Take Pride

Take pride in San Antonio's new public art show celebrating LGBTQI community

"We Are" is open now through July 13.

Arts & Culture, City of San Antonio/Facebook

This is one art exhibition San Antonio can take pride in. Recently, the City of San Antonio announced its newest exhibition, "We Are," a collection of work honoring the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex+ communities.

Free and open to the public, "We Are" features 12 San Antonio-based artists whose work examines the history, challenges, identity, and experiences of the LGBTQI+ community. This deeply personal show is billed as a time for all San Antonians to reflect upon and celebrate LGBTQI+ Pride Month. Traditionally held in June, Pride coincides with the 49th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, a series of riots and demonstrations in New York City that many point to as the start of the gay civil rights movement.

The show itself ranges from painting and drawing to photography and fiber art and was curated by Sarah Castillo of Lady Base Gallery. Participating local artists include Agosto Cuellar, Anel I. Flores, Gustavo A. Garcia, Kimberly Hopkins, Julián Pablo Ledezma, Michael Martínez, Antonia Celeste Padilla, Kristy Perez, Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez, Jose Villalobos, David Zamora Casas, and Juan Zavala Castro.

“'We Are’ is dedicated to the past, present, and future citizens of our San Antonio LGBTQI+ community,” Castillo said in a release. “These artists are activists, writers, educators, entrepreneurs — leaders who participate beyond the gallery walls to cultivate spaces of freedom and respite within their communities as true agents of change.”

In addition to the show, held in the Culture Commons Gallery at 115 Plaza de Armas, the community is also invited to a series of information events and panel discussions. On June 7, Castillo will lead the 12 artists in a panel discussion beginning at 6:30 pm. Guests are also invited to a screening of Kiki followed by "an evening of dancing and vogueing" with DJ The Wayne Holtz on June 21 at 6:30 pm, and to a lunch and learn panel with LGBTQI+ members of the military on June 29 at noon.

"We Are" runs now through July 13 and is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 am-5 pm, at Culture Commons Gallery.

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BOUND TO HAPPEN

San Antonio poet books prestigious Texas literary award

Photo courtesy of Texas Book Festival.

Naomi Shihab Nye is this year's recipient of the Texas Writers Award.

Naomi Shihab Nye has built an enviable curriculum vitae throughout her literary career. She served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate for the U.S. Poetry Foundation and the poetry editor for The New York Times Magazine and the Texas Observer, before inspiring a new generation of voices as a writer-in-residence at Texas State University. Her work garnered lifetime achievement awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Arab American Museum, and the National Book Critics Circle.

The Palestinian-American poet and educator can now add another honor to the list. On October 1, the Texas Book Festival (TBF) named her the 2024 Texas Writer Award recipient. The prize, formerly the Bookend Award, recognizes writers who have profoundly impacted Texas literature.

“Naomi Shihab Nye is not only a profoundly gifted and accomplished writer, but also a dedicated educator and cherished figure in the Texas literary community,” said TBF Literary Director Hannah Gabel via a release. “We’re thrilled to celebrate her remarkable body of work.”

Nye, a resident of San Antonio, is known for a genre-hopping bibliography that includes poetry, fiction, and children’s literature. Her best-known works include Everything Comes Next, The Tiny Journalist, Voices in the Air, Sitti’s Secrets, and Habibi. A native of Jerusalem who moved to Texas in 1967, Nye has frequently returned to her identity in her work.

As part of the Texas Writer Award, TBF will bestow Nye with an aptly Texas gift: a pair of custom handmade boots from El Paso’s Rocketbuster. Attendees will also get a chance to congratulate her first-hand during festival sessions for her two 2024 releases: an editorial work, I Know About a Thousand Things: The Writings of Ann Alejandro of Uvalde, Texas, and poetry collection Grace Notes.

This year’s festival takes place November 16-17, with signings, readings, and panels in and around the State Capitol. Admission is free, save for two ticketed appearances from headliners Matthew McConaughey and Malcolm Gladwell.

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