#1 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Cathedral of San Fernando
San Antonio TX
~0.05 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Cathedral of San Fernando
The Cathedral of San Fernando is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in San Antonio, Texas, in the United States. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the seat of its archbishop. The cathedral is also known as the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Guadalupe and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is notable as the oldest cathedral in the United States.
|
#2 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Downtown Riverwalk (Neighborhood)
San Antonio TX
~0.11 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Downtown Riverwalk
Ernie Pyle once descried the River Walk as "The American Venice" and it's easy to see why. This romantic, relaxing area of Downtown San Antonio is host to millions of visitors each year and continues to grow in popularity.
|
#3 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Spanish Governor's Palace
105 Plaza De Armas San Antonio TX - 210-224-0601
~0.11 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Spanish Governor's Palace
The Spanish Governor's Palace is a National Historic Landmark in the city of San Antonio, Texas. Built in the first half of the eighteenth century, it was originally intended to protect the nearby San Antonio de Valero Mission (the Alamo) and the growing colony. It is considered the sole remaining example of an aristocratic early Spanish house in Texas. The National Geographic Society has called the landmark "the most beautiful building in San Antonio."
The building was constructed in the early eighteenth century, possibly as early as 1722. The keystone above the front entrance is marked with the coat-of-arms of Spanish King Ferdinand VI along with the date 1749. The building was actually the residence and working offices of the local presidio captain, and not the palace for the region's Spanish governor. The building later became the capitol building of the Tejas region of Spanish Texas in 1722.
The building is currently maintained by the City of San Antonio and is open to the public as a museum.
http://www.sa-museum.org/laac/3.html
|
#4 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Ripley's Haunted Adventure
329 Alamo Plaza San Antonio TX - 210-226-2828
~0.14 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Ripley's Haunted Adventure
329 Alamo Plz
San Antonio, TX 78205
210-226-2828
http://www.hauntedadventure.com
|
#5 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Aztec on the River (Aztec Theater)
San Antonio TX
~0.14 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Aztec on the River (Aztec Theater)
|
#6 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
San Antonio Majestic Theater
San Antonio TX
~0.19 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to San Antonio Majestic Theater
The Majestic Theatre is San Antonio's oldest and largest atmospheric theatre. In 1975, the theatre was listed on the National Register of Historical Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. The theatre has been home to the San Antonio Symphony since 1989.
The theatre seats 2311 people and was designed by architect John Eberson for Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres in 1929. For many years it remained the largest theatre in Texas and the second largest movie theatre in the United States. It was also the first theatre in the state to be totally air-conditioned.
|
#7 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Casa Navarro State Historic Park
228 S Laredo St San Antonio TX - 210-226-4801
~0.22 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Casa Navarro State Historic Park
The Casa Navarro State Historic Site is nestled in downtown San Antonio.
The Casa Navarro State Historic Site is nestled in downtown San Antonio. The half-acre site is the restored home of Tejano patriot José Antonio Navarro (1795–1871). Today, visitors can tour Navarro's adobe home furnished with period antiques, read copies of his writing, and discuss questions of history with informed interpreters.
The original house complex consisted of three limestone, caliche block, and adobe structures, built about 1848. Casa Navarro is the only historic site in San Antonio dedicated to the interpretation of the Mexican history and heritage of Texas, as seen through the life of Navarro, a prominent San Antonio merchant, rancher and statesman.
Navarro served as a member of the Texas legislatures under Mexico, the Republic of Texas and the State of Texas. Representing San Antonio Tejanos, he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. Navarro was the first Tejano to write about the history of Texas. He was an influential political figure during the momentous 55 years when the destiny of Texas was forged, from 1810 to 1865. Navarro is best known as "the strongest defender of the rights of his people."
http://www.thc.state.tx.us/hsites/hs_casa_navarro.shtml
|
#8 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Buckhorn Saloon and Museum
San Antonio TX
~0.29 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Buckhorn Saloon and Museum
Winner of the 2002 "Best Attraction" award from the Downtown Alliance, the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum is sure to delight and amaze people of all ages. At the Buckhorn, we believe in "edutainment"...the whole family can learn while you're having fun. Get up close to the exhibits in our halls where interactive displays make the experience come alive.
