SA's City Wide Music Festival Takes Over The Westside
Art. You can find it in music, in our fashion, in our spokenword. Art is in our homes. It defines usand shapes us into the people we are today. Imagine walking into a neighborhood in SanAntonio and seeing almost every form of art being represented on one singleblock. From photography to poetry, fromlive art painting to a runway of exotic clothing. Many vibrant colors to absorb all at once andbeing presented in a way like no other. This is not a dream. This is one man’s vision that has quicklyturned into a reality with the help of a tight knit community. Ahumble group of artists, musicians, poets & volunteers have made thispossible going on its third year this October. Prepare to be amazed.
There are many contributing factors and behind the scenesupporters that fuel Una Noche De La Gloria. I had the pleasure of recently attending the “La Gloria” press event atthe Museo Alameda that brought out a few local supporters of the project. A well received $2,500 donation was presentedto Velasquez quickly matched by the art department of Our Lady of The LakeUniversity. Actor Jesse Borrego was onhand to give a few words of encouragement stating that he was working on havinga “La Gloria” live web cast viewing in Los Angeles and maybe even Paris. Artists can look forward to the possibilitythat art collectors on the other side of the world can see what amazing talentour great city has to offer. Among theother local celebrities attending the press event was the legendary San Antonio artist Jesse Trevino and Marcelino Villanueva thewinner of the 2012 Fiesta Poster Design contest. The official unveiling will take place early2012.
Where did all this begin? Gabriel Velasquez & his brother Roger, who was a very talentedmusician, became heavily involved in the local music industry at a young age herein San Antonio.
“I was part of the first generation of street DJ’s here inSan Antonio. This was the beginning ofthe club scene. Dancing was part of theculture.” Velasquez continues, “So whileall that clubbing going on when all the 20 year old DJ’s were working in theclubs there was no street scene. So wecreated that street scene and that included 14 to 16 year old discjockeys. All you needed was a truck, andthere was these new sounds systems and turntables the accessibility to allthat.” Velasquez states with enthusiasm. “It was during that time that I hit the street and became a disc jockey.When I went to Trinity I joined the college radio and I started off inclassical music then ended up where I really wanted to be at and that wasJazz. Blue Label Jazz is what I learnedthen I began to create a more interesting fusion at Trinity. The year was 1985. I had a lot of support fromthe station. A couple years later I heard that KSYM was lookingfor a jazz director. They had recently lost LadyJ, and I went over there and became the jazz director.” Wanting to create something originalVelasquez took all his experience in being a street DJ, mixed it with a varietyof Spanish and English jams and used that for his on air program.
After years of organizing many successful exhibitions bothin and around the art and music community, Velasquez soon became a wellrespected leader and organizer in the city being involved with numerous largescaled projects. He was soon invited byMayor Hardberger to be the main art organizers of the well known event known asLuminaria in Hemisphere Park. He organizedover 150 local Hispanic artists to be part of the kick off to this eventlabeled “Arts Night in SA”. Afterhelping make this event a complete success Velasquez went on to create UnaNoche De La Gloria. “What comes after Luminaria?” He asks rhetorically. “Well Luminariais the light. After the light comes the glory.”
“The term comes from the religious concept.” He continues. “Thismeans what we really want to happen in the arts is for our paintings to bebought, our bands to be hired, and our poets to be heard. Co Founder Jesse Trevino told me at thebeginning.” ‘We have to focus on the onething that we think is most important. Ifyou really want to give an artist an award, buy one of his paintings. That’sthe greatest award you can give them.’ “Werealized what we really want to happen was self determination, work forceparticipation.”
“This is not an event. It is a bi product of the all work we do year round.” Velasquezexplains. “The work that we do is notorganizing the event, but its strengthening our social network. Una Noche De La Gloria is an art communitybuilding project. That network of about100 people behind La Gloria did not know each other before this event. The whole reason behind La Gloria is to learnfrom each other and grow as a community. In the end we hope to create a littlebit of a revolution to the way we look at ourselves as artists.”
Una Noche De LaGloria will take place October 8th 2011 on the corner of Guadalupe& Brazos and extends up toS San Jacinto St primarily in the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Discrict. This isan all day event. Come out and witnessthe product of the imagination and organization of a great community. Bring an open mind, buy some artwork andprepare to experience una noche like no other.
“Una Noche de LaGloria is a professional development strategy for independent artists organizedand managed by the Contemporary Art and Literature Organization (CALO) and co-sponsored by Councilman David Medina.”
G.Tomas Vasquez 2011
Backbeat Magazine #22 2012 Issue
To view entire Issue please visit http://backbeatzine.com
