While San Antonio and surrounding areas have a thriving art scene year-round, special exhibits run through March and April as part of contemporary art month in the Alamo City. Let your senses and instinctive reactions guide you through the 250+ exhibits and 50+ galleries that showcase the best that our arts community has to offer.
PUBLIC ART REFLECTS A COMMUNITY'S VALUES.
Art makes our society a better place in which to live. It helps define our values, promotes cultural appreciation and inspires us to unlock our own creative potential. It is a great balancer that elicits emotional responses in everyone regardless of backgrounds and creates authentic connections. It shapes the spaces we visit, including our homes and businesses. It improves the social, physical and economic character of our city. It brings people together in real time. It’s magical.
ART BINDS US TOGETHER.
I am in total awe of the painters, sculptors, muralists, craftsmen, poets, actors, musicians, singers, dancers, photographers, curators, screen writers, choreographers, teachers, costume designers, makeup artists, stage managers, lighting technicians, stage hands, corporate and private underwriters, marketers, docents/volunteers and editors. I am so grateful that they weave their talents together to create a powerful arts scene in San Antonio. All of these varied talents cohere to inform, entertain, teach, inspire, solve problems.
Art also helps us to be more self-aware, feel a sense of achievement, remember a special memory, teach us something new, discover tolerance, welcome the unexpected, improve our mental wellbeing, deal with our emotions, organize our thoughts, understand our history, learn about different cultures and world challenges, and so much more. Truly, art is one big non-stop textured conversation open to all of us. Join in the dialogue.
THE AUDIENCE.
The people who buy the tickets, visit the openings, go to the concerts, ballets, opera, theatre and cinema are an essential part in helping the arts thrive in our community. The audience is a collaboration between the art and the viewer turned participant. Showing up to the school play in a high school gym or a concert on a majestic stage is our starring role to play.
Note to audiences: Please do not rush to your cars after a production or an opening to a special exhibit. Show your art appreciation by cheering on the talent that just poured their hearts and souls into their art work or performances. Remember the behind-the-scene folks, too. Let them know how grateful you are for their dedication to the arts and making our community a better place. After all, what would life be like without the arts?
WHY DO PEOPLE GET INVLOVED WITH ART?
How do you feel when you read a great novel or sing or listen to a song or play an instrument or dance in your kitchen? All those moments in time are special art connections. Some of us more talented individuals take their love for the arts to a higher level and dedicate their lives to the performance.
I have had a relationship with art since I was a young child. Unfortunately, I sing off key and dance out of step. However, I did color on walls and finger-painted with my food. I fell in love with all the colors in the crayon box and I definitely dream in color!
I consider myself an arts patron and lifelong student of the arts. I love reading and learning about artists. I am always ready to talk about art. Meeting artists and the people who create extraordinary arts programs and events is a real high for me, too. I try not to miss a gallery or museum opening. I am spellbound at concerts, recitals and theatre productions. Simply put, I cannot live without art. That’s why I have a home filled with an eclectic collection — glass, sculpture, textile, collage, recycled creations, paintings and photography are everywhere — these disparate objects all live well together and that makes this impassioned collector HAPPY.
GO EXPLORE!
If you are not an art lover, give it a try. Take this time to explore and support our community of artists. Buy a ticket, fill a seat, attend a concert, visit a museum, enjoy a ballet, attend a theatrical production, support a gallery who in turn supports local artists, visit an arts organization or school… it will be a glorious adventure where you will learn more about the world and yourself. Support the performing and visual arts nonprofits, too. A donation, small or large, will help educate, inspire and delight audiences.
See you there.
Lainey Berkus schedules art and architecture tours featuring AnArte Gallery artists and Regalo Boutique artisans, and highlights the dynamic arts scene within San Antonio — all at Estancia del Norte, where San Antonio celebrates. hilton.com