FREE Events for the Summer!

Looking for something to do this summer? Here are some events that our affiliates as well as non-affiliates are hosting throughout the summer! And the best part? Everything is FREE!

Blue Star Contemporary Art Center

• Family Saturday
• June 16, 2012
• 9 am - 12 pm
• Family Saturday is an education program uniquely constructed for kids and their families to experience contemporary art in a gallery setting.

McNay Museum

• Entrance to Main Collection Galleries and Radcliffe Bailey: Memory as Medicine is FREE on H-E-B Thursday Nights (4 - 9 pm) and on AT&T First Sundays of the Month.
• Summer Jazz Concert: Henry Brun & the International Trio
• June 17, 2012
• 12:30 - 3 pm
• Escape the heat inside the comfortably air-conditioned Leeper Auditorium. Hear San Antonio's finest bands while enjoying food from the city's beloved restaurant Earl Abel's.
• Family Fun Event
• June 24, 2012
• See the exhibition Radcliffe Bailey: Memory as Medicine with your family. Create a collage or found-object sculpture. Move to the blues in a dance workshop. Listen to a storyteller and take a family tour at 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, or 3:30 PM. No reservations required. Pick up your free tour tickets, first come, first served, in the AT&T Lobby.

Museo Alameda

• Every Tuesday, admission to the museum is free all day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  From 4:15 to 5:30, the Museo offers Free Guided Tours.

San Antonio Children’s Museum

• Starting in June, FREE KIDS' NIGHT will move to the third Tuesday of the month to coincide with the city's free parking after 5:00pm initiative! Free Kids' Night in June will be offered both Tuesday, June 19th and Thursday, June 21st but will resume in July and continue on the third Tuesday of each month.

San Antonio Museum of Art

• Free Tuesdays from 4 pm to 9 pm & Sundays 10 am – 12 pm, stay all day and enjoy all the fun family activities.

SW School of Art

• Artist Talk – Helen Hiebert
• June 15, 2012
• http://www.swschool.org/events?scope=n30

TPR

• Cinema Tuesdays
• http://www.tpr.org/cinema/
• Suggested donations of $10 for members and $12 for non-members will get you into these one time only showings! Additionally, they are now offering a season pass good for all 15 screenings for a $100 donation.

Witte Museum

• Admission is free on Tuesdays from 3 pm until 8 pm.

Non-Affiliate Events

Alamo Drafthouse

• Summer Fun Movies
• http://drafthouse.com/movies/free_family_fun_happy_feet/san_antonio
• June 17 – Happy Feet
• June 30 – Nanny McPhee

Balcones Heights

• Jazz Festival
• http://www.reachfortheheights.org/jazz-festival
• The Balcones Heights Jazz Festival has been captivating South Texas jazz fans for nearly 20 years. The free concert series takes place each July and August, on Friday evenings at the spectacular outdoor Amphitheater at Wonderland of the Americas.

Bijou Theater

• http://www.freefuninsa.com/2012/06/12/free-movie-night-for-18-thursdays-5/
• Free movie showing every Thursday at the Bijou theater for the month of June.

Hemisfair Park - Movies by Moonlight

• http://www.sanantonio.gov/dtops/events/moviesbymoonlight.aspx
• The complimentary movies will be shown every Tuesday from June through August in the grassy area under the HemisFair Park arch, next to the Magik Theater. Pre-show entertainment starts at 7:30 p.m. followed by a brief intermission, with the feature film beginning at 8:30 p.m. Also, did we mention FREE parking downtown on Tuesdays?

Living History at the Alamo

• http://thealamo.org/visitors/events_details.php?date=2012-07
• Free First Saturday is an inter-active living history event that is designed to give visitors a glimpse of life at the time of early Texas. This event will focus health and medicine in the Republic of Texas. 

San Antonio Film Festival

• http://safilm.com/
• June 18 – 24

San Antonio Riverwalk

• July 4th Arts and Crafts Show
• http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/events/july-4th-arts-crafts-show/
• June 29 – July 2

Santiko’s Summer Movies

• http://www.santikos.com/summermovies.php
• Santikos presents Free Summer Movies! Every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 AM. Seating is first come, first served basis.

Meet theFund Board Member Marc Nourani

Marc has been active on the Board for over 5 years. He serves on theFund Finance and Luminaria Planning Committees and was an Area Captain at Luminaria 2012.   During his tenure with Citibank, Marc led the employee campaigns for theFund. Currently, Marc is a Director in SMB Operations & Resources for Rackspace Hosting where he helped theFund secure in-kind technology support.

