Beyond the Canvas Brings Superheroes and Villains to Life

JMAC Photos

Members of the Beyond the Canvas crew strike a pose at Alamo City Comic Con

Hosted by Anthony “The Poet” Flores, San Antonio’s annual Beyond The Canvas (BTC) body painting competition returns October 18 with a heroic twist. Beyond The Canvas 7 will bring top artists in the body painting scene together under the theme of “Superheroes and Villains,” boldly portraying your favorite characters like you’ve never seen before.

Not everyone immediately “gets” the idea of body painting as an art form, something BTC founder Tomas Vasquez understands. “San Antonio is an old-fashioned city, people don’t know how to feel about it,” Vasquez confesses. “We keep it as professional as possible. People know to respect it as an art form. It’s your artwork coming to life on a canvas, a beautiful form of art and a great way for artists to express themselves.”

Artists like SA’s own Cristobal Licea, Houston-based Rudy Zanzibar Campos, New Orleans’ Olesya Korsakoff and 27 other artists will compete for more than $600 in prizes. With BTC tripling in size since its inception in 2010, Vasquez hopes the organization will continue to impact San Antonio positively.

“People are starting to know that we’re doing something here,” says Vasquez. “It’s not just California, it’s not just New York, it’s here in South Texas. If we continue to grow we’ll create more opportunities for artists and local businesses.”

Body art won’t be your only entertainment option at BTC7. Lead artist Jose Guarjado will perform fire spinning while Soul Family DJs Donnie Dee and DJ Gibb will be spinning beats. John Besh’s Lüke will provide three cash bars for drinks while food trucks from Wok This Way, LocaVore and Chillin’ Out will serve up good eats.

BTC isn’t just about their popular body painting competition. Vasquez and company have long-term goals for the organization and plan to give back to the community.

“As an organization we do other things ... face painting and we donate our time to the community,” says Vasquez. “We want to eventually have a Beyond The Canvas studio where artists can meet and have workshops ... where we can teach people to get better at body painting, face painting, etcetera. One day we want to have a place where everyone can fit in.”