From Fort Worth’s convention center to the courthouse, rows of artists presented and sold their best works to the public.  

The Main Street Arts Festival had hand selected booths with judges choosing winners for various disciplines. Along with the artists themselves, the festival also featured food, activities and live music April 16-19. 

Three artists have come to this festival year after year, displaying their work and stories to the public.   

Kostas Ulevicius 

Philadelphia-based sculptor Kostas Ulevicius focuses on bronze and ceramic sculptures, being drawn to the dimensionality of the art form. He pulls inspiration from various cultures, Egyptian, Renaissance and Indian arts.  Ulevicius tries to look beyond the face.  

“Three-dimensional form, the plasticity and I look at Egyptian art,” Ulevicius said. “They’re pretty monumental and simplified, very monumental forms.” 

In his early life, he originally thought about pursuing architecture. However, he had to pass a drawing exam. So, he went to art school for a year. While expanding these skills, people around him began to notice and pushed him to pursue art. That drive led Ulevicius to graduate from the Vilnius Academy of Art in Lithuania. 

Ulevicius’ talent in sculpting has early roots, however. His father, an engineer and concentration camp survivor during World War II, taught his children how to sculpt at a very young age. 

“He came back [from the concentration camp], and he was not angry, actually,” Ulevicius said. “I think it made him even stronger because I never noticed the fear or whatever in his face…. He was very calm and nice and peaceful.” 

Greg Davis  

Fort Worth-based photographer Greg Davis follows people around internationally and becomes comfortable with them, allowing him to capture them, describing it as a spiritual journey. 

His entry into photography began at a time of immense hardship, losing family members, financial troubles and a broken heart. He decided to sell his possessions and travel the world, bringing an Olympus point-and-shoot camera. After returning, a friend told him to sell his art, so he started on an Austin street corner. Since then, Davis has won many awards, been featured in collections and was signed to National Geographic.

“I got on my knees and surrendered to something greater, and I was led through synchronicity and serendipity to the place I’m at now,” Davis said. 

That journey has pushed him to highlight the cultures that help him discover himself, cultures to which Davis wants to bring respect and acknowledgement. He has a personal connection to the subjects which he photographs. 

“The work really is to serve as a reminder: We’re part of something greater than ourselves,” Davis said. “At a faster rate than ever before, traditional cultures are at risk. So, I think it’s important for us to honor that.” 

 Richard Wilson 

Painter Richard Wilson returned this year after missing it last year for the first time in 12 years. He has also sold multiple copies of one of his pieces to TCC.  

 His shift to where he is today began with a leap of faith, quitting his stable job teaching painting for a college. One of Wilson’s artworks titled “Faithful Journey” explores this. The boy in the painting represented that side of him that feared taking this risk. 

 “Right after I quit my job, that very first show, I made more money that weekend than I did teaching for a whole year,” Wilson said. “The new voice became the little girl pulling him along, saying, ‘Let’s go.’” 

 Wilson repeatedly got asked to be a guest speaker at various schools and colleges. From this, he became inspired to spread what he views as undertaught history, such as a piece on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and his “Shadow Series.” 

 “The children standing in the shadow of the trailblazers,” Wilson said. “In each piece, I have symbolism that tells you something about that person or that event that they don’t normally teach us in school.” 

 Below 3 artist boxes, tcc tie, if it needs to be earlier, it could be moved to after the 2nd graph. 

TCC held a booth and maker activities to reach out to the community. The TCC representatives wanted to let alumni know they are still a part of the college community and provide information about the college’s opportunities. TR Supervisor of Lifestyle and Community Learning Mariza Saenz Olmos said she believes that TCC helps hold and uplift this community for the better. 

 “It doesn’t stop just because you graduated high school,” Olmos said. “You can come as a child, you can come as a senior. You’re a community member. We are a community college.”