Streets throughout VIDA are another way that the Southside San Antonio master planned community will celebrate the contributions of local artists. Street names throughout the community will be named for notable and emerging local artists across the genres of music, painting, writing, cooking and beyond. The new Southside community adjacent to Texas A&M University – San Antonio will highlight artists throughout the development, both in presenting their work, or referencing their talents. In this second installment, we will detail more artists recognized among the street names for the first residential phase of the community, now under construction.
Malou Flato courtesy of Foltz Fine Art
Malou Flato
Flato Lock is named for painter Malou Flato. For the past 24 years, Flato has been commissioned to produce numerous paintings and sculptures throughout Texas and in various locations throughout the United States. Six of her paintings were completed and made for San Antonio with the first being completed here in 1980. Flato also crafts sculptures and to ensure her work seems to come alive due to her specifically leaving fingerprints making it known they were handcrafted. A signature trait of her paintings is the use of Japanese paper. Using the paper’s translucent properties, she paints both sides of the canvas to help further the painting’s direction. Flato says she often makes decisions on her work from a distance, backing away and going right back in to balance the colors.
Diana Kersey
The street Kersey Mill celebrates the prolific career of sculptor Diana Kersey. Since she was a child, Kersey has worked solely with clay and ceramics making pottery sculptures and installing large architecture. Kersey says she sees a divide between people and nature, but with the use of clay, she can bridge people back with nature and close the gap. Kersey has been commissioned for several public art pieces you can find in San Antonio including beautiful vibrant clay canvases that can be seen at the Via Metropolitan Transit Center. One of her most recent works is called the Riparian Edge and is on display at the new Oxbow Building. She enjoys having people interact with her work, so it is particularly satisfying to have her work displayed throughout public places in her hometown.
Rolando Briseño
Briseño is dedicated to Rolando Briseño just as he is dedicated to ensuring that people are aware of the city’s Mexican heritage. Briseño crafts art for the public, showcasing otherworldly paintings which connect our humanity: body, and soul with the cosmos. His art is meant to inspire others and remind his audience to be more inviting and comfortable with Latino artists. His art mimics that of papel picado, cut-out paper, a style referencing the Mexican heritage in San Antonio. In Briseño’s paintings, he also uses many colors like a rainbow, a personal symbol for the LGBTQ, himself, and his partner.
Azul Barrientos courtesy of @azulmusica
Azul Way
Azul Way goes to Azul Barrientos, a singer and musician who has had an interest in music since she was three years old. Growing up, Barrientos was surrounded by a variety of music due to her siblings’ different tastes, however, her parents’ love for traditional has caught her interest. She plays at the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center where she thought the audience would ask her not to play songs of her choice but found the music she loved so much, is still enjoyed by many others.
As VIDA grows it will continue to find ways to celebrate the arts in all forms across the community, inviting new generations to learn about and participate in the rich artistic fabric of San Antonio. Watch https://www.livevida.com/ for updates on the many artistic expressions at San Antonio’s master planned community of VIDA.