GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas—In an age of Artificial Intelligence, anyone can call themselves an artist. That’s left real people finding more ways to show their humanity and craft face-to -face.
Mark Joeckel, the founder of Create Texas, organized the second annual Vibe Fest at the Epic Rec in Grand Prairie on Feb. 21.
The event was a six-hour indoor gathering and celebration of art, music and community.
Creating support for artists
Create Texas helps artists find each other and creates spaces in Grand Prairie including a recording studio, theater and podcast studio. In Arlington, there are music venues and studio spaces for artists.
Local musicians, food trucks, small business owners and crafters set up tables inside to showcase their work, and there were four stages where musicians performed for audiences.
“Our goal is to provide those safe spaces and places for them to perform and also to help grow in their craft,” Joeckel said.
Building community through art
While Joeckel isn’t an artist himself, he said he has found a gift for organizing festivals and other special events over the last 30 years.
“I think I did my first event in 1982, so you have to really change with the time to move forward,” Joeckel said. “And right now, in the face of AI about 60% of all social content now is AI, and so, what we’re doing right here now is really what the focus has to be, so people can know that you truly are a human and you’re interfacing and developing relationships with your fans.”
In 2024, after rapper Drake used AI-generated voices of Tupac Shuker, a rapper who died in 1996, and Snoop Dog in a song drew backlash from fans and other artists, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed the No Fakes Act (The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe). The bill is supposed to protect artists’ voices and visual likeness from being used in recreations of their work.
“AI sales in the art world has just eclipsed what anyone ever imagined,” Joeckel said. “So, artists and musicians have to work harder than ever to find that niche to be real, to connect with their customers.”
Good AI has its limits
Brian Wheeler, who goes by Coach Wheeler from the band Wheeler and the Wounded, is a local teacher and artist.
“Even really cool AI stuff is disconnecting and desensitized—and what’s valuable is what you have in you, that you’re expressing,” Wheeler said. “So, if a computer is generating that you’re not, you’re not getting the true human experience.”
Wheeler said that while he has always loved music, he didn’t start playing until his 20s. He started out playing at bars and now plays at festivals and other venues.
“’It’s fun,” Wheeler said. “I feel very humble whenever I’m up there. I love giving stuff to people, so that’s one of my love languages—Wheeler and the Wounded is my project to just kind of spread a message of togetherness. Honestly, that’s what it encompasses.”
Handmade creations
Other creatives brought their handmade work to sell, including Felicia Agent, whose paper card book is dedicated to her grandmother, who always wrote personalized cards for friends and family.
Agent named her business Felicitous by Fee, which came from her grandmother who used the word “appropriate” all the time when Agent was growing up. Felicitous means well-suited or appropriate.
“I do everything by hand, I don’t use the crickets,” Agent said. “I have a little circle punch here and a pair of shearer scissors that I use to make the inside of my card. I tell people that I do everything by hand. Each one of my cards takes 15 little circles. I use a lot of hot glue and my scissors and my hands and I tell people, it’s therapy for me.”
Agent said her process ensures that each piece is unique.
“It’s all I’m thinking about when I’m doing it—I love that each one is different because I did it myself,” Agent said. “I didn’t use a machine, and it makes me feel good. It’s my way of zoning out. I can do it while I’m watching TV. I can sit up all night and do it. It’s something that I actually love.”
‘I just sort of fell in love with it’
Iba Lewis, a retired zookeeper of 30 years, said she first began crafting by taking a class on stain glass mosaics.
Lewis said that depending on the size of her work, a piece can take several months to create.
“I just sort of fell in love with it,” Lewis said. “And while I was still working, I would make projects and donate them to different charities that raise money for animals. One of them was center for great apes, that’s down in Florida, and now that I’m retired, I’m kind of trying to branch out a little bit.”
In September, Create Texas is scheduled to host the 10th Annual West Main Street Festival in downtown Arlington, between city hall and the Levitt Pavilion. The event is scheduled for Sept. 19 from noon to 7 p.m. The event blocks off about five streets and attendees can expect around 120 booths, food trucks and artist performances.