Remembering the dead has become a huge arts-happening in San Antonio. From artist-built altars to performances and a river parade, the calendar is full of things to see or participate in. Let’s begin with the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center where an array of colorful altars will be on display every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Dec. 12. Installed at the …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — For 22 years, Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) has brought to town talented musicians of different cultures and backgrounds to perform free concerts in San Antonio in various venues. But this year is a little different. Due to COVID-19, just about all arts programming has moved online – or in some instances outdoors – …
By NICOLAS SABALA, Contributor — It’s October 2020 and I find myself driving in the middle of a Trump Train of lifted pickup trucks, honking loudly, as I try to get to a live music event at Gruene Hall, Texas’ oldest dancehall and a cherished gathering place for Country and Americana music fans. I don’t know if it’s the global …
The poem we are bringing to you today is by Juan Perez, the current poet laureate of Corpus Christi. We paired it with “Tequila Mockingbird” by artist Chuck Wimmer (graphic art on canvas). pinche covid By Juan Perez .i.one day you are bornyou live and drink tequilanext day you are gone .ii.may your drink be strongmay your saltshakers be freshmay …
Pandemic or not, San Antonio will have a 2020-21 opera season thanks to Opera San Antonio and its new partnersin the recently created Texas Opera Alliance. The latter brings together five Texas companies: OSA, the Houston Grand Opera (HGO), the Austin Opera, the Dallas Opera and the Fort Worth Opera (FWO). Three of those, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, joined …
BY JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — Have you ever heard of Vinkensport? The name implies that it is a sport but it’s like no sport you have ever heard of. It’s “played” only in the Flemish lands of Belgium and the competitors are birds – male finch birds to be precise – who are brought to the competition in small cages …
We are grateful to Emmy Perez, the 2020 Texas Poet Laureate, for sending this perceptive, multi-stranded poem for ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO’s Poetry Series. You’ll be reading it multiple times! Its companion today is After School , a painting by German-Canadian artist Hanne Lore Koehler who lives surrounded by nature. “Love of life permeates all my work,” states the artist. …
The McNay Art Museum can always be counted on to present thoughtfully curated and handsomely installed exhibits and the new one, ROBERT INDIANA: A Legacy of Love is no exception. Conceived and organized by McNay’s curators – led by Head of Curatorial Affairs Rene Barilleaux – the show opened Oct. 15 in the Stieren Center for Exhibitions. What’s especially interesting …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — The famed 19th century naturalist/philosopher, Henry David Thoreau filled his voluminous journals with his observations of nature and his thoughts on how nature benefits and teaches human beings. In one entry, he wrote: “Must be out-of-doors to get experience of wholesome reality as a ballast to thought and sentiment. Health requires this relaxation, this aimless …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — For 25 years, Mexico’s beloved Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan had visited San Antonio in the fall to perform for their fans and tutor mariachi students during a week-long event known as the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza.  But this year everything is different. Though many performing arts events have been cancelled due to COVID-19, the annual mariachi …
