Art In the Open is a San Antonio River Foundation initiative and program to support artists and engage the San Antonio River community and our visitors with contemporary art experiences.
Artists are invited to present projects along the San Antonio River and its tributaries that align with the San Antonio River Foundation’s mission to enhance the river as a vibrant cultural experience and promote and encourage the conservation, stewardship, and enjoyment of the San Antonio River Basin.
Art In the Open is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation and the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts.
Now seeking proposals for the 2025 Art In the Open program.
November 16, 2024
Jennifer Khoshbin and Nanako Pastol, KISS THE SKY
Artists Jen Khoshbin & Nanako Pastol [JK|NP} have teamed up to create an installation of soft sculptural artworks – including pieces designed to rest on, place in your pocket, or wear for the day, entitled KISS THE SKY. This installation celebrates Confluence Park’s beautiful, natural environment and its use as a community gathering space. KISS THE SKY will collaborate with sound artist Josh Glenn in creating a tapestry of sounds, tapping into a deeper sense of who we are as a community, while surrounded by nature and nature-inspired artworks. As part of their professional art practice, Jen and Nanako often take inspiration from San Antonio’s river, plants, flowers, and seeds. Gathering together, we invite visitors to experience the benefits that nature-based communal spaces have on us all.
KISS THE SKY is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Jennifer Khoshbin is a San Antonio public artist, having exhibited in cities, galleries, and museums throughout the US, and published and written about widely. Her commitment is to exceptional artistry and community engagement through engaging public and private art installations and collections. Born in Philadelphia, Jennifer Khoshbin was exposed to art at an early age. Both her grandfather and uncle are master carpenters; her mother is a ceramic artist; her brother a curator and her sister a performance artist. It seems meant to be. Khoshbin studied Fine Arts and Sociology at the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Kentucky, graduating with degrees in Sociology and Art. Khoshbin has worked with bookshop owners, neighborhood committees, city councils and national institutions in a variety of public art collaborations. Khoshbin’s artwork often tells a partial story, while allowing the viewer to add their creative ideas and feelings to the work, creating a sense of ownership and endless interpretations of the piece.
Nanako Pastol is a San Antonio based Japanese artist who loves working with paper and fabric. Nanako was born in Tokyo, Japan (1977) came to the United States at age 15 to study English and art in public high school in Utah, studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley College, also studied Fashion Design at International Academy of Design and Technology in San Antonio. She has worked as a fashion merchandiser for retail companies like COACH, Gucci Ann Taylor, and ZARA. Amongst many creations with private clientele, she is known for her murals and art project partnership with artist Jen Khoshbin. Pastol currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband, their two daughters, and a few furry animals.
March 9, June 15, September 14, & November 2, 2024
Antonio Martinez, Sonic Transmission
Sonic Transmission has been presented quarterly at Confluence Park in March, June, September, and November 2024.
This sonic exploration has featured sound artists, DJs, and musicians Aura Nox (Berlin), Marcos Cabral, Bill Converse (Austin, TX), Kelby Clark (Nashville, TN), DJ Venus, Hal Lambert & Mitchell Mobley (Baton Rouge, LA), Kowboy, Patina Lush (Austin, TX), Antonio Martinez, Fabian Moss (San Antonio), Zach Smith, John Hernandez & Wizard Skin (San Antonio), Mt. Borracho, and Speculator, with projections by visual artists Forum Sound, Om.i.god, A._B., and Diego Chavez of AM Architect.
Sonic Transmission performances are made possible in part by a generous grant from the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts.
Sonic Transmission is an immersive sonic exploration through experimental sound, music, and visual art curated by San Antonio-based artist and DJ Antonio Martinez.
October 10, 2024
Xavier Gilmore, LoopsSounds&Songs
Xavier Gilmore’s performance for Confluence Park picked up where his earlier sound piece AnOriginal Drive left off. As an individual performance, LoopsSounds&Songs focused on visual and environmental ambience with audio composed of manipulated samples of the AnOrginal Drive performance and other processed audio, and visuals from his Naptime study using his own hair as source imagery, with a generative approach for unpredictability.
LoopsSounds&Songs is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Credit: Anthony Francis
Xavier Gilmore is an interdisciplinary artist and producer who works in sound, traditional mediums and collaborative performance. Both personal and communal, his work uses life experience and familial history; drawing from old magazines, records(LPs), personal recordings, songs and books to explore the idea of constant reinvention. By incorporating new media and technology with traditional mediums he creates relationships that reimagine the past and to present alternate futures and realities. He has exhibited regionally and internationally at Artpace, Lawndale Art Center, Museo Soumaya and the McNay among others. Gilmore holds a BFA from UTSA and studied at School of the Art Institute Chicago, and Universidad de Las Américas Puebla, Cholula, México.
September 20 & 21, 2024
Adnan Razvi and Taylor Cleveland, MAWIMBI
MAWIMBI is a visual series by artists Adnan Razvi and Taylor Cleveland featuring two nights of projections of large-scale moving blue and water-themed abstract glitches onto the built structures of Confluence Park.
From Adnan’s process of involving direct interaction with the waterways and natural environments, layering and building sediment to create, this series evolves in a collaboration with Taylor Cleveland, incorporating motion and real-time digital projections, bringing the artwork to life through dynamic visuals.
MAWIMBI is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Adnan Razvi (b. 1987, Chicago) is a Ugandan Pakistani American, Texas‐based multidisciplinary artist exploring themes related to identity, futurism, ecology & water, migration, displacement, and joy.