“Why did you choose to become involved on the Board of theFund?”
I have always greatly admired and appreciated the artistic and creative talent of others,
especially because I don’t feel that is a talent I myself possess to any significant degree. Although I was neither born nor raised in San Antonio, I have come to love this city and her people over the past twenty years. Doing whatever I can to support and better our community is a passion for me. theFund affords me an opportunity to support arts and culture in San Antonio and enrich our community in a much more meaningful and significant way. San Antonio is already a wonderful city, but it is our arts, culture, creativity and passion that fuel our continual evolution into a world class community.”


“What advice do you have for those from the business community who are
interested in becoming more involved in their arts community?”
Certainly, do it! The level and quality of the arts and culture in a community embody the
creativity and passion that fuel the community and its evolution to world class levels. Given the vibrancy and breadth of the arts community here in SA, it could be daunting to pick only one or a few to support. theFund provides a wonderful opportunity for businesses and individuals to support many arts organizations with a single donation.


“Can you give an example of how the arts can effectively change business
practices?”
At Rackspace, we display art created by our Rackers and others in our community. To me, this is another shining example that our company is "all in" when it comes to supporting our folks and our communities. Moreover, the art inspires Rackers to be creative in their own right and serves as a continuing reminder that the only limits on our future are our collective imagination and creativity.

Enjoy the Summer with these Camps & Programs!

Summer is here and the kids are out of school… How are we going to keep them busy now? With summer camps of course!! Listed below are LOTS of camps and programs offered here in San Antonio this summer. Some of the events are for grownups too! Take a look!

Further information and details for registration for all the events listed below can be found here!

Carver Community Center

·        Theatre Summer Camp

o   June 11-29

·        Summer Dance Intensive

o   July 16-27

o   Ages 8-18

·        Carver Youth Matinee Series

o   All matinees are FREE, open to public and enjoyable for all ages.

o   Magik Children’s Theatre - If You Take a Mouse To School

-  June 15

Children’s Chorus of San Antonio

·        Music Together with CCSA is offering summer classes in the morning, afternoon, and evening at all 3 locations from July - September.

Children’s Fine Arts Series

·        Rapunzel by Paul Mesner Puppets

o   June 15

Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center

·        Camp Guadalupe

o   June 11 – July 27

·        Teen Arts Puentes Project

o   TAPP is an arts program for youth ages 13-17 years utilizing theater, visual arts, poetry and film/video. Participants create artwork as they explore their vision and identity.

o   To register online visit: http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/learn/tapp

·        Summer Classes

o   GCAC is also offering summer classes in karate, piano, guitar, painting and photography.

o   For dates and registration visit: http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/learn/summer-classes

·        Pop-up Potluck Project

o   Wednesdays 2:30 -4:30 PM

o   Guadalupe Theater

Jump Start Performance Co.

·        Summer Sparks New Works Festival 2012

o   June 8-9, 8 PM

San Pedro Playhouse

2-Week Workshops

·        Broadway Headliners Camp

o   June 11-22, 10 AM – 3 PM

·        Camp Creativity

o   June 18-29, 9 AM – 3 PM

·        Camp Broadway

o   June 9-20, 9 AM – 3 PM

·        Production Camp: TBA

o   July 23-August 4, 10 AM – 3 PM

1-Day Workshops

·        Shakespeare In A Day

o   July 5

·        Improv 101

o   July 3

·        Introduction to Stage Make-Up

o   July 2

·        Audition Workshop

o   July 6

Magik Theatre

·        Camp Showbiz 2012

o   Mon – Fri, 9 AM – 3 PM

o   June 11 – August 24

McNay Art Museum

·        Summer Jazz & Lunch Series

o   All shows in Leeper Auditorium at 12:30 PM

o   June 17: Henry Brun & the International Trio

o   July 29: John Magaldi & the Primetime Jazz Orchestra

o   August 26: Year of Jazz Concert / Joan Carroll & Footprints

·        Free Family Day: Families Past & Present

o   June 24, 1 – 4 PM

San Antonio Museum of Art

·        Summer Youth Program “What’s in Your Museum?”

o   Dragons, Heroes, and Monsters.. Oh My!

-  June 11 - 15

o   Fun with Folk Art

-  June 25-29

o   Passport to Asia

-  July 9-13

·        Second Friday ‘Scene at SAMA’ Happy Hour

o  June 15

o  5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

• FREE Museum Entrance on Sundays 10 AM – Noon!

San Antonio Children’s Museum

·        Summer Camps 2012

o   Mommy & Me Camp

-  June 25-29; July 16-20

o   Pint-Sized Science Camp

-  June 25-29; July 30-August 3

o   Build It!

