HOUSTON – It has now been seven months since a large fire at Winter Street Studios displaced more than 100 Houston artists.
The fire affected over 70 art studios, and the consequences of this fire are still being felt.
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Twin brothers and multimedia artists Gerardo Jr. and Arturo Parra are both 46 years old and grew up in Houston. They said they lost more than $140,000 in art and other valuables in the blaze. They had been renting their studio for eight years and have been creating art since elementary school.
Currently, they paint, make graffiti art and graphic designs for clothes and shoes and have worked in the film industry.
In December 2022, the siblings had more than 100 art pieces in the studio, and merchandise such as shoes and clothes, as well as Christmas presents. This was damaged by smoke and soot.
They were not allowed into their studio for 20 days, and when they finally went back, they had been robbed. Thieves took their cameras and laptops.
“It’s easy not to be creative. It’s easy to give up. It’s easier to just give in to those emotions and not continue what you stated out to do,” Arturo said. “It’s definitely been a challenge.”
They did not have insurance, like many of the other artists at Winter Street Studios, because COVID restrictions were just easing up for renters.
Currently, the brothers have not been able to replace the items they lost. However, they are working to move forward. They said living in Houston has taught them to be resilient.
“There’s been so many natural disasters that Houston has gone through that it’s kind of prepared us emotionally to fall down and pick yourself back up. We did that with Harvey and through COVID and all the prior hurricanes that Houston has gone through,” Gerardo Jr. said.
“Houston has taught us to be resilient,” Arturo said.
They created a GoFundMe, and they are hoping to reach their goal of raising $10,000 to move into a new art studio.
But, the brothers feel that people have now forgotten about the artists who were devastated by this incident.
“The arts kind of still fall behind in expressive support,” Arturo said.
“And then specifically Latinos (creating art),” Gerardo Jr. said.
They would appreciate any support from the community.
In February, the brothers also started having pop-up art events at Bad Astronaut Brewing Company every month to continue the tradition from Winter Street Studios and to help artists affected by the fire showcase their pieces. This isn’t the first time they’ve helped other fellow artists. They’ve been doing pop-up events for more than four years.
Currently, they’ve also been focused on creating art for their t-shirts. The twins are hopeful for the future and to be able to paint again.
“The goal is still to get back into it and find a studio and start creating with the first canvas again,” Arturo said.
To donate to the brothers GoFundMe go here. You can also checkout their website.
KPRC 2 reached out to other artists who used to rent at Winter Street Studios.
Monica Melgar was also impacted by the fire. See some of her artwork here.
If you were affected by the fire, please leave a comment below and we will try to share your website as well.
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