Editor’s note: The San Antonio Report is pleased to feature the weekly bigcitysmalltown podcast hosted by Robert Rivard, co-founder of the Report. We’ll be publishing a brief synopsis of the podcast each Tuesday.
San Antonio and the Mexican city of Querétaro have much in common. Of similar size, both cities share related colonial histories, are known for UNESCO World Heritage sites honoring historic monuments, are popular with tourists and both boast thriving artistic cultures.
The gentler summer climate of Querétaro drew San Antonio artist couple Kathy and Lionel Sosa to spend time there, resulting in a new binational cultural relationship and an upcoming art exhibition.
BigCitySmallTown host Robert Rivard sat down with Kathy Sosa and Museo de Arte de Querétaro Director Antonio Arelle Barquet to talk about the two city’s similarities and opportunities.
“One of the things that we fell in love with before we even knew Antonio was the Museo,” Sosa said, “which is a 17th-century convent of the Augustinian nuns in one of the most beautiful buildings you’ll ever see.”
While San Antonio’s historic designation protects the Spanish colonial missions and the Alamo, “Querétaro has hundreds of edifices that are still intact from past centuries that form that historic downtown monumental district. It’s really amazing, the scope and size of what’s been preserved there,” Rivard said.
The Sosas and Barquet met through a mutual friend, a conversation that eventually resulted in planning a show of San Antonio artists opening in September at the Museo.
Among artists featured in the exhibition, titled El Otro Lado Del Espejo (The Other Side of the Mirror), will be Jesse Treviño, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jacinto Guevara, Cristina Sosa Noriega, Ito Romo, Terry Ibañez, Celeste De Luna, Cruz Ortiz.
While many artists of Querétaro and San Antonio share ancestral heritage, it might be assumed that their cultural viewpoints have diverged into distinct national identities.
However, Sosa said, “the way they express their cultural identity in their art is very common. … I think it will be honestly a mind-blower and a mind opener to the Mexican museum-going audience to see how that cultural identity is so important and [is] expressed so loudly in the art of our artists here in San Antonio.”
Listen to episode 64 of bigcitysmalltown for more on the project, including a four-part television documentary to be aired on KLRN.
