Top 10 Moments of 2024
SAMA's Top 10 Moments of 2024
2024 welcomed new exhibitions, artworks, people, and programs to the San Antonio Museum of Art. Thank you for being a part of our mission and vision. Scroll down for a look back at our top ten moments of the past year.
Family Day: The Age of Armor
This year’s Spring Break Family Day was themed around The Age of Armor: Treasures from the Higgins Armory Collection at the Worcester Art Museum. It was the largest in the Museum’s history with over 4,000 guests visiting throughout the day, including Councilwoman Sukh Kaur. Visitors had the opportunity to interact with "unicorns," falcons, blacksmiths, and more.
The World of Irreversible Change
In March, a digital artwork by the international art collective teamLab was placed on view in the Contemporary II gallery alongside a seventeenth-century Japanese screen from SAMA’s collection. The World of Irreversible Change is presented across six monitors and changes in real-time with the seasons, weather, and time of day. The exhibition continues through March 23, 2025.
Kristopher Driggers
In April, the Museum welcomed San Antonio native Kristopher Driggers as the new Associate Curator of Latin American Art. In his first few months at SAMA, Driggers has started on his goal to curate a Latin American art collection profoundly connected to the heritage of his home city.
Carlos Rosales-Silva, American, born 1982, Biblioteca no. 3, 2022, Sand and crushed stone in acrylic paint on panel, 40 × 34 in. (101.6 × 86.4 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with The Brown Foundation Contemporary Art Acquisition Fund, 2024.4. © Carlos Rosales-Silva, Image courtesy of Ruiz Healy Art.
New Acquisitions
Many artworks joined SAMA’s permanent collection in 2024, including Biblioteca no.3 by Carlos Rosales-Silva, whose style you’ll recognize from Pase Usted, the vibrant, large-scale mural in the Great Hall.
SAMA x Studio RH
SAMA partnered with local designer Ryan Hunter of Studio RH on new limited-edition SAMA branded products. Totes, a frameable poster, and stickers all became available in the Museum Shop this year.
Community Partnerships
The Museum welcomed the Guadalupe Dance Company, San Antonio Poet Laureate Emeritus Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson and internationally acclaimed Syrian opera singer Lubana Al Quntar, the Nature Conservancy, the Classical Music Institute, and more to collaborate on programs held throughout the year.
Art on Tap
Art on Tap brought art, food, drinks, and music together under one shared theme each month this summer.
SAMA Loteria Night
In August, SAMA had its first Loteria Night at the Museum. Guests had the chance to win art-themed prizes using a custom SAMA-inspired playing board illustrated by Texas artist Jayme Ditto.
First Tuesdays
Also this summer, the first Tuesday of the month featured a special event or art activity for visitors to participate in during Bexar County Free Hours, generously funded by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
Amalia’s visit
Amalia Mesa-Bains, the artist highlighted in Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory, visited the Museum for the opening of the exhibition and participated in a sold-out talk with independent scholar of Latina/o arts and culture Tomás Ybarra-Frausto.
YOU: Our Members
Thank you for spending another year with SAMA! Your generous support makes all these special moments at the Museum possible.
