Maker's Mark: Sculptor's hand seen throughout McAllen

McALLEN - Even if you haven't met Douglas Clark, chances are you know his work.

The sculptor's mark can be seen all over the city.

The soldiers at the Veterans' War Memorial were crafted by Clark's hand. So were the mustangs outside of McAllen Memorial High School. And the police officer in front of the department's building on Bicentennial Boulevard.

As McAllen's artist in residence since 2001, Clark has a unique deal with the city: he pays his rent with his sculptures.

In an exchange for his works - including the cost of materials - Clark gets to live in an old church on Main Street that has been converted into a studio and residence.

Over the years, the structure has served has also served as a hobby shop and an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting center - Clark says the drunks still come around - but now it is distinctly Clark's.

"I don't have to go to work," says Clark, 59, as he sips a cup of coffee. "I'm surrounded by it."

The place features a huge, open-air work space where he is free to blast away at his work.

Earlier this month, the room was filled with a dozens of huge stones baring the names of states to be installed along city trails. Works by his friends also fill his studio.

"This is the kind of place every artist dreams of," says Clark.

Valley life

For Clark, who has studied in Guadalajara and Mexico City, a transition to the Valley made perfect tense.

He says he wanted to escape the racial tensions that dominated Port Arthur and live in a place where people seem happy.

"I always wanted to live on the river," says Clark, who created a 16-foot sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the shrine in Port Arthur, as well as smaller statues for the basilica in San Juan. "I love Mexico a lot. I wanted to be near it."

Clark's entrance to the Valley came in 2001, as the city was beginning to place a priority on public artwork.

To fulfill his lease obligation, he created the police statue. Now, he has been tasked to create a statue of a firefighter to be placed at the city's new central fire station opening near 20th Street and Ash Avenue next month.

"The city was interested in supporting the arts and I came with a reputation," Clark said.

Background

Clark grew up the son of a farmer and a framed burlap sack bearing the name of "Clark Farms Seed Rice" hangs on the wall of his kitchen.

He still remember the conversation he had with his father, Noel, when he told him he would study fine arts at University of Texas-Austin.

"My dad asked, ‘What are you going study - law? Business? Medicine'" Clark recalls. When Clark told him art, Noel had a simple response: a long, drawn out expletive.

But ultimately, his father came around. After school, Clark returned to the farm where he established a studio. One day as Noel started looking through Douglas' work, he began asking about each piece's price. As the sum mounted, he ultimately gave his approval. "He said, ‘You have a pretty hand at this,'" Clark says.

And Clark still remembers the day he decided to become a sculptor. As an 18-year-old, he came face to face with a piece by Auguste Rodin in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

"I spent the whole picnic with that sculpture," Clark recalls, adding that back then, he was so new to the arts that he pronounced the sculptor's name as "Rodden," instead of "Ro-dan."

"Coming from the farm, I was a little green," Clark jokes.

He finally caught his break in 1988, when he created a sculpture of musician Janis Joplin, a native of Port Arthur, for the city's museum.

Clark rode a wave of controversy surrounding the piece, as the city's old guard was not enthusiastic about honoring a woman who often spoken poorly of the city of her youth.

Eventually, Clark says, 5,000 people came to see the unveiling of his Joplin sculpture - his first major work.

New generation

In addition to sculpting work for municipalities and private patrons across the country, Clark is also an art instructor at University of Texas - Pan-American and he beams when he describes his job. He says it's important for him to teach the next generation of artists.

Juan Carlos Suarez, who heads the McAllen Arts Council, says he sees Clark playing a valuable role in the city's future.

"What I'd like for him to do is be a mentor for artists who put up public art," Suarez says. "From my point of view, any and all public art that comes from McAllen is an asset."

Clark cleans up his studio every first Friday of the month for the Art Walk, when Main Street galleries open their doors to thousands of art fans. Often, galleries charge a 50-percent commission or more for work sold at their space. Clark doesn't charge anything.

As he completes work on his master's degree thesis project at UTPA, he includes his own undergraduate students in the process, encouraging them to observe the labor-intensive sculpture process.

"We learn a lot from him, just watching him," says Alejandra Garcia, 28, a senior art student at UTPA. "He's always there for his students. Whenever you approach him with a question, he'll help you out."

Discovery

The work Clark will unveil Thursday is a stark contract from the traditional pieces that dot the landscape of McAllen and other cities.

One sculpture features what appears to be nothing more than a cluster of butterflies. But when an overhead light shines on them, their shadow clearly depicts the silhouette of a hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner.

"Art doesn't have to be something pretty to look at," Clark says. "It can slap you in the face."

Another piece seems entirely abstract, unless viewed from a precise angle, where it reveals itself to be a sculpture of a man.

"I like that about art," Clark says. "It's a part of discovery."

Though McAllen is far from the center of the arts scene, Clark says he is happy to be in a position to help influence the city that is started to embrace the arts.

"Art is about doing it," Clark says. "You don't have to be in New York."