San Anto Lead Muralist, Ruth Buentello (second from left, front row), poses with a group of Graduate Students from the University of Texas at San Antonio. The group took the San Anto Mural Tour as part of a graduate/P.H.D. studies class at UTSA.

Comments and testimonials!

"The San Anto Mural Project has developed an impressive body of public art with the San Antonio community. The quality and beauty of the work is amazing. It is heartening to see the murals tackle issues communities deal with in day-to-day basis through public art."
- Jennifer Goett / UT Austin Phd Anthropology Student

"A moving and beautiful experience. A look into the heart of an American community. Individual as well as community artistic conscience is alive and passionate. A must for any traveler to Texas or America for that matter."
- Katherine Longstreet / Orange, Virginia

Mural Tour Information

A group from Ohio take a pose in front of the Peace and Remembrance mural.

Take a walk on the Mural Side. San Anto Cultural Arts Community Mural Project offers visitors and residents of San Antonio the opportunity to view and learn about the stunning murals and public art pieces created by youth and adult residents of San Antonio’s Westside neighborhoods. Discover the beauty and importance of muralism as it relates to human and community development, and historical and cultural documentation and affirmation. The San Anto Cultural Arts mural tour will captivate and enlighten you with personal stories of artists and beautiful public art pieces that compliment the organic beauty of one of the oldest and more historic areas of our city - San Antonio’s Westside.

The tour begins with an in-depth orientation on the history and programs of San Anto Cultural Arts, and the socio-economic and historical background of the neighborhoods encompassing the mural district. The tour continues through the neighborhoods of San Antonio’s Westside as you view, investigate and learn about the process of the creation of each mural and the people who created these street masterpieces. Take photos, shoot video, ask questions and go away with an experience of a life time.

COST: $10 per person / Checks & cash only - checks made out to: San Anto Cultural Arts, Inc.

ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOLS; YOUTH GROUPS; NON-PROFITS; CORPORATIONS; FAMILIES; CULTURAL TOURISTS ENCOURAGED!

PROGRAM TIME: 1.5 - 2.5 hours

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED - contact San Anto Cultural Arts @ 210-226-7466 / mcastillo@sananto.org / jmadrigal@sananto.org to set up a tour.

PICKUP: contact San Anto Cultural Arts for directions or to set up a pickup place and time.

More comments and testimonials!

"Just thought I would drop a note to let you know how much I appreciated the mural tour on Friday afternoon. I've been at burn out point with my work at the university -- truly was having the "I give up!" feeling last week -- and going on the tour really fed my soul. It was a great reminder of why we are all working so hard, you know, so that we can help our community. You all should be really proud of your work at SACA and know that your help extends beyond your neighborhood in that it encourages Chicana/o students like me to stay focused at the university. If it were up to me, I'd say that you guys should go and paint murals all over UTSA! Props to everyone who makes SACA such a wonderful establishment!"
- Patricia Trujillo, UTSA Graduate Student

"I didn't expect to be so deeply moved by the works of art we visited. One mural actually brought me to tears. I also enjoyed the intimacy of the tour in talking to the artists and hearing the story behind each wonderful piece. These murals attest to the immense talent and cultural pride within the city of San Anto. I took away with me a renewed sense of hope for nuestra gente in our struggle for social justice. As a result of this experience, I have become a volunteer at the San Anto Cultural Arts Center, mentoring students who put together El Placazo newspaper."
- Lori Beth Rodriguez, UTSA Graduate Student

"Thank you so much for giving our group of teachers a tour of the wonderful murals. I still think of that evening, and believe that it was one of the most profound and moving experiences I've had recently. The murals and the stories you told us about the artists and the communities are still with me and will certainly influence the work that I do with schools. I wish San Anto Cultural Arts all the best."
- Meenakshi Khanna / Boston, MA

"Hi. I recently came to San Antonio to attend a conference on Youth Organizing. One of our scheduled activities was a Mural tour given by the Cultural Arts Center. I just wanted to thank you for the time you took to talk to us and teach us some about the history of your cause. I didn't really know what I'd think about taking your tour, and honestly went just to get some good pictures, but afterwards I was really glad I went. I think you do wonderful work for the city of San Antonio, and you did an excellent job of showing our group some of the culture of San Antonio and definitely helped make my trip one I'll never forget. Again, thank you & good luck with all you do in the future."

Sincerely,
Jamie D. Collins

"Of all the visits that my UTSA students were required to make for my "Latino Cultural Expressions" course, they were most moved by the mural tour on the westside...these middle-class "Latino" students from the southside had never been to the barrio, and they told me in so many ways how they understood their culture more deeply from the roots of poverty, rebellion, and love so vibrantly manifested by these murals. Most of all, they understood how they were inextricably connected to others in their own community of Latinos/Chicanos/Hispanics/vatos locos."

Barbara Renaud Gonzalez
UTSA Professor

Thanks to you and the talented and inspired staff of San Anto for the wonderful tour of San Antonio murals last Friday. As a Ph.D. candidate professionally immersed in talk of space, aesthetics, and identity, it is a personal joy to see such talent being nurtured in my own home town. Art has the power to transform lives and neighborhoods in a powerful way, and we UTSA graduate students were reminded of that fact as we observed the ongoing success fostered by your newspaper and mural projects. Kudos to San Anto for affirming and expressing the values of the Chicano community through artistic avenues; the cultural landscape of San Antonio is enriched by your work!

Peace, Amy Ritthaler Gilmour
Ph.D. Student, American Literature and Rhetoric
University of Texas San Antonio