August 7, 2018 - David Masterson, local artist in Center, Texas, has renovated the old bank building on the corner of Austin and Nacogdoches Streets on the historic downtown square into an art gallery, Davmar Gallery.
On Friday afternoon, August 3, Masterson started painting on the exterior of the now art gallery using the front side of the building as a 900 sq. ft. canvas and creating major conversation in town. Masterson said he looked for replacement pieces for the cracked tiles on the front of the building but was unable to locate any. He debated and decided to utilize it as an art medium saying, "(I'm) trying to bring more life to the downtown area."
Masterson said he plans to offer art classes and expressed a desire to become a certified painting therapist, "We're gonna do art classes, therapy classes, teach art expression or expressive painting. We probably won't be doing any of the barns with the house and cow and such like but we will paint a series of clouds or water or similar things. Mostly what we will be doing is art education through experience, hands on experience and exploration of the imagination. I have a lot of technics so if I show them these technics then maybe they will walk away and actually apply them.
"The thing that is beautiful about art and the imagination is, its not literally all about painting, its once you start tapping into your imagination... once you open up this element of excitement that's never been open before, once you open up art in them, even if they don't pick up a brush and start painting... they may start writing, or they might start singing or playing the guitar or go back to the piano that they haven't touched in years. What it does is it starts nurturing that creative seed and I'm trying to help it grow. In a nut shell that is what it funnels down to... and as you get older you will find that nurturing that creative spirit will serve you well."
Artist David Masterson shows a client his artwork at the newly open Davmar Gallery on Monday, August 6th.
With the fall time of the year being a busy festival and art show season, his schedule will be fluid at first. Look to Shelby County Today in the near future for classes offered each month. Masterson hopes to have classes start possibly as early as the end of August so classes, times, and schedules will be announced soon.
He also plans to welcome guest artists possibly every quarter and will host an open show showcasing the guest artist's work. Davmar Gallery will also host juried art shows in the future with a slightly different model plan.
Masterson is a commercial artist, working in a variety of forms, particularly painting, sculpture, and mixed media, photography and filming. He has worked with all art media and studied art and inter-design at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Masterson is the recipient of many art awards including the most recent in April 2018 with Masterson receiving the Best in Show Fine Arts Award at the annual Turtle Creek Arts Festival in Dallas. In addition, his filming credits include being producer and host of Outdoor Chronicles, which were broadcast on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX networks and nationally on the Outdoor Channel. Masterson was also involved in freelance production for different companies, including ESPN.
Masterson showcases one of his pieces which recently won Best in Show Fine Arts Award at the annual Turtle Creek Arts Festival in Dallas.
The Davmar Gallery is located at 132 Nacogdoches Street, Center, Texas 75935. Phone number is 936-591-2971. Website is https://davidwmasterson.com/