Belly up to the bar in our old-fashioned saloon-turned-café, and browse our Curio Store, "The Worlds Oddest Store". The world famous Buckhorn Saloon and Museum has delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors for over 120 years. Come visit this San Antonio classic and discover a whole new Wild West experience...Texas Style!
|
#9 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
San Antonio Children's Museum
San Antonio TX
~0.29 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to San Antonio Children's Museum
Whether they are encasing themselves in a giant bubble, making beautiful artwork from discarded fabric and paper materials, or driving a child-size front-end loader, kids of all ages can easily spend an entire day at this museum. There are more than 80 special hands-on exhibits, a giant aquarium and even a kid-powered elevator. Housed in a 1940s-era building built as a dime store, the museum's multi-sensory exhibits focus on communication, the arts, economics, natural history, physical science, history and much more. Children age 2 and younger are admitted for free. Visitors receive one hour free parking at nearby Mid-City Parking Garage, as space is available.
|
#10 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
River Walk Assn
454 Soledad St San Antonio TX - 210-227-4262
~0.30 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to River Walk Assn
The San Antonio River Walk is a public park open 365 days a year, lined with individual businesses composed of restaurants, hotel, attractions and more. For information regarding individual business please visit the member listings and/or website.
http://thesanantonioriverwalk.com
|
#11 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
La Villita
San Antonio TX
~0.35 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to La Villita
Original "Heart of San Antonio,". One square block in the heart of downtown, alive with artists and craftsmen, shops and restaurants.
|
#12 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Torch of Friendship Sculpture
San Antonio TX
~0.39 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Torch of Friendship Sculpture
La Antorcha de la Amistad (The Torch of Friendship) is a monumental abstract sculpture that stands in downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States of America. The artist of the sculpture is world-renowned Mexican sculptor, Sebastián, and was commissioned by the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos (Association of Mexican Businesspeople). The sculpture was presented as a gift from the Mexican government to the City of San Antonio in 2002. It was unveiled on June 28, 2002 by the artist, Mayor Edward D. Garza, and then-Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs and political analyst Jorge Castañeda Gutman.
The sculpture stands at nearly 20 meters (65 feet), and weighs more than 40,800 kilograms (45 tons). The medium is enameled iron. It is located in the middle of a traffic rotary in downtown San Antonio, an area known by international tourists for the Paseo del Rio, or Riverwalk, and the Alamo.
The group that commissioned it, the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos, worked with the Mexican Consulate and the City of San Antonio to make the sculpture a symbol of cooperation and shared culture between the country and the city.
The sculpture has two posts that rise at non-parallel angles. The posts appear to rise straightly until they individually curl and twist before meeting at the highest point of the sculpture. The sculpture is lit constantly, and with varying colors and light patterns at different periods of the year. The sculpture is geometric but does not seem to form any strictly right angles. From each angle surrounding the sculpture, the shape at the top appears to be from a different sculpture. Interestingly enough due to the location, the one perspective that is often inaccessible is that right under the sculpture, as it is located on a rotary island in a busy traffic intersection.
The artist himself describes the concepts of the sculpture a torch rising from the ground, and as a symbolization of two different actors--the United States and Mexico--running together:
He said the sculpture has many points of view from many angles, which is how he sees the two nations' relationship. "Sometimes it is complex. Sometimes it is harmonious," he said. "But the two countries are always close and always with a complex friendship. That's what I am trying to express with this combination of forms."
The comments of the artist and the chief organizer of the commissioning of this work, Alejandro Quiroz, make the meaning of the sculpture as a symbol of international bi-lateral relations complex. In an interview with Quiroz conducted by one of the authors of this article, he says that the sculpture symbolizes "...the two columns signify two countries, two languages, two cultures."
|
#13 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Riverwalk San Antonio
San Antonio TX
~0.39 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Riverwalk San Antonio
The San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath downtown San Antonio, Texas. Lined by bars, shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right.