-  June 25-29, July 9-13, July 16-20, July 23-27

o   Science Wonders

- July 9-13; August 6-10

o   Crafty Kids Workshops

-  1PM – 4 PM

Southwest School of Art

·        Summer Art Camp 2012

·        o   June 4 – August 17

Witte Museum
       Texas Nature Challenge

o   June 15, 2 PM and 3 PM

o   July 24, 5 PM and 6 PM

·        ·        Sunday Jazz at the Witte

o   June 10, 4-7 PM – South Texas Jazz Quartet

o   July 8, 4-7 PM – Mission City Hot Rhythm Cats

o   August 12, 4-7 PM – Graham Reynolds and Golden Arm Trio

Woodlawn Theatre

·        Ages 5 – 18

·        Mon – Fri, 9 AM – 4 PM

·        Camp Broadway

o   June 4 – 24

·        Camp Disney

o   July 9 – 28

·        Stage Makeup Workshop

o   August 6 – 10

Further information and details for registration for all the events listed above can be found here!

Witte opens So.TX Heritage Center

Witte Museum Opens Much-Anticipated

Robert J. & Helen C. Kleberg 

SOUTH TEXAS HERITAGE CENTER

               SAN ANTONIO— It’s time South Texas reclaimed the legendary story of this wild and vivid land, and the Witte Museum is doing just that with the grand opening of the Robert J. and Helen C. Kleberg South Texas Heritage Center, Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 26, 2012. This untamed country was the birthplace of ranching empires that continue today and was the crucible from which emerged the American Cowboy from his Vaquero forbearers. The South Texas Heritage Center, a 20,000 square-foot, two-story building that incorporates the historic Pioneer Hall, serves as a permanent home for the Witte’s South Texas collections, exhibitions and public programs, combined with the latest museum technology, to trace the legendary history of South Texas.

The Witte’s South Texas collections are cherished links to our interwoven heritage and include saddles, spurs, basketry, branding irons, historical clothing, land grants, art and firearms. The South Texas Heritage Center provides immersive and engaging experiences of real-life stories of the men, women and children of South Texas.  Hear the traveling narratives of Tejano Freighters and the historical narratives of Chili Queens, merchants, Texas Indians, Spanish settlers, trail drivers, ranchers and farmers. Encounter historic personas sharing the stories of vaqueros, cowboys, oilmen and women, gas industry leaders and the children who grew up on the land.

The main galleries of the new Center include exhibits on ranching, farming, San Antonio’s Main Plaza in the 1840s, the oil and gas industry, horse culture, life along the border and a gallery dedicated to the Witte’s seminal 19th and 20th century early Texas Art collection.

Additionally, the Witte’s ground-breaking 2006 exhibition, A Wild & Vivid Land:  Stories of South Texas, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors, has been enhanced and now takes its home in the South Texas Heritage Center.  A Wild & Vivid Land revealed the relevance and real-life stories of South Texans in a new and compelling way —and proved that present-day visitors want to understand the past.

 “Most people don’t know where they came from. And if you don’t know where you came from, I don’t know how you can set a course for where you’re going to go…It’s an important thing the Witte is doing to preserve the heritage of the families that developed and pioneered in South Texas,” said Mary West Traylor, South Texas rancher and Witte supporter.

Other Highlights of the Robert J and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation South Texas Heritage Center include a grand two-story entry hall; classroom space for educational programs for students; an outdoor amphitheater; sculptures and much more.

The South Texas Heritage Center is included with museum general admission. For more information call 210.357.1910 or visit www.WitteMuseum.org.

 The Witte Museum is one of the 26 Fund qualified affiliates.

"An Evening of Music and Film" -

This morning we were delighted to recieve this email from a student at Clark High School.......

My name is Ryan Christopher Gourley. I am a senior at Tom C Clark High School and I am organizing an event at my high school as part of an honors independent study mentorship class. On Tuesday, April 17th 2012, a few colleagues of mine and I will be hosting a concert and movie premiere showcasing the work of 4 students in the independent study course (myself included) who chose to study topics in the arts.

We decided to raise money for a charity while planning this event and ended up choosing your charity to donate to. We all have many connections to the organizations you support - Cleo, a violin player, is a member of YOSA, my mother, Noel Merriam-Gourley, works as an arts education coordinator for the San Antonio Museum of Art etc. All of us have been touched by the arts - we are all a part of the Clark Band and Full Orchestra.
I thought that I should let you know of the event ahead of time and how wonderful we think it is that there is a collective charity that we can donate to. I know it is sort of short notice, but if you would like to send a speaker to come talk during the intermission of our event, bring a poster or two, or just provide us with a little bit more information about the Fund, we will be more than willing to help you spread the word about the importance of the arts in San Antonio.

