die Spanierin: St. Tony

Guess which building is the community arts office.

It's the closing of our first work week, and I wanted to share with you a little about my placement now that I'm a wee bit accustomed to it.

A giant paleta falls from space, embedding itself in the San Anto front yard! They turn it into a bike rack.

As I mentioned previously, I will be spending the next year working for San Anto Cultural Arts, Westside's premier community arts association. They deal in local murals, a six-issue-yearly local newspaper, and associated after-school creative workshops for local kids.

As an administrative assistant, I spent most of the week sleepily inputting data and folding screen-printed cloth over fliers inviting community members to the annual Huevos Rancheros gala. So far my job consists of doing whatever my supervisors Sam and Kaycie need done - which is anything from updating spreadsheets to counting mail to checking cloth for stains before we print on it.

Thursday got interesting when the creeping storm clouds finally broke, splattering rain and booming thunder while we all took turns screen printing more gala invitations and hanging them by clothespins to dry. Huevos Rancheros, from what little I have gleaned so far, seems to be San Anto's most important yearly event. It takes place in the morning; actual huevos rancheros are served and the work of local artists is auctioned off to help support San Anto. Most importantly, Huevos Rancheros honors two community members, crowned as King and Queen Huevo, whose work (from what I can tell) has impacted local cultural development.

Gala invites on clothespins.

The capes of King and Queen Huevo keep company with the copy machine.

Work at San Anto is partially structured and partially varied. There's the professional side of the organization; all of the local sponsorship and reporting data to the city that keeps a nonprofit going. San Anto's after-school youth programs run the gamut from folk singing to photography, and of course there's the newspaper and the large-scale mural projects - so I expect I'll be witness to many an exciting event over the course of the next year.

The editor of El Placazo community newspaper at work.

I spent most of Thursday tracing chalk squares into old bed sheets and slicing them out with a box cutter. We needed at least 100, which would be screen printed in gold paint with this year's Huevos Rancheros logo, wrapped around paper invitations, and mailed off to a long list of community members. We all got a turn with the screen printer, even the boss, mostly because no one could figure out a consistent method to ensure that the entire print would impress clearly.

My supervisor, Sam, screen printing cloth.

How did the print come out?

This is what the screen looks like. Special paint is spread over the top and pushed onto fabric to impress the design.

A nice toasty print, drying under the heater.

I think I'm going to enjoy my time at San Anto, especially as an environment steeped in local art and creative types coming in and out. My mission in essence is to be wherever they need me, but it doesn't hurt working for a place that is firmly committed to the health and cultural development of its immediate community.