The San Antonio River Walk is glowing with pride this Hispanic Heritage Month. The beloved Hispanic Heroes celebration is back from September 15 to 30, turning six iconic River Walk hotels into open-air galleries filled with art, music, and the stories of the people who shaped the city’s sound.
This year’s installation features six original portrait illustrations honoring local musicians and community builders whose talent and dedication helped define San Antonio’s cultural identity. Visitors strolling the downtown River Walk can discover the portraits of Alfredo Flores Jr., who turned his family’s piano shop into the Alamo Music Center; Henry Gomez, the Tejano and mariachi musician, arranger, and producer who has mentored generations of artists; Janie Esparza, founder of Janie’s Record Shop and member of the National Hispanic Music Hall of Fame; singer-songwriter and radio host Alyson Alonzo; Bell Solloa, founder of the High Voltage Music Program offering free music instruction to youth; and chef and community builder Chastity ‘Chas’ Morales.
The portraits were created by San Antonio artists Marco Vargas and Crystal Tamez, carrying on the city’s long tradition of public art as storytelling. The installation was produced in partnership with Visit San Antonio, UT San Antonio Libraries and Museums, the Community Engaged Digital Scholarship Hub, and San Anto Cultural Arts, and it expands on ‘The Sounds of San Anto,’ an oral-history archive preserving the voices of San Antonio’s music community.
Take a walk, find all six portraits, and celebrate the voices that made San Antonio sing.
Photo: Visit San Antonio
