When you think of San Antonio, what comes to mind? Maybe tacos, los Spurs, or the Alamo — but what about art?
The San Antonio Street Art Initiative (SASAI) is looking to make San Antonio an art destination by creating the largest outdoor gallery in Texas.
Founded in 2018, SASAI is an artist-run, independent non-profit that is striving to embrace and has been a champion for public art spaces. It has since completed 62 murals and advocated for the careers of 46 SA-based artists.
While SASAI has already completed an impressive amount of murals around the city, building the largest outdoor gallery in the state is no easy feat. In order to accomplish its goal, the project was split into several phases.
Here’s a breakdown of those breakdowns:
Phase I launched on Nov. 3, 2018 under the highway at St. Mary’s St. + Quincy.
A total of 16 artists collaborated to transform this space into one of the newest landmarks in San Antonio. To get a sense of the scale of this project, we recommend you watch the Phase I recap video — skip to the 36 second mark to view the project in all its glory.
Phase II was launched on Mar. 30, 2019 spanning across 13 city blocks down N. St. Mary’s St.
San Antonio OG’s know this as the true nightlife and live music scene. However, SASAI took to its brushes to give The Strip a fresh new coat + encourage more day foot traffic. Check out the digital mural map for Phase II. Editor Ivan’s personal favorite is one by SA artist @deletedtx depicting a surrealist Chihuahua floating over a seascape amongst an array of purple cacti — yeah, you read that right.
Phase III was to launch in early 2020, but we all know that year canceled many planned events.
Instead, SASAI scaled back on mural projects and opened an art gallery inside HOPSCOTCH. But as soon as spring came, safe outdoor projects were back on with a total of 10 new murals needing to be completed — this time beginning at SAMA and extending all the way into Southtown at Pabst Blue Ribbon’s temporary art gallery. This wall crawl can be quite the trek, so we recommend you check out the mural map if you’re looking to see them all.
Phase IV is still in the (art)works and slated to launch later this year.
However, an open call for Eastside artists is posted on SASAI’s website. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for our city.
While SASAI boasts an impressive number of murals, the organization is always looking for funding to complete its ambitious goals. You can donate to the nonprofit via PayPal or Venmo by scrolling all the way down on its website homepage.
However, one of the best ways to advocate for art is by posting it online and letting others know the value it has in the community. All murals by SASAI have the artists’ socials to easily tag these SA creatives. Share your photos with us for a potential feature in the future. Have a happy wall crawl, San Antonio.