U.S. Department of Education Funds San Antonio Latino Arts Organizations

San Antonio’s Latino Westside community is abuzz with music, art, and literacy activities. The Conjunto Festival sponsored by the Guadalupe Cultural Center saw record crowds on May 16, 2024;  its bookstore across the street from the famed Guadalupe Theater drew readers and art lovers to its premier Latino Bookstore Education Outreach and Literacy Program.  

Mirel Mejia, “Colorful Stamping.” Clark  High School. Inspired by Luis Valderas. Photo by Ricardo Romo. 

On the city’s northwest sector,  Centro Cultural Aztlan hosted a joyous Latino art evening event demonstrating that the creative work of Latino artists has a firm place in the hearts and minds of young students. The Centro showcased the newly developed art curriculum program funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

  Thanks to Texas  Congressman Joaquin Castro’s work to secure funding for the arts and education on San Antonio’s Westside, more than $200,000 in federal funding was put to good use over the past  24 months at the Guadalupe Book Store and Centro Cultural Aztlan. Congressman Castro took to heart the National Endowment of the Arts mantra that the  “Arts belong to all the people of the United States.”  This represents a significant change over previous decades when Latinos received few federal grants because many artists and Latino organizations did not have the grant-writing expertise or teams to compete adequately.  

U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro at the Centro Cultural Aztlan with CEO Malena Gonzalez-Cid and Latino artists. Photo courtesy of Congressman Castro. 

 The Centro Cultural Aztlan was founded in the late 1970s to enhance art access to San Antonio’s Latino community.  During this decade, many San Antonio Latino residents struggled daily to survive financially allowing little time to devote an interest in the arts. When the Centro opened its art complex in the city’s Westside, the area was one of the poorest urban communities in the nation. 

 According to the 1970 U.S. Census data cited in the social science book The Mexican American People by authors Leo Grebler, Joan Moore, and Ralph Guzman, 74 percent of San Antonio Latinos earned less than $5,000 annually.  The U.S. Census data cited in this study also confirmed low educational attainment:  only nine percent of Latinos in San Antonio had completed high school in 1970.  Even fewer Latinos had earned college degrees. The data show only two percent of the city’s Latino population had completed more than four years of college. 

Lovely Ann Gonzalez, “What If I Was You.”  Bonham Academy. Inspired by Ricky Armendariz. Photo by Ricardo Romo

Joaquin Castro grew up in San Antonio’s Westside, an area he now represents as the U.S. Congressman for District 20. The community remains poor. Part of this congressional district is adjacent to zip code 78207, the lowest-income area in the city. The educational level in the Westside has improved over the past 50 years, especially in high school completion which the 2020 U.S Census counted at 45.1 percent.  However, college completion among Westside residents demonstrates a great educational gap compared to the rest of the city.  The 2020 U.S. Census also reported that only 2.7  percent of residents of this Westside district had completed a Bachelor’s degree.  

Genna Longoria, “Paletas For Sale.” Harlandale High School. Inspired by Joe Lopez. Photo by Ricardo Romo.

On May 16,  the Centro Cultural Aztlan opened an art exhibit representing student artwork from six school districts in the city.  Artists/Educators  Luis Valderas and Kim Bishop organized the exhibit as part of a larger art education project submitted to the Department of Education by Centro Director Malena Gonzalez-Cid and supported by Congressman Joaquin Castro.  The Centro received a grant from the Department of Education for $95,000 in 2023 and completed the proposed art projects in Spring 2024. 

Raul Rene Gonzalez, artist,  standing by the artwork of Roosevelt Dual Language Academy students: Joel, Camila, Alan, Jonathan, Ricardo, Kaylee, Gazelle, Miamour, Oliver, Luis, Vivianna, and Ronnie. Photo by Ricardo Romo.

The Centro project produced an arts education curriculum consisting of 40 lesson plans, including lessons created for Primary (PreK-2nd), Intermediate (3rd-5th),  Middle School (7th-8th), and Secondary  (9th-12th) students. Nine teachers implemented the curriculum with at least 600 students in Year 1 from Northside ISD, Northeast ISD, Incarnate Word HS, San Antonio ISD, Edgewood ISD, and Harlandale ISD. This curriculum will be shared with additional arts educators in the summer of 2024 in professional development workshops and open-source documents. 

Scarlet Fuentes, “Antepasados.” Harlandale High School. Inspired by Raul Servin. Photo by Ricardo Romo.

The project managers, Bishop and Valderas, LLC.,  brought together a team of artists, educators, historians, and cultural experts to develop lesson plans with audiovisual resources and age-appropriate art activities to engage K-12 students in learning about Chicano art, culture, and history.  Bishop and Valderas conceived the idea of preserving the legacy of local Latino artists and developed the template for the art curriculum. 

Alexa Barbosa, “El Espiritu del Mexica.”  Madison High School.  Inspired by Roberto Jose Gonzalez. Photo by Ricardo Romo.

 The project managers organized a team of award-winning artists/educators representing six San Antonio school districts and one university to write and present these art lessons.  Participating students created art inspired by selecting an artist from a list of more than fifty established Latino artists. The students researched the artists’ backgrounds and artwork and produced artwork in a style similar to that of the chosen artist.  The teachers selected representative art for the Centro exhibit. 

The Centro is an art beacon for the 60,000 residents in the San Antonio City Council Districts One, Five, and Seven that the organization principally serves. Larger cultural and exhibit events, which include Day of the Dead, Guadalupana celebrations, and Segundo de Febrero attract thousands of visitors from the entire city and beyond. These special events complement the Centro’s  “Platica” interview series hosted every Friday evening. The interviews are carried on the Centro’s special YouTube channel. 

Maia Hutcheson. “The Seasons.”  Clark High School.  Inspired by artist Adriana Garcia.  Photo by Ricardo Romo.

The Centro is one of the leading art centers in Texas recognized and funded by major organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission of the Arts, the San Antonio Area Foundation, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, and more recently, the U.S. Department of Education. In the past decade, the Centro has provided exhibit space for nearly five hundred artists annually.  Under the direction of Malena Gonzalez-Cid, the Centro's future is bright as the non-profit readies new gallery spaces and begins preparing the celebration of its 50th year in operation in 2028.

Cece Nguyen, “Quiet Day on Train Street.” Clark High School. Inspired by Ana Fernandez. Photo by Ricardo Romo.

Nine teachers implemented the curriculum with at least 600 students in Year 1. They include the following Kim Bishop MA., MFA.—UTSA-PaCE, Mandy Clarson—NISD, Hector Garza PhD.—Incarnate Word HS, Noe Garza—Harlandale ISD, Brandy González MFA.—NISD, Clayton Kilduff—NISD, Elizabeth San Miguel—Edgewood ISD, Clifton Tinker—NEISD, Kimberly Villarreal—NEISD and Monico Vitela—SAISD.

Opening night at the Centro Cultural Aztlan.  Luis Valderas, Frances Lopez,  Joe Lopez, Malena Gonzalez-Cid, and Ruth Guajardo. Photo by Ricardo Romo.