Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

After being closed for an extended period of time due to COVID, the city-operated Centro de Artes in Market Square has just reopened with a large and unique exhibit that exclusively features immigrant artists and some who are first generation American-born. This was made possible thanks to the New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, the only such program in the country, that has recently been extended beyond New York City to Detroit; Oakland, CA; Newark NJ, and San Antonio.

As its name implies, the program’s purpose is to provide help for immigrant artists in the form of mentorship, exposure for their work and with connecting with a community of artists where they live. One very visible result of the San Antonio program is Centro de Artes’ new exhibition that includes 34 Bexar County artists from 12 different countries: Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Kenya and the U.S. The exhibit is referred to as Round 2, meaning it’s a continuation of the first round, held in 2019.

The show was curated by four curators: Ricky Armendariz, Kim Bishop, Luis Valderas and Guillermina Zabala, all San Antonio artists themselves, whose works are also included in the show.

The exhibit is currently open to the public but the Grand Reopening Reception won’t be held until Feb.22. Right now, there’s no catalogue, not even a photocopied sheet with basic information about the exhibited artworks. Some of us from the press got a sneak-preview Tuesday. The range of styles, subject matter and media is wide, and surprises abound throughout the two-story exhibit gallery. From photos documenting the life and changes of a West Side neighborhood by Francisco Cortez, and abstract paintings bursting with vivid color elements by Caroline Royal, to Ernesto Ibanez’s original sculptures constructed out of metallic nails, and Naomi Wanjiku’s sheet metal-and-wire triptych installation in the upstairs gallery, surprises go on and on. Also upstairs, you’ll find a large installation consisting of a parachute- type canvas aloft well above the floor,and tied down to solid blocks in the shape of the U.S. map on the ground. We haven’t spoken to the artist but to us the piece appears to say that the U.S. is the big umbrella of safety and protection.  A cardboard installation by Juan Escobedo, “Collectionx J.ESC” is also unusual and eloquent, referring to the emigrant/immigrant’s experience.  

These are just first impressions. It’s an exhibit you may want to see more than once. The photos below represent just a sample of the riches.
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Centro de Artes San Antonio, Market Square, 101 Santa Rosa St.; closed Monday-Tuesday; open 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., and noon to 5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; free admission. (Photos by J.W.)