The McAllen Heritage Center presents the art of Valley artist Roel Sandoval Flores

The McAllen Heritage Center – museum of history and culture is pleased to       bring the art of Roel Sandoval Flores to the community for a limited               engagement beginning Saturday, March 31, 2012.   This vibrant display will         include some of the work that comprises his exhibit entitled “Hard Work:  The      Good Side” featuring acrylic on canvas paintings.                                                                                                                     The public is also invited to meet the artist and enjoy the exhibit at the         pre-dinner reception to be held in conjunction with our 6th Annual                 “Chuckwagon Dinner Under the Stars” Saturday April 21st at 6:30 pm at the          museum located at 301 S. Main in the La Placita historic building (directly        across the street from JC Penney).  Tickets to attend this annual MHC              fundraiser are $50.00 per person and are available at the museum.  In              addition to this art exhibit, the event features a delicious steak dinner,         live entertainment by Sons of the Rio Grande and dancing under the stars.                                                                                             Mr. Flores was born the first of five brothers in 1942.  He started working        with his family at the age of six and by the age of 15, he dropped out of          school to work in the fields.  He recalls that the strain of the farm labor        was sweetened with music – conjunto music which is often a small group             including the accordion and bajo sexton and typically hired to  play for           dances “under the stars”.  By 1955, Flores started to play with conjunto           groups such as Los Originales and Los Supremos in his hometown.  Though he         continued as a migrant farm worker, he always dreamed that music would be his      way out of field work.  He later  began his career with the local gas company      in 1971 from which he retired after 30 years of service.  He began his art         career in 1995 after one of his daughters gave him a set of acrylic paints         setting out to create in visual form the memories and symbols of his life          including his life as a farm field worker and his involvement with conjunto        music.                                                                                                                                                                The wisdom Flores gained during his many years of hard work is reflected in        his paintings.  He believes that without the hard work, good times wouldn’t        be as appealing and he advocates that obtaining the best education possible        should be an important life goal but he also stresses that we should never         forget our roots.                                                                                                                                                     Mr. Flores paintings were featured as a backdrop for the Smithsonian Folklife      Festival in Washington DC which highlights music and folk traditions from all      over the world.  Since that time, Flores has continued to paint tirelessly.        His work has been featured through the National Endowment for the Arts, the        Texas Commission on the Arts, in Austin, Houston, and throughout the Rio           Grande Valley, and several cities in northeastern Mexico. He and his wife          Epifania, whom he credits with “doing half the work” as she assists in giving      presentations when they travel with the art he exhibits, encourage young           people to pursue their education, but to always remember to be proud of who        they are, and where they come from.                                                                                                                                   For more information about the exhibit or the Chuckwagon Dinner Under the          Stars, please call the museum at 687-1904.  MHC is open from Tuesday to            Friday from 1pm to 5pm and Saturday from 11am to 4pm.   Visit us on the web:       www.mcallenheritagecenter.com