Hilltop Views (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 Page: 6 of 12
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6
Memoir recalls refugees
Jarrett King
' j
i
just "illegals.”
jking3 @stedwards.edu
David Sieloff
eminent was not doing any-
sented their collaborative sales, flea markets, trade days
ations.
1900s paper cutter that fea- in Reid's pieces.
working became true friends.
dsielof@stedwards.com
should think about
real people and not
i
i l
chipped toy soldiers.
“These things surround him
all around,” Hayes said.
For her book, Hayes also
Hayes said.
"Ordered Layers" chroni-
cles not only Reid's official tion of antiques.
k
Eloise Montemayor
The art in “Layer by Layer” uses antiques and scrap metal.
and we
L
t
F
ri g
our gov-
There was a very large them as
1990 when I was
center run by the Catho-
lic Church in Brownsville,
but Harlingen and McAl-
len didn’t have anywhere
official, and there were just
r
h
documents because they
were stuck. They couldn't
I wanted people to see that
people across our borders
have the same problems, the
same heartaches, that we do,
“I wanted people to see that
people across our borders
have the same problems, the
same heartaches, that we do.”
Christina Villarreal
Terri Vaughn spent time with refugees in McAllen.
F
I
h
fl .
i
I
l
Ip
I
connections, cracks in the
sidewalk," Reid said about
his work.
“Layer By Layer: the Rev-
elation of Process" is open to
the public Oct. 8 from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
it
r
me to verbalize what I did on
this work: she made me re-
ally think about what I think
it means,” Reid said.
Reid's work seems to accen-
tuate and emphasize details
that are often overlooked.
“I try and find beauty in
little details ... I like to see
Americans were
over illegally, but
rounding these old objects in
the photos only adds to the
pieces' mystique.
Hunting for antiques has
also become an integral com-
ponent of Reid's work.
“I’m almost afraid to tell
you all where I get this stuff,"
he said.
He did admit to frequent-
ing salvage yards, garage
“Each person's experience
with the book is unique,"
“Layer by Layer:”
Reshaping rust
E 3;
r c
s~
_JPa
If you would like to pur-
chase "Now and Then" you
may contact the publisher at
thorpsprings@ymail.com.
Copies are $15.
tures a carved-out window
filled with old rulers and
rusty metal. Reid, a Fort
What do you hope the mem-
oir will accomplish?
I would like for readers to
take away two main ideas.
Why did you decide to write
“Now and Then?"
It was such an important
period in my life, where I
had to give up most of ev-
erything and spend my time
just ministering to people's
needs. They made such an
impression on me and we
Terri Vaughn, an adjunct
professor at St. Edward’s
University, has recently
written a memoir about her
experiences with Central
American refugees in McAl-
len, Texas.
“Now and Then” is
Vaughn's account of her
work with immigrant fami-
lies that fled persecution
and poor living conditions
in their homeland during
the 1980s. Vaughn sat down
with the Hilltop Views to
talk about the experiences
that inspired the memoir,
coming them the right way to get
living as large groups of fam-
ilies out in the park. At the
time, you could work with
the INS to take the people
into your home or you could
take them in and then try to
help them get papers.
How did you end up there?
Through the period, es-
pecially between 1986 and
One is the complexity of the
problem of illegal immigra-
tion. And two, and probably
the most important, is that
we need to have our hearts
open to people from all over.
We have to consider their
situations and not be judg-
mental.
as well as her hopes for the people everywhere,
book.
and antique stores.
“Ordered Layers,” an inter-
active book that features an
in-depth look at Reid's cre-
ative process, was produced
by Michelle Hayes and on
display at the show. Many
photographs on display at
“Layer by Layer" come from
the book. It is intentionally
small to recreate the feeling of
actually holding one of Reid's
pieces. The book strives to
allow the reader to view the
world through the windows
materials," Hayes said. conducted interviews with
She began to document Reid. These sessions ulti-
these cast-ofF treasures , mately influenced the art-
which ranged from rusty work he was producing.
metal advertisements to "[Hayes’questions] allowed
works Sept. 25 to a room full
of art students and admirers
at the St. Edward’s Univer-
sity Fine Arts Gallery.
"Layer by Layer" is mostly
composed of Hayes’ photo-
graphs of the artwork Reid
has constructed over the last
few years.
Reid, a professor in Basic
Drawing and Design, spe-
cializes in re-contextualizing
antique source material. A
prime example of this art-
work is "Blue Light,” an early
thing about it because they go farther north where there
recognized the problems the would be a checkpoint, and
immigrants were having. So to go back south to Mexico
they kept them in the valley was very dangerous for
as sort of a holding ground. them. In my book are poetic
At one point, people, espe- reflections on the people I
daily in Harlingen, were just knew and some of their situ-
there, I went [to McAllen]
to help an official refugee
center that was run by a
church, but it closed the
week that we arrived.
Worth native, hoped that his
work would invoke imagery
of spacious Texan cities.
The materials themselves
are an important component "I came over four or
of the overall piece, and some times [a month] shooting
parts date back to the 1900s. pictures,” Hayes said.
artwork, but also his working [Reid had] developed a
environment. subconscious, visual vernacu-
five lar with all of the collected
What sort of things did you
What was the situation like do for the immigrants?
for the immigrants you cared We just tried to help out
for^ any way we could: food,
At that time, Central clothing or just to send
Reid sees timelessness as a While taking pictures of
running theme throughout Reid’s artwork, she began to
the pieces. The mystery sur- notice his extensive collec-
Old traffic signs, antique
toys and rusting sheets of
metal are reinterpreted in
"Layer by Layer: the Rev-
elation of Process," an art ex-
hibit by Texas State Univer-
sity - San Marcos professors
Randall Reid and Michelle
Hayes. The two artists pre-
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Hilltop Views (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2008, newspaper, October 8, 2008; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1523359/m1/6/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Edward’s University.