"Artist Lab"

With a little help from their friends at the righteous Surdna Foundation — an organization that helps support and build thriving cultural communities across the U.S. — the folks at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center have, for three years running, hosted an excellent fellowship program called Artist Lab. Aimed at fostering connections between artists, as well as between artists and communities, the program gives a select group of artists the opportunity to develop their creative and business skills, and, at the end of the fellowship, to exhibit their work. This year’s Artist Lab exhibit, which opens Friday and runs through February 3, boasts a stacked roster of estimable local talent. The artists, which, taken all together, comprise a diverse set of concerns, identities, techniques and aesthetic visions, are Lisette Chavez, Raul Gonzalez, Sarah Fox, Jose Villalobos, Andrei Renteria and Kristel Puente. If you’ve ever wanted to see what it looks like when artists are given the time, space, resources and encouragement to fully engage their craft, here’s your chance.