Explore San Antonio’s Culture Commons Gallery

This cultural space integrates the arts into our civic conversation by encouraging creativity, supporting local culture and engaging our community

Exhibition View at Culture CommonsCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Welcome to Culture Commons

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.

Located in the historic Plaza de Armas Building

The gallery can be found just behind San Antonio's City Hall at 115 Plaza De Armas, 78205. It is always free to visit. Operating Hours: Wednesday – Friday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Note: closed on City of San Antonio holidays.

Maria Victoria De La Cruz, Domestic Worker & Top Activist; Rosie Castro by Adriana GarciaCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

The Gallery's Vision

Culture Commons serves as the City of San Antonio's cultural space that integrates the arts into our civic conversation by encouraging creativity, supporting local culture and engaging our community in transforming the future. It has a rotation of exhibits on display annually. 

Curator Barbara FelixCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Past Exhibition - Featured November 17, 2023

Between Yesterday  & Tomorrow: Perspectives from Black Contemporary Artists of San Antonio  was curated by Barbara Felix. "The goal was to drive the collective vision of Black contemporary artists as documentarians of the historical and social conscience of their time."

Status of Women in San AntonioCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Featured Artworks by 17 Black artists from San Antonio

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

Earth Dream Perpetuan, Eternas, & Substantia by Wardell PicquetCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Wardell Picquet

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.

She Shines Her Light by Alethia JonesCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Alethia Jones

After experimenting with jewelry making and leather-crafting, Jones began painting on canvas and completed her  first painting, Victory in 2018. Jones’ work primarily focuses on spirituality, mental illness, and lucid dreams.

Sunday Best, Praying for Deliverance, Wade in the Water Ready, Preaching the Word, Delivering the Word by Paul HurdCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Paul Hurd

Hurd’s mixed media sculptures in clay or wood are rich in artistic motifs, iconography, and convey narrative themes that range from commentary on social mores to representations of cultural heritage and spirituality. 

BETJEC-O by John ColemanCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

John Coleman

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.  

Contemplating Flight by Calvin PressleyCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Calvin Pressley

Calvin Pressley primarily focuses on oil painting, drawing, and mixed media. When approaching the canvas, Pressley stated that he always starts with large color fields to navigate the surface area and build surface textures.

Dynamic (Female Collage #4) by Kaldric DowCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Kaldric Dow

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.

Voices of Africa, Emerging Voices by Naomi WanjikuCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga

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. 

The One with the Working Hands, I Wish Someone Told Me This When I Was Younger by Edward HarrisCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Edward Harris

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. 

Growth by Angela WeddleCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Angela Weddle

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. 

Gaia of the Fight by Kwanzaa EdwardsCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Kwanzaa Edwards

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.

Invitation Only by Carmen Cartiness JohnsonCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Carmen Cartiness Johnson

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. 

Brain what are you thinking?, Now, Serenity by Don StewartCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Don Stewart

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.

The Crutch Series, "Slave Narratives: Transbluency #5" (Commissioned work from Crutches Series) by Bernice Appelin WilliamsCulture Commons Gallery, Department of Arts & Culture/City of San Antonio

Bernice Appelin Williams

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.

Credits: Story

@GetCreativeSA #GetCreativeSA #CultureCommons 

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