Architecture Students Bring Together Local Artists

By Tanner Hunt

The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts will host its monthly First Friday Art Trail tomorrow, Nov. 6, but outside the downtown trolley crawl are pockets of unexplored inspiration.

This Friday, a Lubbock startup, ULabs, and a group of architecture students with the cryptic name BLNKA will host a night of artistic expression after the art trail ends.

“We want it to be an unofficial after party to the art trail,” Austin Adams, the bass player for the headlining band Gypsi Cab, said.

Art by Charlie Suzzo that will be featured at the BLNKA Exhibit. Picture courtesy of the BLNKA Exhibit Instagram.

Art by Charlie Suzzo that will be featured at the BLNKA Exhibit. Picture courtesy of the BLNKA Exhibit Instagram.

The event will be the grand opening for ULabs, a non-profit space for inventors, and the first event put together by BLNKA. The event will feature music and art from local creators. 

Leen Khalaf Borno, the founder of ULabs, said she hopes to facilitate the abilities of local artists. 

Borno said the name means ubiquitous labs, because she wants the company to be present in the community.

“I want ULabs to be a gym for the mind,” Borno said.

The opening event will feature more than 20 artists and musicians. ULabs will provide the space for BLNKA to showcase their vision.

BLNKA comprises four architecture students, Jonathan Lalinde, Sergio Garcia Piña, Pedro Silva and Ana Garcia Merino.

Merino, who grew up in Mexico, said she was initially dissatisfied with Lubbock, but when she moved back, she saw untapped potential in the artistic community.

She said the group was largely a response to the needs of the community.

“We had conversations about making Lubbock better; about pushing the boundaries,” Merino said.

The artists put the event together, Adams said, and Borno gave them the ability to make it happen.

Lubbock is full of artistic people, but they do not have a focal point, Adams said. For him, the event is more personal than business.

They have not been doing any formal marketing because she wants the opening event to be almost entirely word-f-mouth, Borno said.

“Lubbock is the best kept secret,” Borno said. “We just want to get the word out.”

The event will be held at 3843 50th St. from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

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