C O M M U N I T Y
S.M.A.R.T cultivates community through the S.M.A.R.T. community Garden, by hosting the popular Second Saturday monthly artwalk and the annual A Day In Southtown event.
The S.M.A.R.T. Education Garden brings together community by tending, nourishing, cultivating and teaching the importance of sustainability.
Second Saturday Artwalk, founded in 1996 by S.M.A.R.T. Executive Director Andy Benavides, is a family friendly monthly event in Southtown. The art walk has grown from serving 1,000 people to over 8,000 people annually. Each month S.M.A.R.T.'s 14 art studios open for the evening, creating a night full of art, music, food, fashion and community.
A Day In Southtown is Southtown's free annual celebration
of the creativity and community that seeds it's neighborhoods.
For this day, S.M.A.R.T. proudly sponsors up to 30 art education workshops spread throughout the District. Learn more about the event here: #ADAYINSOUTHTOWN EVENT SCHEDULE
S.M.A.R.T. / The NRP Group partnership
In 2012 The NRP Group opened Cevallos Lofts. Part of The NRP Group's mission with Cevallos was to develop a community space that accomplished two things: (1) make local art accessible to their residents and (2) support the local art community. Every year since 2012, SMART organizes an annual art exhibition where local nonprofits and educational institutions are given an opportunity to exhibit in what is often their first public art experience. In partnership with The NRP Group, the reception is held every March during Contemporary Art Month. All works are for sale and the show runs for an entire year.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Behind The Lens: Light of the Eastside
by: Light Catchers Society
March 2020 - February 2021
Jazmon Limón, 2019
Behind the Lens is a collection of work showcasing the individual strengths of 11 - 12 year old photographers representing the Eastside (Harvard Place / Eastlawn neighborhoods). Known together as the "Light Catchers Society", these eleven young artists provide excerpts from their visually-based storytelling in order to shift the narrative of their community.
Participating artists include
Cesia Martinez Cortéz • Jazmin Limón • Mayte Lara • Vicente López •
Martin Patino • Kimberly Rubio • Ricardo Vásquez • Israel Acosta Willis •
D'aviona King • Alejandro Vásquez • Nehemiah Welch
Cevallos Lofts Past Exhibitions
2019 | St. Philips College, Fine Arts
2018 | San Antonio Ethnic Art Society
2017 | Art Institute of San Antonio
2016 | Trinity University
2015 | Texas State University
2014 | Photohive
2013 | Mark Hogensen, Cruz Ortiz, Antonia Richardson
2012 | San Anto Cultural Arts & Local & Texas based artists