Group+6+Guadalupe+Cultural+Arts+Center+Conjunto+Festival

Luis, Echavarria, Russell Cantu, and Gabriela Chavez ** The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) ** ** (//Cultural implications of Tejano Conjunto Festival Posters//) **

** By: Russell S. Cantu, Gabriela Chavez, and Luis Echavarria **

** UTSA IDS 3123-91J **

** Professor: Dentith **

** 7-10-2011 **

** Thesis Statement **

As the leading Mexican American cultural organization in the greater San Antonio, Texas area, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) has for over 30 years sponsored, “the Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio, the largest festival of its kind in the world to an international audience of over 30,000.” (GCAC, Xicano, 2011). In examining some of the festivals’ annual poster contest entries and winners over the past 30 years we will demonstrate how folk, mass and popular culture serves as a collective voice and what the messages, desires, and values say about the socio-cultural atmosphere as well as the political environment of the times in San Antonio. We will also look at how Tejano Music has in turn been economically influenced or driven within a context of overlapping sets of social relationships between the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, the artists creating the different artistic forms and the target audience.

** History of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center **

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization. Located in the heart of San Antonio's west side, it is the largest community-based, multi-disciplinary organization in the United States. It was in a Performance Artists Nucleus (PAN), Inc. Economic Impact Study, that the renovation of the Guadalupe Theatre into a Hispanic Visual and Performance Arts Center was first mentioned. “The Guadalupe Theatre which is optimally situated to accommodate the Hispanic Arts and its patronage,” (PAN, ca.1980) eventually became The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s permanent home. “The Theatre opened its doors in the early 1940’s when Guadalupe Street first developed into a center of Hispanic cultural arts and entertainment. In its hey-day the Guadalupe Theatre featured Spanish movies and vaudeville which showcased local and Latin American talent. The architectural style reflects a unique cultural influence which is of historic national significance. The architectural style of the building is Mission Revival. It became part of a bustling economic environment when Guadalupe Street developed as a major thoroughfare traveling from the center of the city towards Castroville.” (PAN, ca 1980)

At the archives of the Institute of Texan Cultures, UTSA Libraries, Special Collections, we discovered a short organizational history seemingly produced around 1984 about the recently formed Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. It began with a short introduction of the state of Mexican American, also referred to as "Chicano" arts and culture, in San Antonio and the importance of the Mexican American culture as an attraction for drawing visitors to the city. Where as, "The tourist literature produced by the Visitors and Convention Bureau exploits the uniqueness of Mexican American culture in its efforts to attract more visitors to the City....there has been little or no support for cultural arts funding from federal, state, or local agencies. The prevailing attitude has been one of cultural bias toward more traditional Anglo-European artists and arts forms" (GCAC, Organizational History, ca 1984). Chicano cultural arts were limited to "innocuous presentations" of ballet folklorico and mariachi music with artists and performers left to their own means and devices to train, develop, produce, and present their art forms As an example of the disparity between Mexican American/Chicano arts and cultural funding and Anglo-European arts and cultural funding, the history documents that between 1975 and 1980, the city of San Antonio appropriated over 4 million dollars for the arts and cultural funding. Of that total, Chicano arts and culture received a measly 150 thousand dollars or just over 3.7% of the total secured. In an effort to secure more sponsorship of Chicano arts and culture, the Performance Artists Nucleus (PAN) Incorporated, formed in 1979 to unite various Hispanic arts groups with no operating budget, and was totally dependent on volunteers who freely contributed their services and materials as possible. The purpose of the organization was described in Article II, Section I as: "Performance Artist Nucleus, Inc (PAN) is organized not for profit under the laws of the State of Texas, as a Xicano Arts corporation for the purposes of: 1) establishing a quality Xicano Cultural Arts Center with creative programs designed to develop, preserve, and promote the different arts disciplines (music, dance, literature, visual arts, and drama); 2) implementing quality Xicano arts programming and services for the community; 3) establishing a facility to showcase Xicano artists and create an educational environment for creative exchange between artists and community" (PAN, Articles, 1979).