Over the past decade Adnan was a highlighted artist in a group exhibition titled “American Painting Now” curated by Erin Joyce. Adnan was a featured artist in a group exhibition titled “ZARAFA UNFOLDING” at SP/N Gallery. In 2022, Adnan had his first solo exhibition, FLORAL FUTURISM, at CAED Galleries in Dallas, TX. In 2022, he was selected to exhibit at ART214, at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, TX. Adnan was then a part of a group exhibition ‘Looking at Us: Examining Institutional Critique’ in Idyllwild, California. Adnan was nominated by Daisha Board Gallery to exhibit at the “Rising Star Exhibition and Fundraiser Reception”. Adnan was also a featured artist in a fundraiser group show with the “Savan Collective” at Prime Produce, in NY. In 2023, Adnan opened his solo exhibition, “MAWIMBI” at Charles Adams Gallery in Lubbock Texas, receiving a ‘Top 5 exhibitions in Texas’ rating for the month of July, 2023. In 2024, Adnan was invited to be a featured artist for a group exhibition titled “Blurred Lines”, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, in Abu Dhabi. Adnan had an exhibition showcasing “MAWIMBI” at PX.LAB in Dallas, Texas. The series was recently showcased at The eArthspace in London, UK. The series is to be featured at the Chong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA) in South Korea. His physical iterations and AI/motion collaborative pieces are slated for exhibition at the Sun Valley Museum of Art in Ketchum, Idaho in the summer of 2025. Adnan graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a focus on Historical Studies and Studio Art/Painting. He currently resides and has a private studio in Dallas, TX.
Taylor Cleveland (b.1992, Dallas) is a Texas-based artist driven by a fascination with technologic systems that shape realities—from AI, digital media, and the internet, to social technologies like culture, language, and politics. Having received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he is currently developing his MFA thesis, ‘Aesthetics of Real,’ at Southern Methodist University. His work has been recognized internationally through various exhibitions and collaborations including the AI/motion pieces featured in Adnan Razvi’s, international “MAWIMBI” series, being a featured artist for Meow Wolf, and having been published in the Nasher Sculpture Center magazine. Cleveland’s most recent exhibition, Water Wars: Ro2, at Ro2 gallery in Dallas, Texas was featured in Glasstire’s “Top 5 in Texas” during July. Taylor has also worked for commercial clients including Disney, American Express, & Paramount Studios, and has won various marketing awards for this work, including Webby, Clio, and Shorty Awards.
June 27-July 26, 2024
Kara Salinas, Tentsallation at Confluence Park
Tentsallation is a sculpture designed to resemble sails that can be linked across any site. Each piece is a colorful triangular prism constructed to connect in various formations, integrating seamlessly with its surroundings. This work celebrates place by playfully interacting with the natural ecology and built structures. This summer, Tentsallation will be installed at Confluence Park, sailing beneath the petals of the BHP Pavilion.
Tentsallation at Confluence Park is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
As a San Antonio native, artist, and educator with a rich background in digital art, design, and architectural construction, Kara Salinas’ work is deeply rooted in the exploration of materials as a means for storytelling and expressing the human experience. Her installations are intricately connected to place-making, transforming spaces into narratives that invite public interaction. Through her art, she aims to create playful expressions that engage people of all ages, using materiality to weave stories that resonate with and enrich the community.
May 4 – 31, 2024
Audrya Flores, Play and Decay at the Confluence
Using locally sourced flora, artist Audrya Flores collaborated with workshop participants to create an organic assemblage depicting a giant flower-serpent. During late spring, when plant life is lush and temperatures are beginning to rise, this creature playfully coils in full bloom on a hillside near the San Antonio River in Confluence Park. Over time, with the help of the elements and local fauna, the installation decays, disassembles, and reintegrates itself back into the landscape of the park. This work celebrates cycles and the precious, fleeting nature of life.
Play and Decay at the Confluence is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Audrya Flores is a Tejana artist and mother who repurposes textiles and organic materials for her mixed media works. Through storytelling and myth-making, she explores trauma, healing, and identity. Her work is influenced by all things natural and supernatural as well as her roots in the border town of Brownsville, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has exhibited at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Mexic-Arte Museum, Lady Base Gallery, Provenance Gallery, Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival, Centro de Artes, Culture Commons Gallery, Central Library Gallery at San Antonio Public Library, Contemporary at Blue Star, and Sala Diaz. Flores lives and works in San Antonio, Texas.
For more information about Audrya Flores and her artwork, visit https://jaguar-opossum.blogspot.com/.
April 27, 2024
Infrarrealista Review, Viva La Confluencia
Infrarrealista Review seeks to take back the most powerful tool found in all humans — genuine expression, to debunk the biases barricading the arts, and to bring back popular culture; to provide a new entry to art powered by providing a space for poetry readings, gallery receptions, educational workshops; to elevate Central-Texan artists who don’t have a platform, and to activate people’s appreciation for expression; to publish local writers, cultivate a local culture that connects local political issues with the arts to eventually create a sustainable cultural economy. Expression lives everywhere.
Infrarrealista Review will host Viva La Confluencia at Confluence Park featuring an ecopoetics workshop with Connor Nielson (Austin, TX), readings by workshop attendees and regional poets including Jacinto Cardona, Dee Lalo Garcia, Connor Nielsen, and Camille Sauers, and a special performance by Poshlust.
Viva La Confluencia is supported in part by the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Infrarrealista Review is a Central Texas literary nonprofit that publishes creative work by Texans and prioritizes art that pushes against the borders of highbrow and lowbrow.
For more information, visit infrarrealistas.org/.