mission to save the mission

San Antonio's storied Missions get $75,000 to create apprenticeships for local youth

Missions National Historical Park San Antonio

Applications for a new apprenticeship are now open.

The National Park Foundation is making an investment in San Antonio's young people. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage month, the NPF is bestowing $75,000 to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park to create a series of apprenticeship opportunities for local youth.

The funding is earmarked to create four apprentice positions for local Latinx young adults. The program is designed to teach "a variety of job skills," notes a press release, particularly in the area of cultural landscaping preservation and maintenance.

Apprentices will gain first-hand experience while protecting San Antonio's storied Missions — named Texas' first World Heritage Site by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture — as well historic acequias, or irrigation canals. Positions are paid, though benefits and compensation vary depending on the role.

But more than just architectural preservation, the Missions provide space to examine how Native Americans were impacted by Spanish colonialism, and how that intersection has come to define so much of San Antonio's culture.

“Hispanic youth will have the opportunity to participate in the preservation, understanding, and commemoration of Hispanic and indigenous contributions to the development and history of the United States,” said Aaron Mahr Yáñez, acting superintendent at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, in a news release. “They’ll learn valuable skills in landscape preservation and maintenance, and hopefully be inspired to consider careers in the National Park Service.”

NPF, which serves as the charity arm of the National Park Service, says its local investment is part of a nationwide push to honor Hispanic and Latinx culture, a sentiment echoed by Rosebud Coffey, executive director of Mission Heritage Partners.

"The funding of this program will open new doors for the Hispanic and Latino youth in our community," Coffey said.

According to a release, the Missions apprenticeship begins December 1 and runs through May 14, 2021, with plans to extend the program indefinitely. Interested parties can learn more and submit an application here.

charity

SPARE ART

North San Antonio gets crafty with new creative supplies shop

Photo by Ismael Rodriguez.

Local nonprofit Spare Parts recently opened its brick-and-mortar center for creative reuse.

One local nonprofit organization has spent years getting environmental accountability and community education down to a fine art. And now it’s getting crafty with a new brick-and-mortar shop in North San Antonio aimed to help locals to go green.

Spare Parts was founded in 2010 by executive director and longtime arts educator Mary Elizabeth Cantú to provide a creative spark for area students and schools lacking arts funding and resources. Through a variety of educational programs, public art exhibitions, events, and the organization’s traveling Mini Art Museum, Spare Parts has enlightened thousands of students and San Antonians, all while fostering reuse practices and sustainability, a key tenet of the nonprofit.

Spare Parts’ latest endeavor is another artistic triumph. Its new center for creative reuse, located at 13451 Wetmore Rd., is nothing less than a crafter’s delight. The shop features an impressive array of “pre-loved” and price-reduced artsy merchandise — from paint supplies and paper crafts to sewing items, beading and jewelry, school and office supplies, vintage gadgets, and crafting kits — all of which has been rescued from area landfills.

Cantú notes that proceeds from the new Spare Parts’ shop will enable the organization to further increase creative and educational experiences for San Antonio students and families. But even more so, she hopes the shop will help locals embrace the concept that one person’s trash can be another’s artistic treasure.

“There really isn’t any more room in the world for this stuff. Buying pre-loved at places like Spare Parts or other stores is a way to reduce the amount of things [people] feel that they need,” Cantú said in a recent interview with the San Antonio Sentinel. “We’re challenging people to rethink things around them, buy pre-loved, and find a way to be creative in their lives.”

In the time of COVID-19, however, getting the creative juices flowing isn’t as simple as popping into the Spare Parts shop. Though the center for creative reuse is open, the store is currently offering only weekend curbside pickup of items ordered through its website. But crafters shouldn’t despair, as Spare Parts is offering private in-person shopping experiences in the new year, with the first planned for January 16 and 17.

jewelry shopping kids charity openings sustainability