The third annual Paris Body Art Expo is expected to ink its way to Love Civic Center this weekend.
The body art expo will feature, “some of the best tattoo artists in Texas.”
“We’re very excited about the show continuing this year,” Daniel Garza, event organizer, said. “I honestly thought it would just get postponed till next year but the city and the chamber have been extremely supportive in continuing with the show.”
“We’re excited to bring back the Cat Customs Crew, J-Whitt along with two of Inkmasters’ ProTeam Artists,” the organization said on its event page.
Originally scheduled for July, the Paris Body Art Expo was postponed for Oct. 2 to 4. The organization has worked with the health department to “make sure we can make this happen.”
“We downsized the show a bit so not as many artists will be attending but it should work out,” Garza said. “We don’t feel we will have the attendance as years before but with fewer artists, it should even out to the number of people attending.”
Previously, Garza and a group of other tattoo shop owners visited Austin and peacefully protested Texas State Governor Greg Abbott. At the time, Garza said the group felt as if they were being discriminated against and overlooked when salons, movie theaters and gyms were allowed to reopen.
“After my wife, Elena and I gathered as many artists as we could to go to Austin and try to get the attention of the AG to let us open under new guidelines, the guidelines they set were exactly our everyday practice,” Garza said. “We specialize in disinfecting and aseptic practices and the only thing that seemed to change for us was wearing a mask. So with that being said, we are going to emphasize to our artists to meticulously disinfect, we ask that all those that attend wear a mask.”
Garza said this year’s expo will lack 16 other booths, making the booths larger to accommodate for better distancing between artists.
“We can totally understand peoples’ frustration with masks and mandates to wear them inside businesses,” he said. “However, we also know that COVID is very much a real issue and we would hate for any one of our artists or attendees to get sick due to precautions that we didn’t take. When concerning bloodborne pathogens there are no cutting corners.”
As professional artists, Garza said the event will ensure all protocols are taken to not cross-contaminate, “to keep ourselves and our clients safe.”
“We will be keeping that mindset this weekend at the show,” he said. “We appreciate those who understand our position and we apologize to the ones who don’t.”
The expo begins at 11 a.m. on Friday, and tickets are $15 for a day pass nd $35 for a weekend pass. Tickets are sold at the door.
For more information, visit the organization’s Facebook page here.
For more events going on around Paris, click here.
