she only
knows for certain that she is looking for-
ward to a different pace of life in a new
place while focusing on her own art. “I
am really eager to have time to work on
my own work. I hope to improve great-
ly,” she brimmed.
Another thing Laurie knows?
“Presidio will always be my home.”
Laurie championed student artwork at the 2017 Big Bend C omic C on. Many of the students were new to
art and this was their first show.
more steps involved in throwing a block
party, like securing permits and permis-
sion first.
She soon learned the ropes and con-
tinued to make the Arts Fest happen. It’s
all student driven, she explained.
Students work on posters, flyers and dec-
orations, and they display their own
works for sale. “The kids sold food and
cleaned up – everything was student-
generated,” she emphasized. Laurie
doesn’t exactly remember the year of the
first fest, but said it’s been going strong
since 2006 and has become a reflection
of the area to a wider audience.
Last year, the food competition fea-
tured asado, a regional specialty that is
not well-known outside of West Texas
and Northern Mexico. Several cooks
competed for bragging rights of whose
recipe was the best.
It also brings in great bands – there’s
cumbia, mariachi, norteño, conjunto
and dancing in the street. The city of
Presidio has even begun to offer some
financial backing for the undertaking.
“Because of Laurie’s work, Presidio
has an arts scene that reliably draws
upon excellent home-grown talent,
while also encouraging young local
artists to go on and study art and enter
careers that are art-related,” Mayor
Ferguson remarked.
“It brings life back to downtown,”
Laurie beamed of the festival. But last
year’s may be the last one organized with
Laurie’s leadership. Since her son plans
to fledge off to college this fall, Laurie
saw an opportunity to do something she
always wanted to do: focus on her own
art.
So, after over 20 years of living and
loving in the area, Laurie is packing up
for Zacatecas, Mexico to make a new
start.
“I want to live very simple,” Laurie
stated. A move to Zacatecas is her chance
to start fresh at the drawing board.
“Why do we accumulate so much
stuff?” she mused. Laurie is getting rid of
everything in preparation for the big
move, set to happen around the middle
of June.
“I’m bringing all art supplies, clothes,
and a bed, one pot, one pan,” she said.
Her desire is to slow down and allow
room for her art to bloom. “It’s time to
reinvent myself,” she said.
She has a couple friendly contacts and
a place to land when she gets there. She
is not entirely sure what to expect, and
she knows it will be a challenge, but she
says all her years in Presidio have pre-
pared her for it.
“Zacatecas is a huge, colonial, very
beautiful city, almost like stepping into
Europe, with cathedrals, architecture,
galleries. It’s also plagued by cartels,”
Laurie conceded, but she thinks the city
is making a comeback. Besides, with the
changing dynamics at schools here, and
the growing concerns for student and
teacher safety, Laurie wryly reasoned that
she might as well take her chances with
the cartel. The recent school shooting in
an art classroom in Santa Fe, Texas made
Laurie feel particularly vulnerable. She
hated having to talk through possible
“what if” scenarios with students. “It’s
dangerous everywhere. Everywhere,” she
maintained.
She doesn’t want to look back and
Virgen de G uadalupe is one of several public artworks on display in Presidio, painted by Laurie.
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2018
9