Early Exposure: Growing the Next Arts Generation in San Antonio

Steven Brown·
MusicSan AntonioVisual Art
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The concerts, art shows and other cultural events in a city—say, San Antonio—don’t appeal just to the locals. Visitors take them in, too. Some events are attention-getting enough, even if they don’t involve Taylor Swift, that they can lure people to town especially for them. Others may catch the eyes of those who have come in for other reasons.

This is why the State of Texas lets cities earmark part of the money from the hotel occupancy tax for their local arts groups. There’s a double benefit to that: As the tax money helps the groups grow, their programming can pay extra dividends for their city’s residents—such as the 4,500 public-school students introduced to opera last year thanks to the same Opera San Antonio productions that adults took in.

“Our grants support our nonprofits (for their) operations and creating programs that are accessible to visitors,” says Krystal Jones, director of San Antonio’s department of arts and culture. The ripple effects, such as the school excursions to the opera, kick in next. “When you have a number of staff members that are paid for out of grant funding,” Jones continues, “they’re (also) able to do other programs—like programs for youth.”

She points to Musical Bridges Around the World, a group whose main concerts at San Fernando Cathedral—all free of charge—embrace classical and world music. Its Musical Sprouts program sends performers into schools, where it reached 8,000 students in 2023. Then there’s the chamber ensemble Agarita, which also weaves in school performances between installments of its main series.

Agarita is “so inventive,” Jones says. “Their programs resonate really well with youth. They bring classical music (to audiences) in a unique way.…. I remember a concert I went to that was focused on outer space. It was whimsical and educational.”

“I use a lot of my friends as test subjects,” Jones adds. “They’re not in the arts industry. I bring them to events with me, and I use them as my case studies. If I look at their faces and see that they’re really moved— “Oh my god, I didn’t know classical music could be this cool!”—the (concert’s) mission is fulfilled.”

Agarita, Musical Bridges and Opera San Antonio are among the 38 groups benefiting from the city’s main grants program, which gave out $4.4 million in 2024. It takes a different approach from many programs elsewhere—which typically support a single exhibition or event

“There are a lot of funders who say, ‘OK, create a new project,’” Jones says. An arts group may hear that and think: What if we don’t have the staff to create and promote something new? “A lot of nonprofits often express that they wish more funders would give funding for staff or administrative abilities,” Jones continues. “That’s where we come in—to ensure that there’s some longevity and sustainability with our organizations.”

Another difference: Rather than inviting groups to request a specific amount of money and then judging their applications competitively, Jones explains, the city instead takes their financial reports and awards all of them a set percentage of their outlays. The setup is “very transparent, and it creates a collaborative environment instead of a competitive environment,” Jones says, adding: “Our nonprofits have expressed time and time again that they like this process much better. There’s no infighting. There’s no, “Why is that application stronger than mine?’” And in the interests of the groups’ stability and planning, the grants run for three years, rather than the more typical one.

San Antonio’s arts and culture department manages an array of other programs, some funded for by the fees that Ticketmaster pays for operating at the Alamodome and other city-owned venues. It offers support for, among other beneficiaries, individual artists;  arts groups whose facilities need maintenance; and nonprofits that stage cultural festivals and such. Jones’ staff also handles the permitting for film and TV productions—such as Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923, which has filmed in various locations around town.

The department’s website includes a registry of San Antonio artists, more than 1,400 of whom display their bios, work photos and other information there. On top of all that, the staff oversees San Antonio’s public art program, which incorporates new sculptures or other art works in all the city’s building projects. One and half percent of each project’s cost is earmarked for art, Jones says, and community input feeds into the choice of artists and themes. Installations for San Antonio’s neighborhoods are in the pipeline, and this spring will bring announcements of works slated for downtown—completing a series launched for the city’s Tricentennial

“You’re going to have a great art walk all through the downtown area around Commerce and Houston streets, taking you all the way from the Riverwalk near our convention center to Market Square,” Jones says. “It’s going to be filled with art along that path.”

-STEVEN BROWN

Steven Brown

Steven Brown is a Houston writer who has been classical music critic of the Houston Chronicle, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.