Today, the River Walk is an enormously successful special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from the Alamo to Rivercenter mall, to the Arneson River Theatre close to La Villita, to HemisFair Park, to the Tower Life Building, to the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Pearl Brewery. During the annual springtime Fiesta San Antonio, the River Parade features flowery floats that literally float.
|
#14 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Texas Adventure
San Antonio TX
~0.41 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Texas Adventure
History meets high-tech in this small-scale adventure park. A multimedia show, which includes holograms, dramatizes the events leading up to the battle of the Alamo. State-of-the-art special effects make you feel as though you were there. Be sure to sit in the center, about four rows up, for an intimate experience with one of the effects. And no, it's not scary. A retail store in the lobby sells souvenirs and a small concession booth vends a variety of snacks, none of which are allowed in the theater.
|
#15 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Plaza Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not
San Antonio TX
~0.41 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Plaza Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not
Believe it or not you're about to see some pretty crazy things…at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in San Antonio, Texas! From oddities from primitive cultures to modern day curiosities, guests will go from display to display with their jaws dropped and their eyes wondering with disbelief!
Take a look at ancient African fertility statues, an Indian shrunken head, and a unique cobweb painting. Along with each exhibit, you'll find fascinating information and facts that will further illuminate your understanding of the strangeness of science, life, and culture. Don't miss the Haunted House Adventure. You can even plan a birthday party at Ripley's or plan a Lock-in – a chilling and fun experience!
Another highlight at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum is the Odditorium, perhaps Ripley's most popular attraction. The Odditorium houses animal and human oddities and aberrations that'll shock you! The bearded lady, a two-headed calf, and an animatronics Tyrannosaurus Rex, are a few of the figures you'll encounter at the Odditorium. And believe it or not—it's all real!
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum is located at 301 Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, right next to the Louis Tussaud's Plaza Wax Museum and across from The Alamo. Bring the whole family (maybe just the big kids to Ripley's) and make a day out of museum hopping in San Antonio!
|
#16 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Guinness World Records Museum
San Antonio TX
~0.41 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Guinness World Records Museum
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records (and in previous U.S. editions as The Guinness Book of World Records), is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. The book itself holds a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted series of all-time. It is also one of the most stolen books from public libraries in the United States.
On 4 May 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Breweries, went on a shooting party in North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford, Ireland. He became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the koshin golden plover or the grouse. That evening at Castlebridge House he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird.
Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs in Britain and Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular.
Beaver’s idea became reality when Guinness employee Christopher Chataway recommended student twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, who had been running a fact-finding agency in London. The brothers were commissioned to compile what became The Guinness Book of Records in August 1954. One thousand copies were printed and given away.
After founding the Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, the first 197-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British bestseller lists by Christmas. "It was a marketing give away—it wasn't supposed to be a money maker," said Beaver. The following year it was launched in the U.S., and it sold 70,000 copies.
After the book became a surprise hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in October to coincide with Christmas sales. The McWhirters continued to publish it and related books for many years. Both brothers had an encyclopedic memory — on the TV series Record Breakers, based upon the book, they would take questions posed by children in the audience on various world records, and would usually be able to give the correct answer. Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975. Following McWhirter's assassination, the feature in the show where questions about records posed by children were answered was called "Norris on the Spot".
Guinness World Records Limited was formed in 1954 to publish the first book.
Sterling Publishing owned the rights to the Guinness book in the 1970s and under their management, the book became a household name in the USA.
The group was owned by Guinness Brewery and subsequently Diageo until 2001, when it was purchased by Gullane Entertainment. Gullane was itself purchased by HiT Entertainment in 2002. In 2006, Apax Partners purchased HiT and subsequently sold Guinness World Records in early 2008 to the Jim Pattison Group, which is also the parent company of Ripley Entertainment, which is licensed to operate Guinness World Records' Attractions. With offices in New York and Tokyo, Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
|
#17 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
San Antonio Central Library
San Antonio TX
~0.44 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to San Antonio Central Library
The San Antonio Public Library is a collection of a Central Library and 24 branch libraries (as of the fall of 2008) that serve the City of San Antonio, Texas, USA. The library serves other cities in the area, including Alamo Heights, Hill Country Village, and Olmos Park.
The Central Library is a 240,000-square-foot (22,000 m2), six-story structure that opened in 1995 in Downtown San Antonio. The building is located in downtown San Antonio and is easily recognized by its bright-colored, striking Mexican Modernist design. The primary color of the building's exterior is "Enchilada Red."
