Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

The Luminaria Artist Foundation has announced the inaugural recipients of its grant program that gives money to individual Bexar County artists for the creation of new, original works. Grants are given in three primary categories: visual arts, performing arts and literary arts. In addition, three additional awards go to three more artists under the Open Category umbrella.

The 2020 grantees are: sound and visual artist Mark McCoin (visual arts), composer, multi-instrumentalist and Reiki master Pamela Martinez (performing arts) and poet Octavio Quintanilla (literary arts). Interdisciplinary artist Jenelle Esparza, visual artist Raul Gonzalez and choreographer Violeta De Leon Davila are recognized in the Open Category. The latter group consists of finalists who, in the judges’ estimation, were very close in quality and originality to the three main winners.

Luminaria inherited the granting program from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio which was founded in 2005 by two dedicated women, Bettie Ward and Patricia Pratchett, who were dismayed that no granting entity existed in the city to support creative artists themselves, as opposed to organizations.  Plays, operas, music, paintings and sculptures, and all other art works start in the mind of a creative artist.

 Thanks to a combination of public (city) funding and fundraising efforts, the foundation ran the program until last year. Between 2006 and 2019 more than 100 local artists received a combined total of about $700,000 for a great variety of projects, including musician Aaron Prado, novelist Nan Cuba, visual artist and current Artpace director Riley Robinson, poet Natalia Trevino, composer and musician Joel Dilley, costume designer Margaret Mitchell, poet and writer Bryce Milligan, theater artist/designer Alan Ross and many others.

Patricia Pratchett served as one of the judges this year.

“I have always been surprised and impressed by the caliber of artists who submitted applications and that’s the case this year, too,“ she said. “I give them all high marks. “That’s why judging is so challenging.”

Pratchett, who officially left the Artist Foundation board three years ago, has remained involved as a “consultant” who eventually “stewarded” the process of transition. In fact, the original foundation has not yet been dissolved, she said, but that will eventually happen in the near future. She is “absolutely” happy with how things have turned out.

In addition to the city’s Department of Arts and Culture, supporters of the 2020 edition of the program include the Lifshutz Foundation, the Anne and Chuck Parrish Charitable Fund, and individual donors, including Pratchett, Rick Liberto and Alan Beckstead.

The top three grantees receive $10,000 each, while the Open Category recipients get $5000. Fortunately, the money was allocated before the COVID-19 crisis affected city revenue from hotel occupancy taxes, forcing officials to cut all funding to arts organizations.