“Made in Texas” are three of the most persuasive and dynamic words in the vast vocabulary of the Lone Star State. They’re so important that the state has created a marketing campaign encouraging people to “Go Texan.” Want delicious produce? Go Texan. Looking for new boots? You get the idea.
Well, KERA’s Art&Seek and the Video Association of Dallas are Texas proud, too. Especially when it comes to film and video. The series “Frame of Mind” on KERA TV features phenomenal homegrown documentaries, films and video shorts. These independent films showcase diverse styles, genres and stories that are uniquely Texan.
Did you miss “Frame of Mind” last fall? No worries. We are rebroadcasting the 2015 season starting Thursday. And we’re hard at work on the next season, which will start in the fall.
The rebroadcasts kick off with “Art – A Personal Journey With Quin Mathews.” Mathews is a filmmaker and journalist and over his decades-long career, he’s filmed and interviewed more than a thousand visual artists and musicians for radio and television. In this program, Mathews takes us to Cuba, China, Dallas, Latvia, France and elsewhere sharing segments from some of his favorite documentary projects and introducing us to artists and the meaning behind their work.
Mathews has shot documentaries around the world on subjects like emerging artists in China, folk churches in Mexico and solar power in Africa. His films about art have shown in major museums in the United States, Asia and Europe. Photo: Quin Mathews
Mathews spoke withlast fall. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
Before Mathews’ career began in film he was a unenthusiastic kid studying at the University of Texas. He says he was a very lonely at school, but that all changed when he joined the all student staff at the university paper. That’s when he says he found out what was important to him, “I loved the excitement of finding things out — I loved to find things out. I loved to go places, I loved to write [about] them, and that filled the bill.”
After college, Mathews made the move to North Texas and worked for the local CBS and ABC affiliates. He says time ran out for him with the local news broadcasters, because he was really concerned with having control of his life and the content he was creating. This led to him starting his own business, “I enjoy the idea of making something that feels real and is real and conveys the truth to people,” says Mathews.
In Cuba, Mathews looked for artists and visited the oldest gallery in Havana. Photo: Quin Mathews
These desires for truth, exploration and simply finding things out have allowed Mathews to create content that appeals to audiences around the globe. His interest in art have introduced viewers to emerging artists in China and Cuba and it has allowed him to take the viewers to new places. “Television and film takes you from where you’re sitting into another place,” says Mathews.
So join Mathews this Thursday as he takes us on a journey around the globe. Allow him to take us from the couch to the many places where art is created. “I wanted to open up the world to people. The world has opened up to me, and to be able to share that is a wonderful thing, he says.”
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