The architect for the building was selected by a design competition held by the city in July 1991. The winning design is by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta in partnership with Sprinkle Robey Architects and Johnson-Dempsey & Associates of San Antonio. Unique features of the library include a multi-story, bright yellow atrium and several outdoor plazas with landscaping and fountains intended to be used as outdoor reading rooms. In Legorreta's own words: "I wanted to break the concept that libraries are imposing."
The library was financed through a $28 million bond to build a new Central Library. The bonds were approved by San Antonio voters in 1989. In addition, another $10 million in funding from private sources and the city's general budget helped finance the murals and artwork inside the library, as well as new furniture, equipment, and fixtures.[citation needed]
Since its inauguration in May 1995, the new Central Library attracted a great deal of attention in architectural and library circles. After the new facility opened, circulation more than doubled from the previous year. The Central Library currently holds about 580,300 volumes.
|
#18 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
The Alamo
San Antonio TX
~0.44 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to The Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas). All but two of the Texian defenders were killed. Santa Anna's perceived cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution.
Several months previously, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. Approximately 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexican troops marched into San Antonio de Béxar which is now named San Antonio as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas. For the next 12 days the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies, but fewer than 100 reinforcements arrived.
In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked a panic and the Texian army, most settlers, and the new Republic of Texas government fled from the advancing Mexican Army.
Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican-American War of 1846–48. In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine. The Alamo is now "the most popular tourist site in Texas". The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843. Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.
|
#19 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Instituto de México
San Antonio TX
~0.46 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Instituto de México
|
#20 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
San Antonio Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio TX
~0.46 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to San Antonio Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center is located in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The Convention Center offers a variety of banquet halls and meeting rooms perfect for any occasion.
The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center is located in downtown San Antonio along the banks of the San Antonio River Walk.
The facility is the central component of the city’s successful convention industry. The center, named for the late U.S. congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, hosts more than 300 events each year with over 750,000 convention delegates from around the world.
The original convention center was built as part of HemisFair '68 by a joint venture of two general contractors Darragh & Lyda Inc. of San Antonio, Texas and H. A. Lott Inc. of Houston, Texas , but has been significantly altered and expanded since then. Today it is a 1,300,000 square feet (121,000 m2) state-of-the-art facility with 203,000 sq ft (18,900 m2). of meeting space, 3 ballrooms, 4 contiguous exhibit halls over 440,000 sq ft (41,000 m2). and the adjacent 2,500 seat Lila Cockrell Theatre, a performing arts venue, which is part of the original construction.
In spite of San Antonio's robust convention and leisure visitor industry (as well as some of the strongest hotel occupancy rates in the U.S), there have been several proposals since 1988 to build a convention center hotel, none of which has succeeded. However, a new 1,003-room convention center hotel and condominium tower, The Grand Hyatt San Antonio, designed by the renowned architecture firm Arquitectonica, opened in 2009, some 20 years after the initial proposal.
|
#21 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Magik Theater
San Antonio TX
~0.47 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Magik Theater
Traveler Description: San Antonio's family professional theater that offers live performances of famous fairy tales.
Attraction type: Theater
Address: Beethoven Hall
420 S. Alamo,
HemisFair Park
San Antonio, TX
Tel: 210-227-2751
|
#22 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
San Antonio Cavalry Museum
San Antonio TX
~0.48 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to San Antonio Cavalry Museum
San Antonio Cavalry Museum
717 East Houston St,
San Antonio, TX
(210) 224-1865
The San Antonio Cavalry Museum features cavalry artifacts and exhibits and is frequented by local re-enactors.
Website: http://www.savc.org
|
#23 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
HemisFair Arena
San Antonio TX
~0.52 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to HemisFair Arena
The HemisFair Arena was an indoor arena located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was home to the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs from 1973 to 1993 and the San Antonio Force of the Arena Football League during the 1992 season, their only year of existence. The Houston Rockets also played home games at the arena during the 1972-73 NBA season.
|
#24 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Rivercenter Mall
San Antonio TX
~0.61 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Rivercenter Mall
Rivercenter is a shopping mall located in downtown San Antonio, Texas along the River Walk. It is anchored by Macy's, as well as a 38-story, 1,001-room Marriott hotel. The mall was purchased in 2005 by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.
Rivercenter opened in 1988 with San Antonio's first Lord & Taylor department store, an IMAX theater, as well as Dillard's(Closed August 2008) . Part of the downtown redevelopment included an extension of San Antonio's famed River Walk into the Rivercenter lagoon.
