The Art Mayor of Downtown Bryan

Greta Watkins paints Texas landscapes with vivid blue skies and lively still life scenes with vintage toys. She also has her hands in just about everything in downtown Bryan.

“When I first started spending more concentrated time downtown was probably 1999 to 2000,” Watkins said. “I rented space in a gallery that was in the back of old Bryan marketplace where I had a studio.”

Watkins said that Downtown Bryan did not have nearly as much activity as it does today.

“At that time downtown was a pretty lonely place,” Watkins said.

“When I came along there were a couple key people and downtown, business people and developers who had gotten together and decided that we needed to have some kind of downtown association and it was Downtown Bryan Economic Development Association, so I was part of that.”

The city was starting to do construction on the landscaping and aesthetics of downtown and many businesses were concerned about access to their storefronts. But many other storefronts were empty.

“Part of the mission of the downtown association at that time was to try to encourage other businesses to come in,” Watkins said.

Importance of spaces

Watkins said she sees huge value in having places that foster community connections. Back before any coffee shops filled the storefronts, she would open The Frame Gallery as a space to socialize with other art-minded people.

“For probably a couple of years the shop was open on Saturdays late in the afternoons, I’d kind of set aside work and a few friends would dribble in and we would have kind of a social hour at the end of the day,’ Watkins said. “It was kind of a gathering spot for a few artists.”

When the Village Café opened in 2007, it helped fill that need for community space.

“The village is fun for me to go to because you know if I sit there long enough, I’m bound to know somebody that comes in,” Watkins said.

The owner of the Village Café Kristy Petty said, “I’ve called her the matriarch of downtown Bryan.”

Petty said she participates in her fair share of community projects, hosting art from local artists on the walls of her coffee shop is just one of the ways she supports culture in Bryan.

“I’m very much interested in trying to get more involved in like the cultural community that I see here,” Petty said.

Petty said she came into downtown Bryan with a need to make friends with people who value the arts as much as she does.

Finding community

The need for new friends in a new place is often over-looked by adults. Vanessa Van Edwards is a self-taught behavioral investigator at Science of People, author and keynote speaker who explains a bit about why adults find it hard to make friends and ways to overcome these challenges.

According to Van Edwards, fear of rejection keeps adults from making new connections. Young children do not have these fears, they just search for shared interests to bond over.

Petty started a website called art979.com back in the days when social media was still fresh. Petty said the website served as a way for local artists to connect and advertise.

“I really wanted to focus on bringing art in and I was doing the website and trying to do this magazine,” Petty said. “All of it stayed in the format of bringing people together”

“I have found peers by the dozen in downtown Bryan,” Petty said.

Petty said she has found a mentor in Watkins, as well as a good friend.

“Greta has such a heart for people,” Petty said. “It’s not about money for her it’s just about increasing the cultural opportunities in the area.”

Texas A&M University professor and nationally acclaimed artist Felice House said that cultural community has been fueled by Watkins for over a decade.

“Greta has singlehandedly started and maintained the arts community in downtown Bryan,” House said.

House and Watkins met in 2004 when House had a studio space near Watkins’ framing business The Frame Gallery. The two decided to hold an art walk between their spaces.

“it’s not really a walk when there’s only two locations, so we decided to call it the art step because there was one step between my studio and her gallery,” House said.

“Ever since Greta has had the art step, which turned into the First Friday Art Walk.”

House moved away from downtown Bryan in 2007, but still lives in the area part time and teaches painting and design in the visualization department at Texas A&M University.

“I go to The Village and downtown Bryan to see Greta and Kristy; I go there to see those people,” House said. “It’s amazing that these ladies have kind of kept the spirit of the town going.”

House said Watkins has become something of a fixture in downtown Bryan.

“Of course, other people have been involved and been supportive, but she’s kind of been like the art mayor.”

House said she is always impressed by how gracefully Watkins fulfils her role.

“It’s funny because she’s so calm but she has so much energy,” House said.

Petty said she sees so much of Watkins’ passion in her artistic style.  

“I think it’s very fitting that she paints blue skies because if there’s ever a person that has more of that attitude of blue skies, it’s her.”