Once a year the employees of the Austin Museum of Art organize a staff trip to experience the art of another city with most of our co-workers on one big happy bus and do a little bit of bonding. This year was San Antonio. Growing up in Texas, I had been to San Antonio many times, but most of those trips were spent at one of three places: The Alamo, Sea World or the river walk. (Or in a gym playing volleyball...my family isn't much in to art.) I was intrigued to learn more about the art scene in a city that I forget how close it is to where I live now. 
Our first stop was the Japanese Tea Garden. The bus was late arriving that morning, so our time here was cut short in order to make our next stop on time. So, we filed through the gardens and learned a bit about it's history.
Then, Alix loaded us on the bus with her trusty itinerary in hand. No one would be left behind and we would not be late for any of the scheduled stops along the way. Damn it, we were going to have fun and experience as much art that can be crammed into one day!
Onto the Southwest School of Art and Craft. We toured their well supplied studios that accommodate all kinds of media including; photography, print making, fibers, metals and ceramics. Those of us who work at the Laguna Gloria location (and specifically at the Art School) felt an affinity for this place, as it is both an art school and a historic site.
For lunch we gathered at Paloma Blanca. Great Mexican cuisine and an especially good Tres Leches cake that our table just had to have. (I think we unveiled some deep seeded issues steaming from childhood that revolve around cake. However, I admittedly am more than enthusiastic about my share of cake.)
After lunch we continued on to the McNay for a behind the scenes tour of their recently added exhibition space. As they were currently in installation, we were able to see the preparators at work. We also saw an interesting exhibition about Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas as well as parts of the permanent collection.
The last stop was Blue Star Arts Complex which is an amazing community of artists. There are galleries, artists studio lofts, public sculpture and much more with fantastic public programs and events. With fotoseptiembre under way we got to see an exhibition of contemporary photography.
With the delirium setting in we boarded the bus and began our short trip back to Austin.
