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Index of Esperanza v. City of San Antonio
"The Esperanza Center creates spaces for people for all walks of Life to come together safely and in joy to witness and learn from each other's truths."
-- Sharon Bridgforth,Root Wy'mn Theater Company,
Austin, Texas"Inspirational and passionate and totally unique. I have spent the last 25 years touring shows and teaching around the world and somehow Esperanza touched me in a new way. It made me feel hopeful for the future of Art as integral with life (which I believe we would die without) and I carry with me this image of this amazing hub of life in San Antonio. I reach back in my memory and recall it because there are so few places like it and it gives me hope for the new century."
-- Peggy Shaw,Split Britches Company, New
York, New York"The Esperanza Center is involved in groundbreaking cultural and political work both in its home community and nationally. Esperanza is unique because it so effectively combines a commitment to progressive social change with a commitment to cultural work, especially in support of those groups whose voices and visions are often overlooked by mainstream organizations... I am even more impressed by how well it accomplishes what many organizations attempt to do but fail, which is to link people of various races, genders, sexualities, ages, and classes in a collective process that serves as a model of successful multiculturalism for groups across the nation."
-- Barbara Smith,Kitchen Table: Women of Color
Press, Albany, New York"The Esperanza covers the slack where other institutions won't. They've always been on the cutting edge, and that takes a lot of courage."
-- Sandra Cisneros,poet and novelist, San Antonio,
Texas"I support the Esperanza because they understand that art is political. They recognize that in this country, art has been consumed as a product for the privileged classes, and that culture is something that people like me have despite the fact we can't afford to go to the symphony... I struggle with large and small institutions that could not or would not translate the art around them into practice. But the Esperanza does, every day... Ultimately, that is what I love about the Esperanza. They believe in art -- in its power to transform us and therefore to change the world. Because of them, I try to influence others and on it goes."
-- Barbara Renaud
Gonzalez,freelance writer, Dallas,
Texas"Esperanza has been instrumental in establishing San Antonio as a vitally important venue for the most innovative local, national, and international art... Of paramount import to San Antonio's cultural life is the Esperanza's courageous stance -- despite a constant barrage of criticism, efforts to censor, and most recently, defunding -- in exhibiting art that traditional cultural institutions refused to exhibit. In doing so, the Esperanza has consistently demonstrated that San Antonians are greatly interested in, and support, this art while also clearing a path for other organizations and institutions to invite and exhibit these artists. I was recently reminded of the Esperanza's inestimable courage at St. Mary's University, where I teach. As I stood before an exhibit of the AIDS quilt at the University Center, I recalled that in 1989 the Esperanza housed the first ever exhibition of Arts and AIDS in San Antonio when its organizers were turned away at other city venues. The Esperanza has been one of the major forces for a truly democratic culture in San Antonio, where the cultural rights and expressions of groups that traditional institutions term unacceptable or too controversial, are protected, promoted, and accessible."
-- Antonia Castaneda,Ph.D., professor of history,
San Antonio, Texas