Art Madness 2026: The Finalists
Art Madness 2026: The Finalists
Let’s meet SAMA’s 2026 Art Madness Top Four! After many close matches, here is what made it to the final rounds. 🏀
Make sure to participate in the final round of voting on Friday, April 3rd. Polls will be available on Facebook and Instagram!
Statue of Athena, Roman, 1st century A.D., marble, 56 × 24 × 15 in. (142.2 × 61 × 38.1 cm), Gift of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. 86.134.112
Statue of Athena
Date: 1st century A.D. | Culture: Roman
Origin: Roman Empire | Height: 56 in.
Athena, goddess of arts, crafts, and war, is depicted here in a Corinthian helmet and the aegis, a breastplate ringed with snakes that has the head of the Gorgon Medusa in the center.
Japanese, 18th to 19th century, Pair of Inari Fox Kami, Japan, Asia, Edo Period, Lacquer, pigments, and wood, 13 3/8 × 5 1/2 × 13 3/4 in. (34 × 14 × 35 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with the Lillie and Roy Cullen Endowment Fund, 2022.5.1. a-b
Pair of Inari Fox Kami
Date: 18th to 19th century | Culture: Japanese
Origin: Japan | Height: 13 3/8 in.
This pair of Foxes, called "Kitsune" in Japan, represent Shinto deities of the Inari shrines dedicated to the Shinto deity for rice. Foxes were common in Japan and lived closely with the human populations; many stories about them developed over time.
Dawson Dawson-Watson, American, 1864–1939, Spanish Governor’s Palace, San Antonio, Texas, 1937, Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 × 25 1/8 in. (76.5 × 63.8 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Kelso Endowment for Texas Art, 2019.6.
Spanish Governor's Palace, San Antonio, Texas
Date: 1937 | Artist: Dawson Dawson-Watson
Origin: | Height: 30 1/8 in.
In 1929, the Spanish Governor's Palace became the San Antonio’s first municipal museum. Dawson Dawson-Watson painted the scene at least five times, exploring the play of light and shadow on the whitewashed stucco courtyard.
Al Rendon, (American, born 1957), Selena, 1993, Archival pigment print, image: 15 3/4 × 12 in. (40 × 30.5 cm) sheet: 17 1/8 × 13 in. (43.5 × 33 cm), Gift of Harriett and Ricardo Romo. 2025.10.14, © Al Rendon
Selena
Date: 1993 | Artist: Al Rendon
Origin: Texas | Height: 15 3/4 inches
Known for documenting Latino culture in Texas, Rendon worked closely with Selena at the height of her career. This portrait merges documentary traditions with formal precision and emotional impact, securing Selena's enduring role in regional and transnational cultural memory.
