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Castle Rock Mountain, Santo, Texas (FACE USA)

The world of art is magnificent. Both creating and viewing it brings many of us a deep sense of fulfillment. Artwork communicates emotion over time and distance. The non-profit association, French American Creative Exchange (F.A.C.E.) is working across generations to bridge the cultural gap between the U.S and France through art and in turn seeking to give everyone’s art a voice.

Monte Laster is the founder of F.A.C.E. He was born and raised in Ft. Worth, TX. He began creating art as a young adult and was excited for any chance to learn more. Monte moved to France in 1979 at the age of 19.  France was not what he had anticipated. As a young artist, he had little money and lived on the underprivileged side of town, and witnessed much poverty. He became passionate about the area as well as the people in the community.

Monte became interested in how low-income people were being relocated in the northern suburbs of Paris by destroying existing apartment buildings, “Basically they were blowing up apartment buildings with 500 apartments. I tried to understand why they could do this when the buildings could have been renovated. The truth is, they were blowing them up because they didn’t want the poor to live in that area anymore.”

Laster wanted to find a way to connect with people who were going through this chaos and provide them with a voice.  “I was looking for ways through art and the creative process and how artworks could serve as a witness to the situation. The disappearance of 4000 apartment units is an important event for the northern suburbs of Paris .”

Once he had a plan to start the non-profit F.A.C.E., Laster met with a local retired elementary school teacher that gave him an idea of what the nature of the non-profit could be. She said, “…you have the possibility of creating links with people outside of this area as well as inside of this area. People here need to see what life is in other places. They also need people to come from other places and see what it’s really like here”

Castle Rock Mountain, Santo, Texas (FACE USA)

Since its’ founding in 2001, F.A.C.E. & Monte Laster have created numerous artworks with the Louvre Museum, the American Embassy in Paris, the Palais de Tokyo Center for Contemporary Art, and the Paris School of Art as well as the Dallas Museum of Art and Rothko Chapel in Houston. Most projects use familiar art mediums such as painting, sculpture, poetry, film, and more. The association connects with people from all walks of life. For example, they have done work with young adults, seniors, people with special needs and are currently focused on children. F.A.C.E is now working with youth to learn through gardening workshops. “Le potager de la Reine” (The Queens Vegetable Garden) is a great success in collaboration with The Versailles Palace Gardens. The COVID-19 quarantine has been especially hard on children. Monte expresses the importance of the program “…giving the kids the possibility to stick their hands in the mud,  the joy of discovering earthworms or even spraying each other with a garden hose when it’s hot. These simple things and actually having contact with the earth are extremely important right now.”

Jovelyn Roden and Jill Jordan are president and vice president of the U.S. affiliate of the association. Jill the director of the Texas Lakes Trail Region that is part of the Texas Historical Commission’s Heritage Trails Program. Jovelyn is a photographer and works on finding vital information relating to the history of Castle Rock in Santo. Monte purchased the property in 2015 when he was in residency with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. They both work closely with the Santo Project at Castle Rock and in France. The Santo Project is a film based on a Texan hero, Jerome Zierlien. It is based on a WW2 photo of 2nd Lt. Jerome Zierlein found in Cramoisy France. Cramoisy is a small tight-knit farming community that sees 2nd Lt. Zierlein as its own hero. Zierlein chose to save the French village instead of saving himself during an attack. The American pilot took on the Germans saving the village and all the people in it. The town of Santo was used for a portion of its filming to represent the soldier’s hometown of Baytown, Texas, and the remainder of the film was shot in Cramoisy. 

Jill Jordan elaborates, on how the film plays an important part in their work,“…we saw this is a way to bring art and film,” … “just bring the two countries together and show that there are similarities”

Jill Jordan
Monte Laster
Jovelyn Roden
These portraits were taken by Jovelyn Roden. More of her work can be seen here.

F.A.C.E. is raising funds for Fort Worth artist Marshall Harris to go to France in fall, 2021 as part of “The Mentor Project”, a four month residency in the northern suburbs of Paris. Harris will be working with a variety of people including “Flash”, the local American football team who have been European champions for many years in a row.

F.A.C.E is a great organization for people in both the U.S and France. Their programs provide voices and hope to people who have not been heard. They are very proud to be a part of our community. Monte has even bigger things planned “…we can create something exceptional in arts and culture in the Mineral Wells area and on an international level. FACE strives to be a tool to create opportunities that satellite out from here.”  Laster sees art as a way to break down walls and bring people together, “I believe that art and culture should break down walls between people, instead of building them.”

www.association-face.com
www.montelaster.com
www.marshallkharris.com

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