Story & Lesson Highlights with Tere Schwartzbart

Tere Schwartzbart shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Tere, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: When was the last time you felt true joy?
I wouldn’t say this is the last time I felt joy (I experience joy in the Lord pretty much daily in all circumstances) but this is a recent example. When walking in a blighted part of DTLA, I was struck by the most beautiful little flowers growing in a pile of rubble next to a Skid Row sidewalk. When I got home, I selected some urban graffiti-looking colors and created an abstract tryptic that looked like decomposing urban trash with tiny but optimistic rays of sunshine (the little flowers) reaching hopefully out of the rubble. I named the three pieces “Love”, “Mercy” and “Grace”.

When my husband and I held a “solo” (husband and wife) exhibit at Geo Gallery, we had a big crowd at our typical Saturday night opening reception and an intimate, quieter gathering for midweek coffee and donuts at the exhibit (more aimed at retirees). One of my husband’s former colleagues from the space program came with his wife. (second marriage for both widow and widower) The wife spent a long time looking at “Grace” and pondering the artist notes that accompanied it. She said that at the height of her grief and bewilderment when her first husband passed, she went for a walk with no particular direction or purpose. As she walked, she spied a tiny purple flower peeking out from a crack in the asphalt. Some personal interactions with God can’t be put into words. Somehow, though, the tiny but determined flower pushing its way stubbornly out of the asphalt felt to the grieving widow like a sign from God that she was not alone. As she pondered and purchased my painting “Grace”, she shared that memory with me and told me that with my paint brush, I had captured that feeling of hope that God had given her in the midst of her grief years ago.

In rare moments like this one, a painting can be so much more than just a consumer item…

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Salvadoran-American fine artist Tere Samayoa Schwartzbart burst onto the international art scene in 2023. She has held various roles in the LA art scene since 2008 as both an artist and proprietor of Galeria Bezalel Studio but being the first Salvadoran fine artist to exhibit at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum took things to a whole other level. That unique distinction and the three gold awards she won from Chairman Katsu Shimmin got the attention of Salvadoran Ambassador to Japan Diego Dalton. In response, he held a private reception and exhibit at the Salvadoran Embassy to introduce Schwartzbart and her unique marañon paintings to ambassadors and diplomats from 13 countries.

After installing a permanent exhibit at the Salvadoran Embassy in Japan and heading home to the states, things snowballed from there. She received a Letter of Endorsement from the Office of the Secretary of State of El Salvador which led to exhibits at the Consulate of El Salvador in Los Angeles, Spain’s Instituto Cervantes Hollywood Campus and the International Police Award Arts Festival in Tuscany.

In October of 2024, she became the first Salvadoran fine artist to have her art launched into space on Jeff Bezos’ NS27 mission. Through it all, Tere remains a simple girl who loves pure art and mostly avoids the spotlight, continuing to participate in dozens of local exhibits. It’s almost as though international success has come in spite of her prioritizing art more than hype. In Tere Schwartzbart’s words, “You never know what God may be waiting to do if you will just take the first step.”

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My mom. She had 12 of her own children in El Salvador and adopted a 13th. At 8 years old, I was up by 4:30AM most days to do chores before going to school and then go to work in the marketplace. Although she lacked formal education and had a very hard life, she was hospitable to everybody who crossed her path, She never asked for anything from anybody and she taught us to be responsible.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes. Although I had dreamed of painting since I was a child, I never had the opportunity to pick up a paint brush until my late 40s. I was excited to take art classes at the local community college. My experience there filled me with doubt. I expected to be doing a lot of art under encouragement of art professors. What I found was very different than what I expected. A bitter, chain-smoking art teacher launched into an angry speech the first day about how none of us would make a living at art. It was at that moment I asked myself what am I doing here with these people. With each experience like that one, I became more convinced that I needed to press on. My call came from God and not from man.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am convinced that I am doing what I was called to do. I spent 40+ years doing practical stuff where I didn’t really shine and dreaming about art but being afraid to step out and try it. Once I picked up a paint bush, doors opened wide internationally and more importantly people have been moved to tears by some of my most personal and heartfelt paintings. Apparently, my dream was not misplaced. You never know what God is waiting to do if you will just take the first step.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://galeriabezalel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tereschwartzbart/
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/tere-schwartzbart-3549a1220
• Twitter: https://share.google/QiiYqJL5GRxcBfBTw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zta.zta.9
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tereschwartzbart9110
• Other: https://youtu.be/tHngQDmijrc?si=0eZjgT57MpB4JkDC
  

  El Salvador promueve su arte y cultura en Japón con muestra de pinturas

  https://cultura.cervantes.es/losangeles/en-US/memorias/173905

Image Credits
Aaron Schwartzbart