With the percentages of money being allocated to Chicano arts and culture increasing from 6% in 1979-80, to 29% in 1981-82, PAN decided to join a loosely-knit group of Chicano organizations united as the San Antonio Consortium for Hispanic Arts (SACHA), and was selected as the administrative unit (or Umbrella organization) under which a number of other art groups which had been approved for funding but lacked tax-exempt status could be funded. In 1982 PAN changed its name to The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and was incorporated as a corporation under the Texas Non-Profit Act. “The Center consisted of the Xicano Music Program, the Visual Arts Program, the Literature Program, and the Drama Program.” (GCAC, Organizational History, ca 1984).

** Introduction to Tejano/Conjunto **

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was born from a cultural need to preserve, develop, promote and present Mexican American, also referred to “Chicano” or “Xicano” art and culture. Although the Tejano Conjunto Festival celebrates all things Tejano, it is important to note that not all Mexican American culture fits into the Chicano or Tejano label just as other ethnic groups and political groups not of Hispanic descent may lay claim to the Tejano identifier based on: historical influence; an ancestral descendant of a Texan; or on the basis of Texas citizenship. According to the //Texian Web//, the words “Texian”, “Tejano” and “Texan” have the same origin. Texian [means]//.// A word (in Spanish Tejano) describing both male and female citizens or the culture of the former province of Tejas, New Spain, the Texas section of the state of Coahuila y Tejas, Republic of Mexico, and the subsequent Republic of Texas. Government officials including Miguel Ramos Arispe, author of the Mexican Constitution of 1824,referred to the residents of Texas as Tejanos. President of the Texas Republic, Mirabeau B. Lamar, used the term Texian to promote national pride. The current term Texan eventually replaced both terms after annexation. (The Texian Web, 2007)

In fact, Tejano Conjunto Music, one of the most distinctive Tejano folk arts, is in fact a compilation of different ethnicities and musical styles which began when Northern Mexican “Rancheros” were synthesized with German polkas, waltzes and schottishes. “In the late 1800’s the Mexican population of South Texas and northern Mexico adopted the lively button accordion from the German settlers and combined it with the Spanish guitar, or bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar), to develop a new style of music known as Conjunto.” (GCAC //History,// 2011//).// The term “Conjunto” literally means group or ensemble.

The first Conjunto recordings were made in San Antonio in the late 20’s to mid 30’s at which time the radio industry popularized Conjunto music among the Mexican-American people. “Music was available to them via radio on stations such as KONO, WOAI, KMAC “Mexican Commercial Hour,” WOAI “Latin Melodies” and others (Sandoval, 2002 from Garcia, The Rise). Conjunto became the music of the Hispanic masses which were predominantly poor. With World War II came educational and fiscal opportunities for the Hispanic community. In 1939 at the start of WW II, there were approximately 2.7 million Americans of Mexican decent living in the U.S. Of that number about 500,000 most of them Mexican Americans served in the military during the war. These men saw a lot of combat, served in overseas locations, received a lot training, and were the most decorated ethnic group in the military. Kelly Air Force Base employed a lot of these returning veterans, which helped give rise to the Hispanic middle class. Much like the American middle classes of the late 1800s, this Hispanic middle class saw Conjunto music as the music of the small-town blue-collar workers and rural farm laborers. It w anted to distance itself from the peasantry of their past and grow closer to the educated (dominant) class of the future. John Storey would have referred to this resentment as the focal point for the creation of a “folk” culture.

** Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio ** San Antonian Juan Tejeda a Conjunto accordionist, organized the first Tejano/Conjunto music festival because of the hostility aimed at Conjunto by “an increasingly urban and expanding Chicano middle class” (Brooke, 2011) which emerged after World War II. Tejano Conjunto music grew in popularity and in form. It added bass and drums, then a second accordion, keyboards, synthesizers, saxophones, percussion and substituted guitars for bajo sextos. Vocal styles varied from solos to complex four-part harmonies. This new style became known as Tejano/Conjunto. The Tejano Conjunto Festival has grown into a six day event held at San Antonio’s Rosedale Park, with over 42 hours of live music."While the festival performances are the element that draws the attention, the festival includes much more. A Poster Contest, which is the means by which the official festival poster is selected, attracts larger numbers of entries each year." (Brooke, 2011). Over the years the influence of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center has reached out to popular culture by expanding its repertory of folk, popular, and modern art forms. Their list of services encompasses six distinctive art disciplines: “Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Theater Arts, Visual Arts and Music” (The GCAC Brochure, 2011). Since the Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival is its largest cultural event it is fitting that we focus on this event as a means to examining popular culture.

** Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio Poster Contests ** The six disciplines currently offered: Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Theater Arts, Visual Arts and Music will be briefly covered below: The GuadalupeDance Company was founded in 1991 and is considered one of the leading professionalFolklorico and Flamenco dance groups in the nation. The goal for the danceprogram provided at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is to “preserve,present, and promote our cultural heritage through traditional and contemporarystyles of music and dance.” The nature at the center embraces our culture aswell as our history. Everyone is welcomed no matter the level of your danceskills which is great since there are no boundaries in order to experience whatour culture has in store for us. It also gives everyone an opportunity to learnabout history and tradition. The next program is Literature which basicallystrives to increase the interest of literature use. Literature seems to be weakif we think about it and so the Guadalupe Arts Center works on fixing thisissue and so supports all writers whos job is a big part in our community. Nextis the Media Arts Program which started in 1977 and presents the oldest and largestinternational Latino film and video exhibition in the nation. The goal of theMedia Arts is to preserve and promote Chicano and Hollywood Latino films in itsown Cine Festival and actually has a Premio Mesquite Award which recognizesexcellence. Next, we have the Theater Arts Program which presents, preserves,and develops Chicano Latino experience to our community. Opportunities areprovided for new creative works that reflect life and popular culture alongboth sides of the border through the Gateways Creation and Presentationprogram. The program also allows U.S. artists to work with Mexican artists todevelop multi-disciplinary works in the performing arts that take theirinspiration from the interplay between contemporary Mexican and Chicanocultures. The Theater Arts Program also works with international artists whocollaborate in the creation production of new work. Next, we have the VisualArts Program which is the oldest program. The goal is to promote and conservethe history and experiences of the Indigenous Chicano Latino. Technicalassistance as well as studio space is provided so that artists are able to givetheir ideas and information. Classes and workshops are also a part of theVisual Arts Program. Finally, the Xicano Music Program which promotes andpreserves traditional music of the Chicano Latino. Artists are helped intouring Latin America which then helps them cross geographic and culturaldivides to increase the traffic of fresh, challenging artistic work. Every yearthe Xicano Music Program sponsors the largest festival in the world, the TejanoConjunto Festival. References: Brooke, B. 2011. //Tejano-Conjunto Music Festival//. 2camels.com. Retrieved from: [] Performance Artists Network, Inc. 1979. //PAN Articles of Incorporation//. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Records, 1981-2005, MS 158, Archives and Special Collections Library, Box 25, Folder 2, University of Texas at San Antonio. Performance Artists Nucleus (PAN) Inc. (ca. 1980). //Economic Impact Study//, Institute of Texan Cultures Archives: Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Box 25, Folder 2. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. 2011. //Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center/About us//. Retrieved from: [] Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. 1982. //GCAC Articles of Incorporation//. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Records, 1981-2005, MS 158, Archives and Special Collections Library, Box 25, Folder 2, University of Texas at San Antonio. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. (ca 2011). //The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center// [Brochure], Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, TX. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. 2011. //History of Conjunto Music//. Retrieved from: [] Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. 2011. Xicano Music Main. //Xicano Music Program//. Retrieved from: [] The Texian Web. 2007. //Texas// //History on the Internet.// Retrieved from: [] Sandoval, J. 2002. //San// //Antonio// //in the 1920’s. “The City of Opportunities for the Mexican and the Mexican American//” Retrieved from: []