When journalist Randy Beamer first set out to make a documentary about San Antonio artist Jesse Treviño, it was supposed to be a comeback story.
In 2021, Beamer said Treviño “was feeling better than he had in years” after overcoming throat cancer. At the time, Treviño had a lot of ideas for upcoming projects, and the two decided to collaborate on a video to document Treviño’s progress.
They would hang out and talk about Treviño’s life and new ideas, sometimes for hours at a time. But Beamer said he wasn’t sure if he would “do anything with [the footage] down the road.”
Treviño died in February at the age of 76, leaving a legacy that can be seen all over San Antonio. The projects Beamer was documenting were left unfinished, and while he was sorting through footage for a half-hour segment for KLRN about Treviño’s life, Beamer realized 30 minutes wasn’t nearly enough time to do the artist’s story justice.
With the hourlong documentary Treviño – The Artist. The Man., which premiered on June 30 on KLRN, Beamer said he wanted to share the story of a San Antonio legend and his important work.
“[San Antonio] understands the importance of art, but it still does not understand the importance of its own artists. And that’s really what Jesse’s message has been,” said Gabriel Velasquez, the president and CEO of the Avenida Guadalupe Association and a close friend of Treviño’s.
Beamer said he’s thankful for KLRN’s patience while he worked on the documentary. “I had so much material, but I really wanted to spend the time to put it together right, to think about it, to interview a whole lot more people,” he said.
The extra effort was worth it because the finished product told much more than any regular segment could have about the life and passion Treviño had.
“His story tells the story of so many things — of the cost of war, of sacrifice, of service … of Chicano art,” said Beamer.
Despite how much the documentary was able to share, there were plenty of details that were left out because of the time constraint. Beamer also made sure to strike a conscious balance between the good and the bad of Treviño’s complicated life.
While the documentary highlights Treviño’s work as an artist and activist, it also touches on his struggles with his physical health, PTSD and depression that strained some of his personal relationships. In the documentary, Anthony Head, the author of Spirit: The Life and Art of Jesse Treviño, said Treviño had kept his struggles “as private as possible.”
“What’s important right now is that many of us who loved Jesse, cared for Jesse, use him not as a role model but as a person to be admired because he survived,” said George Cisneros, URBAN-15 co-founder and friend of Treviño’s, in the documentary.
Beamer said he hopes to one day put together an extended version of the documentary so that more about Treviño’s life can be highlighted. For now, Treviño – The Artist. The Man. can be streamed on the KLRN website and will air Friday at 10 p.m. and on July 16 and July 30 at 2 p.m.
