Viva Arte

02/15/2026

Final week to step into the stories that linger.

"Cuentos y Arte: Mexican American Folktales of the Southwest" closes February 22 at Centro de Artes, and our review is now live to guide your visit.

Through glowing night lights, haunting drawings, and sculptural retellings, the exhibition reveals how Mexican American folktales continue to shape cultural memory—especially through figures of feminine power that protect, avenge, and heal.

Before the doors close, read Elroy Kay’s review on our site, then go experience these stories for yourself: https://www.viva-arte.com/post/review-of-cuentos-y-arte-mexican-american-folktales-of-the-southwest

Folktales survive by being retold—and this is your final week to listen.

Every culture has its own ghost stories that act as cautionary tales—for instance, my friends and I were terrified of the “Bloody Mary” apparition as kids. Mexican American folktales, such as La Llorona, have established a legacy in popular culture, but a multitude of lesser-known figures and ...

02/02/2026

Only one week left to see Texas Ceramics: From Land to Hand at the Witte Museum.

Our review highlights the stories these pieces carry — from ancestral craft to everyday Texas life. If you’re looking for something meaningful (and beautiful) to visit this week, this exhibition is worth the trip.

The show closes February 8.
Read our review, then plan your visit: https://buff.ly/SsagZ7c


Image: Installation view of Three-Gallon Jug in Texas Ceramics: From Land to Hand at the Witte Museum. Image courtesy of Elroy Kay.

01/11/2026

Final week to catch “Sisyphus Strut” at Artpace San Antonio!

If you haven’t visited yet, now’s the time—and our review will walk you through why this exhibition is such an energizing love letter to the Southside.

From comic-book worldbuilding to punk nostalgia to portraits of everyday San Antonians, Juan Ramos builds a universe where ordinary people become heroes not through spectacle, but through community.

Head to Artpace before the exhibition closes on January 18, and check out our full review in the meantime: https://buff.ly/hfv9p78

San Antonians strongly appreciate counter-culture arts that actively promote stories that history has attempted to erase. Local artist Juan Ramos incorporates comic books and punk music as part of his solo exhibition at Artpace, Sisyphus Strut, to celebrate the people and culture of San Antonio’s ...

12/30/2025

Every culture has its ghosts.
Some warn. Some protect. Some demand to be remembered.

Our latest review is now live, exploring "Cuentos y Arte: Mexican American Folktales of the Southwest" at Centro de Artes—an exhibition where oral tradition becomes visual language, and powerful female figures emerge as saints, specters, and healers.

Written by Elroy Kay, this piece traces how artists Lisette Chavez and Angelica Raquel reimagine Southwestern folktales through contemporary art—revealing how belief, fear, grief, and feminine power are carried across generations.

Read the full review on our website, then experience the stories in person: https://www.viva-arte.com/post/review-of-cuentos-y-arte-mexican-american-folktales-of-the-southwest

Some tales are meant to be seen before they disappear.

Every culture has its own ghost stories that act as cautionary tales—for instance, my friends and I were terrified of the “Bloody Mary” apparition as kids. Mexican American folktales, such as La Llorona, have established a legacy in popular culture, but a multitude of lesser-known figures and ...

12/24/2025

As the year winds down, we’re sending gratitude and love to the San Antonio art community that shaped Viva Arte’s first year.

This season brought a pause with the start of grad school, while continuing our internship with Elroy Kay — whose final article will be published before year’s end. We’re embracing rest now, with a new feature coming in January.

Wishing you rest, joy, and meaningful moments this holiday season.

❤️ Viva Arte

Image: Mug purchased from at the

11/21/2025

Review now live!

At Viva Arte, we champion the artists who uplift the cultural heart of San Antonio—especially those whose work honors the stories, sounds, and everyday heroes often overlooked by history.

Our latest review looks at Juan Ramos’ “Sisyphus Strut” at Artpace San Antonio, a vibrant, punk-infused celebration of the Southside. From Southside Loteria’s intimate audio portraits to the playful, radical world-building of the C.H.A.N.C.L.A. superheroes, Ramos reminds us that community resilience isn’t quiet—it struts.

Read our full take on the exhibition, then stop by the Hudson Showroom to experience it for yourself: https://buff.ly/hfv9p78

Image: Installation view of Juan Ramos' "Sispyhus Strut" at Artpace. Image courtesy of Elroy Kay.

11/04/2025

We’ve been a little quiet the past few months, but we’re back with a new feature from our intern team. ✍️

Our latest article, Texas Ceramics: From Land to Hand, explores the Witte Museum’s current exhibition highlighting the creativity, cultural roots, and enduring significance of clay in Texas art. From ancient Caddo pottery to contemporary works made with local minerals, the show captures how material, place, and heritage shape artistic expression.

