The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center has always believed that there is no room for racism, hate, or xenophobia in the arts or anywhere else in our community, our city, our state, our country, or in our world. Since our founding in 1980, we have given voice to the unheard, have been a space for those who have been kept out, and have celebrated the differences of those whose differences have been disparaged. 

We firmly believe that all of our communities are worthy of love, respect, and justice, and because of this, we stand hand-in-hand with our Black sisters and brothers in their long and historic struggle for equality and justice. 

We express our deepest sympathies and stand in solidarity with the family and friends of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others, and with them, we cling to the hope that their memory guides us to a more perfect union.

Directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra
2019, Documentary/Thriller, USA, 95 min.
In Spanish with English Subtitles

Winner of the Premio Mezquite Special Jury Award at CineFestival 2019

Guadalupe friends & supporters,  

 We hope this message finds you and your families safe as our prayers and blessings go out to our communities. We want to thank you for supporting us and giving us time to adapt to this crisis.  Without a doubt, uncertainty has become the only constant in the non-profit industry, amongst many others, and we continue to monitor the current health pandemic closely every day. 

 In these trying times, reducing the spread of COVID-19 is our main priority.  Artists, freelance workers, and nonprofits are creating strategies to support the well-being of our communities regardless of our worries about sustaining our artists, making payroll, and the hidden costs of canceling programs. 

 Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, the Guadalupe has canceled the biggest festivals we produce, Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio and CineFestival until next year, and all of our live programming for the rest of this fiscal year including Celebrando Tradiciones.  However, we are also excited about the new opportunities to deliver some of our programs to you online.  The following programs are in the works –  

• Dance & Music Academy online classes for students at all levels link

• Free Facebook live and YouTube dance and music mini-classes link

• Tejano Conjunto Festival online link

• Grupo Animo Summer Youth Theater Troupe program

• Online CineFestival screenings online Virtual Gallery tours 

 We stand in solidarity with all our artists that, in many cases, don’t have a strong economic safety net and are proud of the dedication, creativity, and support of our audiences, so we are pivoting as quickly as possible to continue serving all of you.  I invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel to follow our many offerings there.

Support is crucial at a time like this and we will sincerely appreciate any financial contributions you can make online.  Your donations will help cover the 33% of our annual income we are losing this fiscal year due to the halting of economic activity and will go towards paying artists and cultural workers to produce our online programming.  Please consider making a contribution to the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center today. 

 Once again, thank you very much for your support y que Dios los bendiga.   

Sincerely, 

Cristina Ballí 

Executive Director 

San Antonio (June 15, 2021) —  The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center announces it is the recipient of a major contribution in the amount of $1,000,000 by MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett.

“We are extremely grateful to receive this unsolicited and unrestricted award,” says Cristina Ballí, Executive Director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.  “We are humbled by this vote of confidence and know this will be transformational for our organization.” 

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) preserves, promotes and presents Latino, Chicano and Native American art and culture in all arts disciplines – dance, music, literature, performing arts, visual arts, media arts, and folk and traditional arts.  It runs a seven-property campus on the corners of Guadalupe and Brazos streets, which includes the historic Guadalupe Theater, in the heart of the historic West Side of San Antonio. Founded in 1980, the GCAC has served as a vital cultural institution and epicenter of art making in one of the most socio-economically challenged areas of the city.   

For over forty years, the Guadalupe has produced legacy and highly acclaimed programs such as the Tejano Conjunto Festival, CineFestival, Teatro Chicano, Galeria Guadalupe, Guadalupe Dance Company, and the Guadalupe Traditional Dance and Music Academy.  The organization has been the home and a platform for many local artists; has provided meaningful cultural arts education to multiple generations of children and students; nurtured the artistic development of thousands of artists; and has delighted countless audiences with culturally authentic and relevant entertainment while garnering national and international acclaim along the way. 

“Like so many organizations leading and serving people of color, the Guadalupe has worked to overcome adversity to serve its community despite financial constraints. This award will stabilize the capacity of the Center; ensure that our programming can continue to strengthen and expand, and provide us with the investment needed to reinforce our mission and impact for decades to come” says Ballí.  

“This award is historic and allows us to dream and strategize big,” says Celina Peña, Board Chair of the Guadalupe, “this donation will catalyze our efforts to grow operations, programming, and buildings that are in need of love and care.  

We are proud of and thankful to dedicated staff members and artists who have contributed their talents to the organization over the last forty years, this gift would not be possible without them. We are appreciative to our friends and supporters who have contributed to the Center to ensure our mission remains vibrant. And, most importantly, we are grateful to the thousands of community and audience members who have walked through our doors celebrating our cultural heritage and art. They are the heart and soul of this organization and we look forward to being here for many more years to come.” 

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is also supported with multi-year funding by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and Ford Foundation, the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.