Lord & Taylor, then owned by May Department Stores, was converted into a Foley's in 1989. In 2006, the space became Macy's after Macy's parent, Federated Department Stores, bought May Department Stores. The structure that houses Dillard's, an AMC Theatres, as well as other shops originally opened in 1887 as a freestanding Joske's at the corner of Alamo and Commerce streets. Several expansions from 1909 to 1953 brought the space to 551,000 square feet (51,200 m2). Joske's closed the flagship store for remodeling in 1987, planning to reopen in 1988, to coincide with the Rivercenter opening. But Dillard's acquired the Joske's chain shortly after the store closed for remodeling. The massive flagship store was divided up, with Dillard's occupying only a portion of the five-level building. The remaining area of the building was converted into lease space and a retail atrium for Rivercenter and an AMC movie theater. Even with the division of the building into other uses, portions of the structure, including 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2). of space on the top two floors, as well as the old "bargain basement," remained unoccupied.
|
#25 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Market Square
San Antonio TX
~0.63 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Market Square
Market Square is a traditional and historic shopping district in San Antonio, Texas.
The shopping district is the largest mexican shopping center in the San Antonio area.
Market Square is called El Mercado by the locals. It is also where some festivals and exhibits are hosted.
|
#26 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Tower of the Americas
San Antonio TX
~0.67 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Tower of the Americas
Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot observation tower/restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. The tower was designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford and was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68.
The tower was the tallest observation tower in the United States from 1968 until 1996, when the Las Vegas Stratosphere Tower was completed.
The tower is located in the middle of HemisFair Park and has an observation deck that is accessible by elevator for a fee. In addition, there is also a lounge and revolving restaurant at the top of the tower that provides panoramic views of the city.
|
#27 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Mexican Cultural Institute
600 Hemisfair Plaza Way San Antonio TX - 210-227-5018
~0.75 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Mexican Cultural Institute
Museum featuring art and artifacts about Mexican culture and history.
Address: 600 HemisFair Plaza Way
HemisFair Park San Antonio, TX
Tel: 210/227-0123
http://www.sa-museum.org/laac/4.html
|
#28 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Hemisfair Park
San Antonio TX
~0.77 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Hemisfair Park
In honor of its 250th birthday, San Antonio hosted the 1968 HemisFair. It was the first world's fair held in the southwestern United States and welcomed over thirty different nations.
|
#29 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Visual Arts Gallery
325 S Salado St San Antonio TX - 210-271-0379
~0.78 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Visual Arts Gallery
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio is an emblem of the political changes brought about by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It was a Voting Rights Act decision that transformed the San Antonio City Council to single-member districts so that a substantial number of Latinas and Latinos and African Americans were elected, forcing a redistribution of arts money and redefining the cultural matrix of San Antonio. The flagship of that change was the Guadalupe Cultural Center.
Initially, arts monies were awarded to the Performance Arts Nucleus (PAN), a visual and performing arts organization founded in 1979, a predecessor to the Guadalupe Center. Among the board members of this consortium were David González, Rodolfo García, the musician Juan Tejeda, Darío Aguilar, and the poet Angela de Hoyos, from whose vision emerged the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. After some debate, it was agreed that the Guadalupe's mission would be to preserve, develop, present, and promote the arts and culture of Chicanas and Chicanos, Latinas and Latinos, and Native American peoples.
After some early management turmoil, Pedro Rodríguez was hired in 1983 as executive director. By then, the Guadalupe had purchased the Progreso Drugstore to use as its administrative offices, across from the historic Guadalupe Theatre. In the heart of San Antonio's barrio, this neighborhood is one of the poorest in the nation, and virtually 100 percent Latina and Latino. The reconstruction and re-opening of the Guadalupe Theatre as a performance center—a result of the City Council's one-million-dollar loan to the Guadalupe—was central to the revitalization of the Guadalupe Street area.
