Pablo Miguel Martínez, a San Antonio native poet and essayist, has been named the new executive director of the San Anto Cultural Arts Board of Directors. His official first day will be June 9. The Westside nonprofit arts organization, established in 1993, provides support for artists of all ages and backgrounds including educational/mentorship programming for youth, public art, and the production of El Plazaco Community Newspaper.
The board conducted a national search and selection process, according to a May 18 news release, to fill the position when Harvey Mireles, a former associate director for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and a retired noncommissioned officer in the Air Force, stepped down in February to pursue other opportunities. Former board president Ernesto Rubio, Jr. will continue to serve as interim director until Martínez’s official start date.
The board has also selected a new president and vice president, Sarah Zenaida Gould and Adriana M. Garcia, respectively, who will be replacing Cristina Ordoñez and Ruben Luna.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors we are excited to welcome Pablo Martínez home to San Antonio and to the San Anto family,” stated Gould, lead curatorial researcher at UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures.
Garcia is an artist and instructor at the closing Sanford Brown College.
San Anto’s board provided this background for Martínez:
Mr. Martínez is a San Antonio native who previously held senior management positions at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Meet the Composer, where he developed and implemented a large-scale international artist-exchange initiative. Most recently he has held teaching positions at Our Lady of the Lake University, Lone Star College, and the University of Louisville. A published poet and essayist, his work has appeared in various literary journals and newspapers. His collection of poems, Brazos, Carry Me (Kórima Press) received the 2013 PEN Southwest Award for Poetry. Martínez’s poetry chapbook, Cuent@, will be published by Finishing Line Press later this year.
*Featured/top image: San Anto Cultural Arts organizers and community members gather for a group photo in front of their building (2120 El Paso St.) and new paleta bike rack in March 2013. Photo by Melanie Robinson.
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