T H E W I D E W O R L D O F C R A F T
“A fter experiencing this pool o f creative
opportunities I wanted to share San A ntonio’s
creative potential with floe youth in the city. ”
— A n d y Benavides
T o p :
C o u n t r y I V a v e v i
as
a site-specific in stallatio n
by A n n e F e rre r a t B lue
S ta r C o n te m p o ra ry A r t
C en ter, on e o f th e m any
ex citin g local galleries.
A b o v e: A n d y B enavides
stan d s in F lig h t G allery,
o n e o f th e galleries in
h is 1906 a rts co m p lex .
F lig h t rep resen ts over
5 0 artis ts fro m th ro u g h -
o u t San A n to n io .
d r o p p e d t o t h e 4 0 s , w e a t h e r t h e lo c a ls a r e
d e f in it e ly n o t u s e d t o , a c r o w d o f 1 5 0 ,0 0 0
fille d th e s t r e e t s .
W h i l e t h e s e f a n t a s t ic e v e n t s a r e p a r t
o f w h a t k e e p s a r t in S a n A n t o n i o u p - t o - t h e
m in u t e , t h e r e is a ls o a s t r o n g c u lt u r a l h is -
t o r y . O n e o f t h e m o s t fa m o u s e x a m p le s , o f
c o u r s e , is th e R i v e r W a l k . T h e t w o - a n d - a -
h a l f m ile s t r e t c h o f la n d s c a p e d w a t e r f r o n t
a lo n g th e S a n A n t o n io R iv e r , c r e a t e d t o b e
r e m in is c e n t o f V e n i c e , I t a ly , is lin e d w i t h
g a lle r ie s , r e s t a u r a n t s a n d s h o p s . T h e R i v e r
W a l k w a s fir s t b u ilt in t h e 1 9 2 0 s , b u t it
w a s n ’t u n til th e 1 9 6 0 s t h a t it b e c a m e a m a jo r
a tt r a c t io n . T h e R i v e r W a l k is n o w b e c o m in g
e v e n m o r e im p o r t a n t a s t h e S a n A n t o n i o
R i v e r F o u n d a t io n p r o c e e d s t o e x p a n d a n -
o t h e r 13 m ile s , a n e x t e n s io n t h a t w i l l p r o v id e
a n a b u n d a n c e o f p u b lic a r t .
S a n A n t o n i o h a s a ls o a lw a y s h a d f e r v e n t
a r t s s u p p o r t e r s . T h e M c N a y A r t M u s e u m ,
w h ic h w a s b u ilt in t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n d o p e n e d a s
a m u s e u m in 1 9 5 4 , is t h e f o r m e r h o m e o f
M a r io n K o o g l e r M c N a y , o n e o f S a n A n t o -
n io ’ s m o s t w e ll- k n o w n m o d e r n a r t c o ll e c -
to r s . A n o t h e r im p o r ta n t a d v o c a t e , M a r g a r e t
P a c e W i l s o n , w a s p a r t o f a g r o u p o f w o m e n
w h o fo u n d e d t h e S o u t h w e s t S c h o o l o f A r t
& C r a f t . “ S a n A n t o n i o ’ s c u r r e n t a r t is t ic
v ib r a n c y is , a t le a s t in p a r t , th e r e s u lt o f th e
S o u t h w e s t S c h o o l a n d t h e t h o u s a n d s o f
p e o p l e w h o h a v e s t u d i e d , h o n e d , le a r n e d
t o a p p r e c ia t e o r c e le b r a t e d t h e a r t s h e r e
o v e r t h e p a s t 4 4 y e a r s , ” o b s e r v e s P a u la
O w e n , th e p r e s id e n t o f th e s c h o o l. “ I t w a s
o n e o f th e th in g s th a t d r e w m e t o S a n A n t o -
n io ,” a d d s G ib e r g a . “ T h e S o u t h w e s t S c h o o l
is a g r e a t a s s e t .”
P u t t o g e t h e r th is h is t o r y w i t h th e c u r r e n t
r e d e v e lo p m e n t a n d t h e i n c r e a s in g ly s u p -
p o r t i v e c o m m u n it y , a n d it b e c o m e s q u it e
o b v io u s th a t th is S o u t h w e s t e r n c i t y s e e m s
to b e s k y r o c k e t in g t o w a r d b e c o m in g a m a jo r
c u lt u r a l c e n t e r . “ S a n A n t o n io is u n lik e a n y
o t h e r c i t y in it s u n b r id le d e n t h u s ia s m f o r
a r t , ” s a y s W a r d . “ I t is ju s t a b o u t t o b lo s s o m
in t o o n e o f th e m o s t b e a u t ifu l c it ie s in th e
U n it e d S t a t e s .” *
070
american craft
ju n /ju lo
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