The oldest program, and the one that many consider the Guadalupe's forte, is the visual arts. Conceived as a showcase for Chicana and Chicano art discounted by the mainstream museums and galleries in the 1970s, a number of now-prominent artistas have received a significant boost at the Guadalupe, including César Martinez and Adán Hernandez (“San Antonio, Caras y Lugares” 1985) and the photographer Kathy Vargas (“Contempo Tejas”). Each Christmas season, the Guadalupe offers a popular arts and crafts bazaar called “Hecho a Mano,” where artisans and craftspeople display their work for sale. In addition, the Guadalupe has a Visual Arts Annex with gallery space, classrooms, and resident artist studios.
Under the direction of the accordionist Juan Tejeda, who literally “took conjunto out of the bars and onto the stage,” according to Pedro Rodríguez, the Conjunto Festival has become a yearly event. Conjunto is the synthesis of the German settlers' button accordion with the Spanish guitar or bajo sexto (a twelve-string bass guitar) that is central to Mexican-American culture. The Conjunto Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, playing to an audience of 50,000 over a six-day period. It draws tourists from around the country, featuring the best accordionistas in the world playing in styles from traditional to avant-garde.
The Guadalupe presents a season of professional plays each year, ranging from the ever-popular “Las Nuevas Tamaleras” by Alicia Mena to Cherríe Moraga's provocative “Hungry Woman.” The Center has two resident acting companies: Los Actores de San Antonio, and the teen-focused Grupo Animo.
Acting as a sustaining venue for Chicano and Latino films, documentaries, and video, the CineFestival celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2002, presenting one hundred different films. “Señorita Extraviada,” Lourdes Portillo's much-lauded film about the maquiladora murders, and Mexican filmmaker Maria Novaro's (Danzón) “Sin dejar huella,” were two of the acclaimed works offered that year.
The major literary event in San Antonio, and one of the most anticipated events in Texas, is the Guadalupe's Inter-American Book Fair and Literary Festival. Beginning in 1985, then-Literature Director Sandra Cisneros and the small press publisher Bryce Milligan organized the First Annual Texas Small Press Bookfair as a way to build audiences and loyalty for small publishing houses. The Book Festival has evolved into a literary festival with world-class authors while supporting emerging new writers. Carlos Fuentes, Alice Walker, Larry McMurtry, Ernesto Cardenal, Elena Poniatowska, Donald Hall, and Maxine Hong Kingston are some of the writers who have headlined at the weeklong event.
In 1990, the Guadalupe, in an initial collaboration with the Mexican Cultural Institute, joined forces to develop a professional dance company that would explore the evolving folclórico dynamic. “Rio Bravo” (1994) and “Santuario” (2001) became the Guadalupe's signature pieces, expressing the complexities of immigration and identity themes via the modern dance and folclórico traditions. The Dance Program employs ten dancers in its company and runs a dance academy at the Crossroads Mall that serves as a training ground for the professional company.
Under executive director María Elena Torralva-Alonso, a former corporate executive with media and teaching experience who was hired in 1988, the Guadalupe embarked on an ambitious capital campaign, along with purchases of real estate surrounding the Center. The expansion plans included a school of Latina and Latino arts and culture, including a Conjunto Hall of Fame, and a new visual arts complex, studio, as wll as printmaking facilities.
A community project, a four-story mural that includes a three-dimensional forty-by-twenty-foot veladora honoring La Virgen de Guadalupe, designed by the artist Jesse Treviño, is expected to increase tourist traffic to the city's Westside. It is hoped that the continued restoration of the Guadalupe Center and its neighborhood will draw tourists who come to San Antonio because of its cultural wealth and history. In 2003, the Guadalupe had a 1.8-million-dollar budget and eighteen full-time staff members.
http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org
|
#30 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
Sunset Station
1174 E. Commerce San Antonio TX - (210) 222-9481
~0.83 miles from San Antonio city center
Hotels Close to Sunset Station
Sunset Station is designated as a National Historic Landmark. It has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation that restored the venue to its original grandeur. The Depot, also known as, “The Building of 1,000 Lights” and “The Crown Jewel” , is adorned with ornate vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows and a grand staircase.
http://www.sunset-station.com
|
|
|
#1 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#2 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#3 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#4 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#5 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#6 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#7 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#8 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#9 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#10 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#11 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#12 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#13 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#14 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#15 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#16 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#17 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#18 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#19 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#20 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#21 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#22 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#23 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#24 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#25 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#26 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#27 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#28 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio
#29 of 30 Things To Do in San Antonio