Category: San Antonio Parks

Take pleasure in little unauthorized treasures along the River Walk before they vanish

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How could I have missed these voluntary works of public art placed anonymously along the River Walk, coincidentally close to the Southwest School of Art? But I did.

Because they are tiny, probably averaging six inches tall.

Stumbled across my oversight in a clip from a KLRN Arts show, a repeat of a broadcast originally airing this past February.

 

Of course, I went searching for them in the stretch between the North St. Mary’s and McCullough bridges. I know I missed some, but many already are barely shadows of their original selves. They are fading away.

Certainly, I feel guilty publicizing unauthorized art along the River Walk. But these are so small and give those spying them such pleasure.

Their whimsy would be lost if both magnified and multiplied. Containment is an issue. Graffiti-abatement is a constant battle, with inner-city graffiti more threatening than aesthetically appealing. Most of the walls under bridges are coated with graffiti-repellant paint.

But for me, these particular works resound as a call for a different form of public art. Maybe large-scale, expensive undertakings could be supplemented by extremely small installations in unexpected places. Artwork many might overlook, but so rewarding for those who encounter them.

Go on a hunt for these treasures before they completely disappear.

Reviving Dia de los Muertos

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When I first moved to San Antonio, the places to see flowers and foods placed on graves to encourage visits from their inhabitants were the old San Fernando Cemeteries. Most of the wrinkled pilgrims picnicking with their deceased loved ones on All Saints and All Souls Days, November 1 and 2, appeared poised to repose alongside them. The remnants of the Dia de los Muertos traditions enduring from when San Antonio had been part of Mexico were dying with them.

Bedoy’s Bakery, founded in 1961, credits Father Virgil Elizondo with encouraging the bakers to dust off traditional old recipes for dead bread, pan de muerto. I used to buy the breads around Halloween, but felt guilty when we selfishly ate them without offering to share them with the dead.

In the past decade or two, artists in San Antonio began adding contemporary twists to ancient Day of the Dead traditions, and now the city sponsors a full-blown fiesta for Dia de los Muertos in La Villita. Altars, processions and even a concert by Girl in a Coma were part of this year’s event, held a bit early because the city’s Day of the Dead calendar is getting more crowded.

While a far cry from the celebrations we witnessed outside of and in San Cristobal de las Casas last November, San Antonio’s spirited version represents traditions worth reviving and refreshing for new generations.

Although I cannot comprehend why the marketing department at Coca-Cola is not all over sponsorship opportunities for this event. In Mexico, Coca-Cola dominates the graveyard market in San Juan Chamula, Chiapas:

One would think a people who have rejected so many standards held by outsiders would not consider taking even one sip of a Coca-Cola. But expelling evil spirits from the body is key. Spitting helps, but burping is best. And what is better at inducing burping than a few shots of rapidly consumed Coke….

But, what marketing genius convinced the Chamulans a half-century ago to incorporate Coke into not only their Sunday church-going regimen, but everyday life? I mean, Chamulans need to continually maintain their guard against those invasive evil spirits, burping them out on a regular basis.

And whoever the lucky holder of the local bottling franchise is really struck a home run with this. The market is larger than just the living. On Dia de los Muertos, even the dead are served Cokes to quench their parched throats from so much time spent underground and to burp away any evil spirits hanging around the cemetery.

Just think how large Coca-Cola’s market share would soar if this practice spread to the dead everywhere.

Here are some posts from last year in Chiapas, Mexico:

 

Playspace of Yanaguana Garden bursts into bloom October 2

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A spiraling “Blue Hole” at the center of Oscar Alvarado’s elongated serpentine mosaic bench is one of many features defining a sense of place in the soon-to-be-unveiled Yanaguana Garden at the southeast corner of Hemisfair. The Blue Hole north of Brackenridge Park is the spring feeding the river in the land native Payaya Indians referred to as Yanaguana.

Opening to the public the weekend of October 2, Yanaguana Garden is an admission-free playscape for young and old with water features for splashing, swings of all types, giant chess boards, a bocce court, pingpong tables, benches for sitting, a sandbox for crafting drip castles, “trees” for climbing and actual mature trees for shading. The springy base cushioning the areas under climbing structures is amazingly soft to walk across.

The engaging interactive public art created by a team of San Antonio artists led by Stuart Allen carries out the playful theme, including playhouses, metal puptents by Joey Fauerso, Allen’s how-to-build-a-kite bench, Jen Khoshbin’s stage for plays and a sound installation by Justin Boyd. These touch-me works of art were administered by Public Art San Antonio (PASA) with funds provided by the 2012-2017 bond program.

All of these elements are nestled respectfully among historic homes, remnants of the original neighborhood eliminated by HemisFair ’68. These are being repurposed to weave a portion of the fabric that will form a new neighborhood as Hemisfair continues to evolve.

Design for the playscape fell under the guidance of landscape architect Susan Goltsman, president of MIG. Based in Berkeley, California, the design firm prides itself for building inclusive environments.

For those who are not within walking distance of this new addition to the ‘hood, arrangements have been made for free parking in three large lots on the south side of Cesar Chavez (Charango) Boulevard on opening weekend.

To find out more about contributing to reshape Hemisfair, visit https://www.hemisfairconservancy.org.