Grande Mesa

SAN ANTONIO - The McNay Art Museum Thursday officially opened its new Stieren Center wing hosting a dinner for more than 300 high-level donors. Local banker Tom Frost declared, “We’re in the big leagues!” Frost was chair of the fundraising committee that fundraising committee that raised more than $50 million.

Joanie Hurd, McNay board chairman, said, “This looks like we’re in a really big city.”

[clearing throat]

First of all, Tom, no, you’re not. The Stieren Center is a step in the right direction, but for anyone who is familiar with the big leagues, the McNay is a drop in the bucket. There is more art that is more valuable in some people’s private homes than there is in the Stieren Center.

Second, one of the most frustrating aspects about living in San Antonio is that local socialites just cannot shake their inferiority complex. The comments by Frost and Hurd are lathed in inferiority complex. People here are constantly comparing themselves to other cities and it’s not being able to see the forest for the trees…

Third, the Stieren Center has been played up in the local news so much, that it’s as if it’s the only art space in town. I would argue that the Stieren Center’s success in due in large part because of San Antonio’s strong art community. There are dozens of art spaces around town and many many artists and patrons who make up San Antonio’s art community. It’s an affront not to mention them in the context of this space. Without them, the Stieren Center wouldn’t exist at all.

There’s plenty in San Antonio that San Antonio can be proud of and build upon. In my view, we shouldn’t be concerned about other cities and we should just concentrate on the strengths of our own city. The motivation for development in San Antonio should not be based on some sort of phantom rivalry between cities.

I live in San Antonio and I’ve seen a lot of progress in the 7 years since I’ve been here, but there is also a lot of room for improvement. Like I said, the McNay is a step in the right direction, but it’s also subject to the same type negative effects as local high profile flubs that were built on the same “build it and they will come” premise.

Spaces like the new Stieren Center cost lots of money to maintain and a larger portion of that money is going to have to come from the public now that it’s open. I’m not sure that San Antonio’s economy can support it. I would imagine the idea in building such a space is to attract more of the general public. A majority of the people in this town are living on working salaries or less.

That said, we’re beginning to see the start of something special in San Antonio, but it’s currently not enough to sustain a high degree of success among all the art spaces in town. There’s a lot of work to be done on so many levels to make that happen.

The McNay is a beautiful space. Let’s see if it lives up to its hype.