Explore San Antonio’s Culture Commons Gallery

Culture Commons is managed by the City of San Antonio's Department/Arts & Culture and consists of a storefront gallery located on the first and second floors as well as a 1,500 sq. ft. exhibit hall that features visual art exhibits, performances, invited speakers and workshop.

Themes included Black History and identity, family dynamics, social connections and personal human experiences.

Wardell Picquet is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, he taught Art and Graphic Design in the New Orleans Public Schools system.  He also spent ten years as a full-time college Graphic Design Instructor.

John Coleman is a self-taught artist nationally known for his paintings of African American life.  Starting out as a wildlife painter, Coleman eventually transitioned into the African American figurative art he is known for today.  

Dow's most notable accomplishment is a public art sculpture design commission by the City of San Antonio that graces Martin Luther King (MLK) Park. His dynamic portraits have been featured in a myriad of group and solo exhibitions and can be found in collections across the US.

Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga is a Kenyan American artist known for her mixed-media work. She combines African craftsmanship, classical art, and contemporary experimentation. Wanjiku was introduced to basket-weaving by her grandmother prior to her formal education. 

Harris works in various artistic mediums and methodologies that include painting, soft sculpture, and body and movement-based performance art.  Throughout the years, they have discovered their voice in their work and have developed their artistic skills and sense of self. 

Angela N. Weddle is a professional visual artist who is autistic with cerebral palsy, and congenital right hemisphere brain damage. She is a  neurological anomaly and savant, who is not supposed to have any artistic ability but always has. 

Kwanzaa Edwards is a San Antonio based painter and illustrator who has been honing her skills in figurative painting since 2014. Inspired by anime and fantasy art, her paintings explore the intersection of being a Black person and female.

Carmen Cartiness Johnson is a self-taught artist raised in Kansas City, Missouri. Her narrative works include abstract and figurative paintings. She began creating work based on summers visiting her grandmother’s Arkansas farm. 

Don Stewart works with acrylic paint and other media who creates narratives that deal with the inner conversations he has on social and personal concerns, and other sensory input. His work is influenced by music, literature, sights, sounds, and smells from his environment.

Bernice Appelin-Williams has always possessed an outrageous imagination.  As an only-child, she created mischief by disassembling clocks and radios. She is a mixed media artist who “creates works that encourage self-examination, self-empowerment and self-healing.