On Sep. 21, the Martian Arts Festival kicked off its three-day event at Southern Star Farms in San Marcos, Texas. Historically known for its celebration of music and art, the lineup featured more than 40 artists from various genres.
It’s not out of the ordinary for San Marcos to celebrate the unique aspects of the city and the people that live in it. Setting itself apart from other festivals, the event also included yoga, workshops and late night silent disco.
An array of vendors and artists were present at the festival, each offering one of a kind, handmade products.
Vendor: To The Moon
One of the vendors present at the festival was the mobile boutique, To the Moon. Based in Austin, Texas, To The Moon is at times a mobile boutique that travels around the Austin and Dallas area. However, To The Moon also offers two rentable spaces (buses) that can be used for events such as weddings, birthdays and more.
The To The Moon website lists two buses available for rent, named “Luna” and “Minnie Moon”. “Luna” is a 36’ long, 1993 Carpenter school bus and “Minnie Moon” is an 18’ long 2001 Chevy school bus.
Creator of To The Moon, Caitlan Lochridge, said the company recently celebrated their six year anniversary in September 2023. The company originally began with a full-sized school bus that Caitlan’s friends’ owned for about a year.
“I was like, ‘let’s do something cool with this.’ And then they were like, ‘we’ll just sell it to you’… I slowly started converting it. I was still working full time and then probably like two or three months into owning it, I was like, you know what? I’m just gonna quit my job and go full force with the bus,” Lochridge said.
Quitting one’s job can be a daunting experience for some, but Lochhridge smiled and said the decision was quick and made with confidence.
“That’s kind of how I do things in my life…My parents were like, ‘maybe you should finish the bus first and like, convert it first and then decide what you wanna do.’ I was like, no, I think I’ll just do it and here I am,” Lochridge said.
Lochridge said when she started, it was all consignment. She partners with local makers, sells locally made goods and thrifts the clothing sold in the mobile boutique. Traveling all over central Texas, she works at different festivals and markets.
Additionally, Lochridge said their rentable spaces (the two buses) have been used for dinner parties, sound baths, yoga, and more.
“It has a photo booth in it and then it’s built with a lounge area. So people just like to hang out, take photos, and have fun. But it also doubles as a mobile boutique when my big bus isn’t available.”
When Lochridge was on the search for a smaller bus (“Minnie Moon”), she knew it was meant to be when her friend told her about a bus being sold on Craigslist, in none other than Lochridge’s mom’s hometown.
“I’m like, ‘I think this is a sign.’ I was like,’ let’s go look tomorrow.’ And then I ended up buying it,” Lochridge said.
Lochridge and her friend have a physical store in Austin, Texas called Gather & Co.
“It’s To the Moon, which is my company and my friend’s company Thrifted Feels. So we joined forces to open a space,” Lochridge said. On Instagram, Gather & Co describes itself as featuring “sustainable fashion and local artisans.”
For more information on To The Moon, visit https://www.tothemoonbus.com.
Band: Los Gatos 512
Los Gatos 512 is one of many bands that played the three day festival. Formed in August 2021, the band fully consists of members that are associated with Texas State.
Creator of the band, Kirsten Boynt was the band director of Miller Middle School in San Marcos, Texas. She then went on to complete her masters in Latin Music Performance at Texas State University, where she met five other graduate students in the program who later became her bandmates.
“We were kind of starting something new to see where it would go…We’ve been growing a lot and trying to match that energy. It’s been great. But, when we started, it was a simple project, just some graduate students that loved Latin music and Salsa,” Boynt said.
Since 2021, the band has continued to consist of individuals associated with the Texas State community.
“Over time, we’ve changed members and people have graduated and moved on to do this and that but we usually hire all members that are associated with Texas State…hence, ‘Los Gatos’, for ‘Bobcats.’ And so, we play Latin music and we try to bring the community and the public and give them a kind of a bridge to come and listen to our music,” Boynt said.
In preparation for their performance at the Martian Arts Festival, Boynt said they took many factors into consideration.
“Our funniest joke, I think, within the band is that we have an identity crisis. But we are also very moldable as far as what you want for the event. So, we can be full salsa and that’s what we all love, that’s our favorite genre. But, a lot of people love Cumbia, you know, and then some people love [the genres] Norteño or Cha-cha-cha. We try to bring in as much variety and match our songs to whatever venue or event we’re playing at,” Boynt said.
Boynt had nothing but positive remarks about her first impressions of the festival.
“I love this festival. I love San Marcos. I love that they are incorporating all vendors that are supporting San Marcos in some way. They really promote a lot of the local art and talent, I know a lot of the musicians they bring in are from San Marcos. It’s just supportive of putting San Marcos on the map and I think that’s really important. It celebrates the culture, that’s why we’re ‘San Martians’-it’s an interesting culture and I love it.”
Although Los Dinos 512 began as a simple project, the band has continued to become popular around San Marcos, performing at various events and businesses in the area.
“Music is my life. It’s my career, in some form or fashion.”
For more information on Los Dinos 512, visit https://linktr.ee/losgatos512.
Artist: Sam Radue
Sam Radue is an artist based in Austin, Texas who has been creating pieces for eight years. Radue was a first timer to the Martian Arts festival and participated in live painting for the event.
Radue’s art pieces contained a variety of colors-shades of blue, yellow, and green made up the piece he was working on.
“I’ve been trying to number one, get in touch with my childhood self, and creating pieces that I wouldn’t have done in the past because I would’ve been like ‘they’re not art, they’re not artistic, they’re cartoons’…I’m doing it just for me-just finding joy in it,” Radue said.
Radue instills different meanings on each piece he creates, with the one he was currently working on being ‘peace’.
“It’s like me reteaching myself why life is worth living…It’s more of whatever I’m going through at the time that I need to reteach myself, I’ll attach to that piece. That time period that I spent working on that piece I can remember what virtue I was kind of focusing on,” Radue said.
Radue said his artistic style has changed over time. Although he created more traditional style paintings at one point, it did not feel authentic to him.
“This feels like me. It’s my type of weird…it makes it approachable and like a character,” Radue said.
Radue said he gets inspiration for his art from the cartoons he watched as a kid, because that is one thing that sticks the most in a person’s memory.
“When I came back to this style, it was about getting in touch with my childhood self and I just find often that when you’re soul searching, a really good place to look is your childhood self because there weren’t as many mental blockages back then,” Radue said.
However, Radue does not enjoy the feeling of nostalgia, but rather, integrating what he has experienced and making it his own.
“Otherwise, you’re just dwelling in the past,” Radue said.
For more information on Radue’s art, visit his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/babyhipposforever/.\