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.