The San Antonio art scene just doesn’t stop, and so much of it is centered right here in our neighborhood. Here are some events and exhibits on display or coming up in our area, between now and the end of the year.
Luminaria
Started in 2008, Luminaria has evolved into San Antonio’s premiere annual art event, and it is “the most prominent arts festival in South Texas”. This year’s Luminaria Festival is upon us… it’s this Saturday, October 21st, from 6:00 PM until midnight, right here in Hemisfair.
The festival will feature fine art, theatre, live music, film, poetry, installations, dance and digital art contributed by artists from around the world, with a focus on local San Antonio artists. There will be dance performances by URBAN-15, which always liven up the atmosphere! So head over to Hemisfair on Saturday night and enjoy the festivities.
San Antonio Art League and Museum (SAALM)
As always, SAALM has been busy lining up exhibits and events featuring San Antonio’s leading artists. Here’s what’s in store:
Ramin Samandari’s Artist of the Year photographic restropective
Ramin was born in Iran and came to the United States (to Odessa, Texas) in 1978, when he was 17 years old. Although he originally planned to return to Iran a few years later, he stayed -- relocating to San Antonio in 1988 and becoming a US citizen in 1990.
In the early 1990's, Ramin began pursuing his passion -- photography. In the early years, he exhibited at mostly non-traditional venues in San Antonio and Austin. Then came solo exhibitions at the University of Incarnate Word, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Carver Cultural Art Center and the San Antonio Museum of Art. "He has been a stalwart of the San Antonio art scene ever since.”
Last year, Ramin was honored by being chosen as the SAALM 2023 Artist of the Year. His work will is on display at SAALM during regular museum hours through November 4.
SAALM Invitational Exhibit
After the Artist of the Year Exhibit closes in early November, SAALM will showcase the work of three other nominees for 2023 Artist of the Year in its Invitational Exhibit. Those artists are Stefani Spears, Nancy Gerfers, and Richard Morgan.
This exhibit will be on display during regular museum hours from Monday, November 13 through Friday, December 22.
There will be an Exhibition Eve Preview Party on November 11th ($15 for members and $20 for non-members) and a free Public Opening on Sunday, November 12 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
Members Gallery Exhibit
SAALM has some terrific art on display in its Members Gallery. This exhibit — which changes every 3 or 4 months — showcases the work of SAALM’s artist members. The current exhibit includes work by Marilyn Camp-Jones, L.A. Carroll, Paul Dqwonek, Marion Field Koch, Becky Hadley, Jo Etta Jupe, Ronald C. Keller, Claudia Langford, Peter Szarmach, and Pakalia Walker.
This exhibit will be on display during regular museum hours through the end of the year.
The San Antonio Art League & Museum is located at 130 King William Street. It is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Admission is free.
Sala Diaz
Artist Kat Cadena will be exhibiting her work at Sala Diaz from November 3rd through December 15th.
There will be an opening reception on Friday, November 3rd from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. After the opening reception, the exhibit will be available to view by appointment.
The opening reception is free and open to the public. Everyone is invited and welcome!
Sala Diaz is located at 517 Stieren St.
Contemporary at Blue Star
The Contemporary’s annul Red Dot Show is on display now through January 9th, 2024. “This year, Red Dot celebrates the work of over 100 San Antonio based artists. It will honor artist Cathy Cunningham-Little, arts patron Andy Rodriguez, and Arts Education Champions — the MOSAIC students… With works available for sale to accommodate a wide variety of tastes and budgets, the proceeds from the art sales benefit both artists and Contemporary at Blue Star’s year-round exhibitions, along with its expansive, no-cost art education programs. These programs aim to inspire, nurture, and innovate through contemporary art. Sponsorships and artwork sales at the Red Dot event play a crucial role in raising vital funds for exhibitions, art education initiatives, and community outreach, positively affecting the livelihoods of San Antonio based artists…”
The front yard at the San Antonio Art League and Museum
Sculpture Garden Installation
There is some big news regarding the Sculpture Garden. James Wyatt Hendricks is completing a massive steel screen installation called Steelwood Symphony along the south boundary of the At League property. Hendricks was our Artist of the Year in 2017. One panel was installed four years ago and with the help of a grant from the King William Association, he is adding three more panels to the installation. It should be complete by mid-November.
Plein Air Painting Day
Head over to SAALM this Saturday (October 21) from 9:00 AM to noon for this special art day. You are invited to watch the artists at work, and then see a “Show and Tell” of the paintings created that morning. The "Show and Tell" will be from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM.
Quarterly SAALM Membership Meeting - but everyone’s invited
San Antonio artist Jorge Garza will talk about the Uptown Art Stroll (which he co-founded with Marcia Loew two decades ago). He will talk about how artists can participate in the event and if a similar event might work for SAALM and the King William Historic Arts district. The meeting is this Sunday, October 22 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
The Contemporary at Blue Star is located at 116 Blue Star and is open Wednesdays from noon to 5:00 PM; Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 8:00 PM and Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Ruby City
“Ruby City is a contemporary art center dedicated to providing a space for the city’s thriving creative community to experience works by both local and internationally-acclaimed artists. Envisioned in 2007 by the late collector, philanthropist and artist Linda Pace, Ruby City represents works from the Linda Pace Foundation Collection of more than 1,400 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works. The new building, designed by renowned architect Sir David Adjaye OBE is part of a campus, which also includes Chris Park, a one-acre public green space named in memory of Pace’s son, and Studio, an auxiliary exhibition space which presents curated shows and programming throughout the year. Ruby City is free and open to the public.”
There are currently three exhibitions at Ruby City:
Amy Cutler: Past, Present Progress
Amy Cutler “is known for her detailed, surreal depictions of women involved in arduous and mysterious tasks. For over two decades, she has created beguiling images that only hint at unknown and open-ended stories, inviting endless interpretations. Reflecting influences as wide-ranging as global textiles, Persian miniatures and nineteenth-century photography and engaging with subjects as broad as animals of all kinds, failed utopia and preindustrial devices, Cutler’s works are otherworldly. Yet, they serve as visual metaphors for very real societal conditions or personal experiences. As mysterious as her images can be, hiding in plain sight are representations of particular traits and concepts identified by the artist. Amy Cutler: Past, Present, Progress focuses on three recurring motifs—hair, heads and horses—to explore how they are used for different effect and purpose…” (read more).
This exhibit will be on display through February 25, 2024.
Isaac Julien: Fantome Afrique
“In discussing his three-screen, 18-minute film installation, Julien describes Fantôme Afrique (2005) as “weav[ing] cinematic and architectural references through the rich imagery of urban Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa and, with the Burkina Faso film festival, the center for cinema in Africa. The city center is contrasted with the arid rural space of Burkina Faso, and archival footage from early colonial expeditions and landmark moments in African history punctuate the film…” (read more).
This exhibit will be on display through April 24, 2024.
Water Ways
“The group exhibition Water Ways brings together works that make direct reference to water and art that uses water metaphorically. Here, artists picture swimmers, capture moonlit lakes, re-create a pool of water, map seas or depict mythic tales rooted in oceans or rivers. These works are balanced by others that suggest the aquatic, like bridges, borders, depth, movement, reflection, source, transformation and the unconscious. Unceasing motion, dreams, psychological implications and mirrored surfaces, among other aspects, play a role in these artists’ works…” (read more).
This exhibit will be on display through July 28, 2024.
Ruby City is located at 150 Camp St.
Jane Gennarelli is co-editor of LNF Weekly. She also edits the Lavaca & Friends weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
Exhibits at the San Antonio Art League and Museum
Three of the artists who are exhibiting in this year's Red Dot Show
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