Read the full piece on our website, then make plans to visit the exhibition in person: https://buff.ly/MxFFowh

Stay tuned for one more article from our fall intern before we take a short break for the end of the semester and holidays. 🌿

10/15/2025

🌟 Artist of the Week: Crystal Rocha 🌟
Insta: crustalmath

Crystal Rocha is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in San Antonio whose practice spans oil painting, drawing, interactive installations, and curatorial explorations. At the heart of Rocha’s work is a deeply personal mission: to express the journey through young adulthood, grief, and emotional growth in ways that connect with others.

Currently practicing at Mercury Project, Rocha is fresh from their solo exhibition "As I See It" — which recently received praise from Nicholas Frank in Glasstire. Their work invites viewers into an intimate process that Rocha describes as a “picture diary,” where concepts and emotions become a language of communication.

Outside the studio, Rocha channels creativity into the world of hospitality and specialty coffee, bringing the same sense of care and craft to community spaces.

💬 In their own words:
“I like to treat it all like a picture diary. In a way, using the concepts as a way to express thoughts and emotions that help me communicate with others.”

Image 1: Photograph of Crystal Rocha. Image courtesy of artist.
Image 2: Crystal Rocha, Nothing Taste the Same, 2021. Oil on canvas, 34x32." Image courtesy of artist.
Image 3: Crystal Rocha, Lost in the Supermarket, 2022. Installation view at Clamplight. Image courtesy of artist.
Image 4: Crystal Rocha, Waking, 2023. Colored pencil on paper, 11x14." Image courtesy of artist.

10/08/2025

🌟 Artist of the Week: Kandelyne Gomez 🌟
Insta:

Born and raised in San Antonio, Kandelyne Gomez is a self-taught artist whose work reflects her identity as a Chicana/Chichimeca/Apache woman. Deeply rooted in heritage, culture, and community, Gomez’s style fuses the emotive textures of Impressionism and Expressionism with the bold vibrancy of Fauvism — all imbued with her distinct “Chicanative” touch.

Golds, jewels, feathers, and embellishments bring her paintings to life, creating layered worlds that explore femininity, resilience, spirituality, and the lived experiences of being a Texan-Chicana-Indigenous woman.

At the core of her practice is a mission to inspire others — especially mothers — to embrace their creativity unapologetically, to take up space with their art, and to discover wholeness through self-expression.

✨ Highlights & Recognition:
🎨 2023 Brushworks Gallery Artist Grant Winner
🎉 Official 2025 Piñatas in the Barrio Poster Artist
📚 Contributor to the Mexican American Archive at Centro Aztlán
📺 Featured on Good Morning SA
🖼️ Exhibited widely across San Antonio with murals and live paintings at community events
🌹 Preparing to show in Centro Aztlán’s Virgen de Guadalupe exhibition this fall

💬 In her own words:
“No matter your age, how many children you raise, or how loud fear speaks — your passions deserve space. Create anyway, because art has no deadline or requirements.”

Image 1: Headshot of Kandelyn Gomez. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image 2: Kandelyn Gomez, Mariachi #2. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image 3: Kandelyn Gomez, Tonantzin Amor. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image 3: Kandelyn Gomez, Tonantzin. Image courtesy of the artist.

10/01/2025

🌟 Artist of the Week: Ann Enzminger 🌟
Follow her practice on Insta: .studio .mermaid.farm

A painter at heart and multidisciplinary creator, Ann Enzminger bridges painting, fiber art, and narrative to explore themes of gender, labor, and place — often with humor as a tool for social critique.

A native Texan (born in Houston, raised in Austin), Enzminger spent seventeen years in New York City before relocating to San Antonio a decade ago. With a BFA in Theatre and an MA in Media Studies from The New School, she now balances artistic practice with curatorial work. Most recently, she opened Enzminger Studio at 1906, a workshop space for both personal growth and community exchange.

✨ Current highlights include:
🎨 Soft City: San Antonio Perspectives — a series of handcrafted felt aerial maps of San Antonio art spaces
👩🎨 Greater Than 40: An Exploration of Women and Their Art After the Age of 40 (Creator/Co-Curator)
📸 Trouble in Southtown — a Fotoseptiembre group exhibition unpacking the layered meanings of “trouble” in one of San Antonio’s most dynamic neighborhoods

At the core of Enzminger’s practice lies a belief in art as both personal and communal:

🌿 “This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals… dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem…” — Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

And, in her own words:
✨ “Don’t fear joy.”

Image 1: Ann Enzminger, The Machines are Coming, 2025. Pecan shell sculptures. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image 2: Ann Enzminger, Motherland I, 2022. Acrylic on Canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image 3: Ann Enzminger, 1906, 2025. Needle felt on felt. Image courtesy of the artist.