Arts Alive San Antonio

It’s holiday time but, thanks to COVID-19, we can’t do a lot of things that we normally do, like going to festive shows or gather with friends and family. But there’s a silver lining: we can still go outside to explore the outdoors. You may be surprised to discover that San Antonio and Bexar County have lots of parks, large and small, where you can enjoy nature, fresh air, unexpected sights and- art. Yes, art, original works by mostly San Antonio artists.

A couple of us, from ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO, decided to do just that, roam around in parks for a day or two, take pictures and relax. We also asked the city’s Department of Arts and Culture to send us photos of art installations in local parks, which they graciously did.

Hope this feature will give you some ideas on how and where to spend time outdoor during the 2020 holiday season.

We spent several hours the other day visiting the Phil Hardberger Park and found a lot to enjoy. The most unusual feature of the park is the just-opened Land Bridge, which connects the two parts of the vast green space across and above Wurzbach Parkway. If you couldn’t hear the traffic noise, you wouldn’t even know that you were on a bridge. It doesn’t look like any bridge I have seen in all my travels through Europe and North America. They say it’s unique in the country and I believe it. It’s very wide, largely covered with soil and planted with trees and plants. You never get the sense of stepping from solid ground onto a bridge. The bridge is part of the landscape. No asphalt in sight.

A few art installations, referred to as “Blinds” are on it, too: “Innature” designed by artist Ashley Mireles, and “Lightbox,” by artist Cade Bradshaw. These are large enclaves that you can walk into and sit down to spy on wild life or just take a rest in the shade. Mireles’ blind’s walls feature cutout shapes of plants and flowers, which makes the spot extra airy and inviting, while Bradshaw’s “box” is indeed filled with diffuse light on a sunny day.

A large art installation can also be found at the McAllister Park. Created by San Antonio artist Leticia Huerta, “Bloom,” as the name implies, consists of giant flowers made of larger-than-life bicycle parts. It’s a surprise when you see it the first time, a pleasant sight. Original installations and designs can be found in other parks as well, such as the playground play-pad designs by Katie Pell at Arnold Park; “Butterfly,” a sculpture by Jack Robbins on the Howard Peak Greenway Trail – Leon Creek, and “Aguas Onduladas” at Elmendorf Lake Park, a beautiful 3-piece sculptural composition created by the artist team RDG Dahlquist Art Studio.

But roaming through the parks, you may find other surprises, as well. At Schnabel Park, for instance, we spent some time in the company of three young deer that were barely three yards away, busily munching on the drying grass. They checked us out, decided we were friendly, and went on munching. Speaking of wildlife… no blinds needed, in this case. A huge male buck came by, too. And then we came upon a fireplace surrounded by large smooth stones, looking ready for a picnic of Stone Age denizens!

And take a look at the gentleman in the photo below! See if you can guess who he is and where he sits every day keeping an eye on the kids’ playground, though the little ones have sometimes been scared of him.

We wish you happy exploring! Also tell us about your discoveries by posting a comment.
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Photo credits: Innature (Arts Alive SA); Bloom (Michael Cirlos); Aguas Onduladas (Michael Cirlos); Deer (Arts Alive SA); Mystery Man ( Arts Alive SA)