page_title: Culture of San Antonio
section_title: Museums
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of San Antonio / Museums
caption_attribution_description: English: McNay Art Museum, San Antonio Texas.
context_page_description: The culture of San Antonio reflects the history and culture of one of the state's oldest and largest cities straddling the regional and cultural divide between South and Central Texas. Historically, San Antonio culture comes from a blend of Southern, Western, and Southwestern. Founded as a Spanish outpost and the first civil settlement in Texas, San Antonio is heavily influenced by Mexican American culture due to Texas formerly being part of Mexico and, previously, the Spanish Empire. The city also has significant German, Anglo, and African American cultural influences. San Antonio offers a host of cultural institutions, events, restaurants and nightlife in South Texas for both residents and visitors alike.
context_section_description: Artpace San Antonio is a residency, educational, and exhibition program that was opened in 1995. The foundation is housed in a renovated 1920s era Hudson Dealership building in Downtown San Antonio. The organization promotes itself as a laboratory for the advancement of international contemporary art. Artpace's primary focus is its International Artist-in-Residence program which annually invites nine artists to live and work in San Antonio to conceive and create art projects that are exhibited three times a year. A guest curator selects three artists, a Texan, one from another U.S. state, and one international to create new work while living at Artpace. In addition to these nine artist exhibits, Artpace has an additional four exhibitions a year.
  The Blue Star Contemporary Art Center (BSCAC) was established as a grassroots response to the cancellation of a contemporary arts exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art in 1985. The effort aimed to establish a venue for the exhibition of contemporary and new art in San Antonio. The center is housed in an adapted 1920s era warehouse facility located on the banks of the San Antonio River. The organization, which was originally operated by artists and volunteers and is now run by artist and director Bill FitzGibbons, was organized with a professional director and staff in 1988. Today the center has over 20 exhibitions each year that showcase local, regional, national and international artists. The facility in which the center is housed is now referred to as the Blue Star Complex and has been redeveloped as an arts-oriented mixed-use development that includes loft/studio apartments, galleries, retail, performance spaces, artists' work spaces, and design offices. BSCAC led the San Antonio's establishment of Contemporary Art Month held annually in July at over 70 venues.
  The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC), founded in 1980, is a nonprofit organization established for the promotion of the art and culture of Chicano, Latino and Indigenous peoples. The GCAC is located in the heart of San Antonio's west side, and its public and educational programming consists of varied programs in dance, literature, media arts, theater arts, visual arts and music. Annual events include the San Antonio CineFestival and the Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio.
  The Institute of Texan Cultures opened as the Texas Pavilion at HemisFair '68, the 1968 World's Fair. The exhibit was well received and remained after the fair closed. Now a museum run by the University of Texas at San Antonio, it aims to promote better understanding of cultural history, science, and technology and their influence upon the people of Texas. The museum houses permanent exhibits on 26 ethnic and cultural groups, touring exhibits, publications, a library focusing on ethnic and cultural history, a historical photo collection of over 3 million images, outreach and education programs, and the annual Texas Folklife Festival.
  The McNay Art Museum, founded in 1950, is the first modern art museum in Texas. The museum was created by Mrs. McNay's original bequest of most of her fortune, her art collection and her 24-room Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion that sits on 23 acres (93,000 m²) that are landscaped with fountains, broad lawns and a Japanese-inspired garden and fishpond. The museum focuses primarily on 19th and 20th century European and American art by such artists as Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O'Keeffe, Diego Rivera, Mary Cassatt, and Edward Hopper. The collection today consists of over 14,000 objects of contemporary art and sculpture. The museum also is home to the Tobin Collection of Theater Arts, and a research library with over 30,000 volumes.
  The San Antonio Museum of Art is housed in the 1884 Lone Star Brewery and was opened in 1981. The building's renovation and adaptive reuse, designed by the Cambridge Seven Associates, has won several architectural awards. The building was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The museum has over 30,000 objects in 
caption: The McNay Art Museum
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