2 weeks Ago
New Braunfels community members gathered together at Lark Mason Gallery Tuesday evening to hear from several local arts experts who have contributed to maintaining and adding to the town’s vast beauty. Lark Mason Jr. gave opening remarks before the audience heard from a four-person panel.
Mason is the president of the nonprofit Preserving New Braunfels, which is dedicated to maintaining and fostering the historical foundation that makes New Braunfels so special. He recognized board members in attendance at the event and shared more about how it got started. “We got together because we thought it was something that needed to be done, to create something that highlighted the physical architectural past, the natural treasures, the natural world that we’re surrounded by that’s so fabulous — the Comal River and Landa Park and so on — and our cultural traditions and institutions,” Mason said.
“And we call this organization Preserving New Braunfels. Preserving means not stuck in the past, but working forward to the future because we are part of that future that will make this place better than it (would) be if we didn’t exist.” Brett Davidson, architect and founder of Assemble + Co.
, kicked off the discussion. He has worked on several New Braunfels staples, including Muck & Fuss and the Seele Parish House at First Protestant Church. Through his work, he said he finds a balance between respecting the history and story of the building and finding its next chapter.
He approaches his practice with the desire to make an impact on the city and leave his mark for generations. Chef Wesley Osborne shared about how he founded Noshly, an online platform that helps chefs get the running start they need, have their talents discovered and express their creativity through their work. He described the platform as an “incubator for culinary concepts.
” Akiko Fujimoto, music director of the Mid-Texas Symphony, spoke about how the group’s performances in Seguin and New Braunfels aim to move people profoundly and entertain. The symphony performs a wide variety of music throughout the year from James Bond to Christmas pops to Beethoven. Brit King, president and CEO of the New Braunfels Community Foundation, said the foundation encourages people to be generous through offering services that make that process simple and inexpensive.
In its 11 years, the foundation has given away about $17 million dollars. “One of our board members says this about the community foundation — we all have eaten from trees that we didn’t plant and we drink from wells that we did not dig,” King said. “(The) community foundation allows people to plant more trees and dig more wells.
” Mason said the event was the first in what the nonprofit hopes will be a series highlighting experts in respective fields across the arts. The intention is to inspire and educate the community about what they can do to make their beautiful city even better. “Here we are, a room full of creative people who love this city, our beautiful city,” Mason said at the end of the panel discussion.
” It is our city — it’s up to us to make it stay beautiful and become even more beautiful, and we do that by interacting and talking to people and sharing ideas and gathering together.”.