The event is called "An Evening of Music and Film" and will be held in the Clark High School Auditorium on Tuesday, April 17th 2012 at 6:30 pm. The address of Clark High School is 5150 DeZavala, San Antonio, TX 78249. It is a public event - feel free to spread the word, include the event on your website, and promote it in any way. We have a suggested ticket amount of $3 to attend the event (all the money is going to The Fund) and during the intermission we will speak about the importance of the arts and have another opportunity for people to donate. The Facebook event link is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/274720149283258/

The musical selections include advanced violin and piano solos and an advanced Hummel Trio in Eb. The Performers are all seniors at Clark: David Yznaga (Piano Soloist), Cleo Miele (Violin Soloist), Mari Castellano (Cello). The short film will follow after the concert and intermission. It is about acceptance, religious tolerance, and coming to peace with spirituality. It is an original film from scratch - the script, filming, planning, editing, and all of the music are original works by Adan Langbaum and I.

The arts will always stay a large part of our lives. It is because of organizations you support that we have access to wonderful music, art, and the culture of San Antonio. We are all seniors - Cleo and I will go on to study music in college and Adan is going on to study film next year. Thank you so much for existing and supporting one of the most noble causes there is.

Sincerely,
Ryan Christopher Gourley
Musician, Composer

Rod Rubbo, theFund President and CEO will be attending to speak and of course I will be attending to enjoy the music and film. Please join us ~Kathy

Language is attributed to the left side of the brain along with math.

However, in The Descent of Man, naturalist Charles Darwin called this process, "an instinctive tendency to acquire an art."

While it has been shown that each side of the brain dominates different functions, it also has been shown that it is the strength of the organization of networking is what is most important to excel. Great mathematicians or great musicians tend to excel because of their brain's ability to utilize both sides of the brain equally rather than show dominance for one side or the other. http://bit.ly/GS1TWH

 Math and music are closely connected in many ways. Rythm for example, is time measurement. Note values are specified by fractions of time measurement. This considered it makes sense, that students, who do well in music and begin at an early age, also excel in math. One theory is that music strengthens the neural chords that transmit information between the two hemispheres of the brains.

During a four-month study at the University of California Irvine, students who trained on a piano keyboard and played with a specially designed computer math game  scored 27% higher on math problems than did a control group that took English classes and played the same game.

''Piano instruction is thought to enhance the brain's 'hard-wiring' for spatial-temporal reasoning, or the ability to visualize ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time,'' says Gordon Shaw, professor emeritus of physics at the University of California-Irvine, who led the three-member research team.

100% of the 1st place winning team of the 2011 Los Angeles County Chapter Math Counts Competition from Palos Verdes Intermediate School (PVIS), plays a musical instrument. Not coincedentally, each of the eight-team members from PVIS also placed in the top ten of individual competition. http://bit.ly/apY07c

More impressive is the 1997 study conducted at the graduate school of education and information studies at UCLA that found that eighth- and 10th-graders with high arts exposure performed better academically than students with low exposure and were less likely to drop out of school.

Just as our abilities are strongest when both halves of the brain work together, education and academic excellence is strongest when the study of arts and music are considered equally important as math and science. 

This is one reason theFund considers supporting the arts not only integral to supporting education but a necessity to support education.

SUPPORT THE ARTS NOW

Continuing Tradition: Luminaria 2012

TheFund CEO Rod Rubbo and committee
 planning food and beverage booth locations

Plans are turning into action at Hemisfair Park for Luminaria 2012, set for March 10^th from 6 p.m. to midnight.  TheFund and representatives from the other organizations behind planning the festival met to discuss their plans recently.  Luminaria’s 5^th anniversary shows promise to be the best yet.

 

                                                                  TheFund has had a huge role in Luminaria’s success since its introduction in 2008.  From its humble beginnings of a small handful of volunteers made up of theFund Board members, it has since grown to include over 200 volunteers, 48 food vendors, 4 beer, 4 soda/water, and 2 t-shirt booths all serving to benefit the Arts in San Antonio.  It has grown to become one of the few festival celebrations to incorporate all forms of art, performance, and multi-media into a breathtaking display of innovation and creativity - all for free. 

TheFund has been consistently dedicated throughout the years to provide support for this unique experience that benefits those who really make it possible - the artists and upcoming artists of San Antonio.  TheFund coordinates volunteers, generates interest, and makes sure the proceeds from Luminaria go exactly where they should to better serve the San Antonio Arts - to Luminaria and theFund.  For more information on theFund and its affiliates, go to thefundsa.org