Invitation to join us

• The purpose of The Arts District@Stanton (TADAS) is to provide the community a safe space that encourages people to learn about, experience, and make multi-media arts. TADAS is committed to providing monthly classes, exhibitions, and community arts events. Because art is a sensory process, it is innately therapeutic and centered in trauma-informed resilience-based care.

TADAS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will be located in two conjoined historical buildings located on north Saint Peter Street in downtown Stanton, Texas, and owned by the Stanton First National Bank, in an adjacent building.

Carol E. Briney, the executive director and resident artist of TADAS received her Associates in Fine Arts Studio from Central NM, her Bachelor of Fine Arts and minor in Psychology from University of NM, and her Masters of Liberal Studios weighted in Sociology, Justice, and Public Administration from Kent State University.  Briney is a Certified Trauma and Resilience Specialist in Clinical Application (CTRS-C) and as founding executive director of Reentry Bridge Network Inc, a 501(c)(3) organization (ReentryBridgeNetwork.org) has ten years of writing and facilitating local, statewide, and national arts programs in collaboration and on contract with Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Ohio Department of Juvenile Corrections, nationwide prisons, and local Ohio schools and foundations. Briney has 30 years of corporate administration and accounting, and has held the position of Certified English Teacher in NM, and Adjunct Instructor at Texas Tech University in the Apparel Design & Manufacturing department. Briney was Director of Arts and Grant Writer for nearly two years for a large recovery organization in Midland, Texas.

The vision of TADAS is to initially fill the newly renovated buildings with art from the home and walls of Carol E. Briney.  This will include only Briney’s multi-media art, and it will be on display until the community art expands to fill the spaces.  This multifarious exhibit will introduce Briney to the community and will speak of Briney’s diverse talent as a multi-media two- and three-dimensional artist. There will be an invitation to the public to join TADAS at their ribbon-cutting opening night event, which is tentatively scheduled for Spring 2024.

TADAS will have a monthly, themed project and programs that will be designed to learn, experience, and share arts that are created during the month.  For inspiration, guest artists will be provided with an exhibit space at the beginning of the month to show their work, present a public talk at TADAS to explain their work and process, and to answer questions. The featured artist will hold a workshop with participating artists. The entire month will be devoted to the current theme and the work of participants and guest artist will be exhibited at an opening on the First Friday @Stanton at TADAS where it will hang for the month.  This cycle will be the format for programs and exhibits throughout the year.  Artists can make their art available for purchase or mark it not for sale.  There will be a small consignment cost when art sells.  Some programs will have suggested fees and donations to help offset the TADAS costs of supplies.

The Hang Nail Gallery will be an exhibit space where artists can rent a nail to hang the art of their choice by the month.  They are free to change their art at any time, or to discontinue renting the nail space at the end of a calendar month.  

At least two fund raiser projects will be held annually.  Cement Balls will be first.  Rope will be dipped in cement and wrapped around a large beach ball to dry and harden. The ball will be deflated and removed when the cement is dry, and the cement ball will be painted red or gray in support of Stanton High School colors. There will be a brass plate attached to each ball that recognizes the owner of the ball as a supporter of TADAS.  The balls can be placed in the yard, the living room, or the office of the donor as community recognition. A donation of $250 is suggested. Sells are perpetual.  A second fund raiser will be a wall of 144  12”x12’ Masonite tiles that have multi-media art on them and are hung like a quilt on the wall.  The artist’s name (both professional and up-and-coming artists) will be on the back side and the price of $144 for each tile will generate $20,736 for the TADAS projects. The names of the artists are revealed after purchases are completel. The monthly exhibits will be photographed and booklets that reflect each exhibit will be for sale for $35. A photograph of each piece of art along with the name and bio of the artist will be included. In addition, The Annual Winter Ball will be held at TADAS. This ball is deigned a a "red carpet" social event for donors.

Alternative Support Groups (ASG) will naturally be created at TADAS for kids and adults alike. ASG are groups of people who gather to do things together without any presence of addiction or unhealthy behaviors. AGS’s change not only the environment itself, but the conversation by replacing negativity with the empowerment of creativity, teamwork, and a healthy community. Another way of saying ASG is “some place to go” that feels safe, healthy, and empowering. TADAS will provide role models, create safe spaces, share resources and educational information as well as teach participants skills, self-value, teamwork, and community. These are the roots of resiliency. Resiliency builds an individual’s ability to better handle trauma.

This art gallery and art classes will add distributive education to Stanton. In conjunction, TADAS will have an in-house gift shop for artists to offer their art for sale to the public.  There will be a small consignment fee at the time of sales that will go towards TADAS cost of supplies and fer events.

TADAS will offer programs at their Stanton studio and contract the Art of Trauma programs to be held onsite at various community organizations.  These organizations are likely located in Midland, Lamesa, and Odessa and may include schools, residential programs, recovery programs, hospitals, or correctional facilities.  

TADAS will also support the art of the spoken word, drama, music, dance, informative lecture series, and community education programs. This will provide a stage for local talent and will bring talent into Stanton. In addition, these events will offer positive, family-oriented, live performances for the community.

TADAS will embrace collaborative efforts to collectively engage curiosity, research, and experiment. An example of this is our program to build scale models of the historical structures in Stanton: original two-room Connell house, the monastery/convent in its original adobe construction with Gothic windows, the old jail house, the old courthouse that everyone still loves though it was torn down in 1908, and the old train depot. These projects teach applied observation, math of scaling, various mediums to utilize to best represent authentic and original constructs. Teens and adults will participate. This will nurture awareness of history, community, and the process of building.  This process will enhance local conversation and empower the individuals. This will reflect in participants’ ability to imagine, construct with their own hands, and embrace teamwork and community pride. The models will remain on display at TADAS.

Art in Public Spaces is a great concept for TADAS to participate . There are grants from the state that are specified to cover these projects.  The concept is that an outside art project is designed and submitted for completion and will be constructed for longevity and installed in a public space. Briney was on the Texas Art in Public Places Committee to curate the Central NM College's $250,000 project that was installed in the glass-domed lobby of their new branch, and she was instrumental in the installation of the Quanah Parker 3D Mosaic in Quanah, TX . The Harwood Center in Albuquerque has many  art in public places projects on the outside of their building and as part of their landscape.  The Arts Council of Midland has an entire sculpture garden as art in public spaces. The Martin County Convent and the Martin County Historical Museum are in the process of constructing art in public spaces as part of their landscapes. These projects not only support community unification, but they drive visitor traffic, culture, art, and notoriety to the city and its history,  organizations, and events.