Luminaria Announces Festival Call for Artists

The 2024 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival is Seeking Established and Emerging Artists from Texas and Beyond

Call for Artists Opens: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 1:00am CST

Closes: Sunday, March 17, 2024 11:59pm CST

Luminaria, the San Antonio-based arts nonprofit, announces its annual Call for Artists for its iconic Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival.  The tentative festival date is Saturday, October 19, 2024, and the location is to be confirmed.  The iconic festival highlights the arts and artists, the city’s creative economy, as well as the rich artistic culture that makes San Antonio unique.

The outdoor festival features film, music, theatre, spoken word, dance, fine art, sculpture, large structural installations, in-gallery installations, digital art, performance art, and multi-media throughout the downtown footprint. 

Applications will be evaluated by a curatorial committee made up of local working artists and art experts. Featured Artists will be notified in April followed by site-visits, consultations, mentorship, a photo shoot, spotlight videos, media interviews, and networking opportunities. 

Apply at AnyArtist.org

Luminaria Working Artist Fund

Luminaria Working Artist FundThe Luminaria Working Artist Fund (WAF) is a professional development micro-grant for individual artists living and working in Bexar County. Up to $550 may be requested once per year for activities that support artistic growth.

The Working Artist Fund addresses the impact of COVID-19, the recent winter storm, and other on-going economic hardships on individual artists living and working in Bexar County. The fund will offer support toward a sustainable livelihood for area artists through generous year-round donations from individuals, foundations, government entities, corporations and partners that wish to support a vibrant arts community. 

Applications open in the Spring and Fall. Go to anyartist.org to apply.

The 2023 Working Artist Fund is supported by Hopscotch, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and The Espee.

Other supporters include the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts and Culture, The Brown Foundation, Texas Public Radio’s !Viva Telethon¡, Nelco Media, Guillermo Nicolas, Angelika Jansen, Phil & Linda Hardberger, Garrett T. Capps, and numerous individual art supporters. 

Click here to make a one-time donation.

To become a Working Artist Fund sponsor, email us at admin@luminariasa.org or call or text us at 210.721.1670.

Listen to Working Artist Fund recipients: costume designer, Bunny Le Fluer; theatre, film, and fine arts artist DeAnna Brown; and award winning filmmaker Justin A. Rodriguez.

Working Artist Fund Grantees

  • Favour Alabi
  • Christopher Arispe
  • Marisela Barrera
  • DeAnna Brown
  • Rick Canfield
  • David Zamora Casas
  • Veronica Castillo
  • Violeta De Leon Davila
  • Anna DeLuna
  • Joël Dilley
  • Kaldric Dow
  • Juan Escobedo
  • Michael Foerster
  • Jorge Luis Gamboa
  • Melissa Gamez Herrera
  • Adria Garza
  • Carly Garza
  • Sarah Gonzales Busse
  • Suzy Gonzalez
  • Xelena Gonzalez
  • Brittany Ham
  • Mari Hernandez
  • Andrew Jacobi Jeter
  • Domeinic Jimenez
  • Peyson Jones
  • Brittany Lopez
  • Regino Lopez
  • Gabi Magaly
  • Margarita Maldonado
  • Jesus Toro Martinez
  • Raisa Melendez
  • Michael Menchaca
  • Josue Mora
  • Amalia Ortiz
  • David Ortiz
  • Jorge Palacios
  • Asaiah Puente
  • Christopher Quiroz
  • Andrea Rivas
  • Andrhea Rivera-Flores
  • Justin A. Rodriguez
  • Martin Rodriguez
  • Joseph Rogers
  • Michael Ryan
  • Satara
  • Alvaro Salas
  • Jacque Salame
  • James E. Sanders Jr
  • Ray Santisteban
  • Alan Serna
  • Shayla Shimmy
  • Manuel Solis
  • Timofey Trofimenkov
  • Jackie Velez
  • Shane Vickers
  • Angela Guerra Walley
  • Ursula Zavala
Working Artist Fund Judges
  • DeAnna Brown
  • Keli Rosa Cabunoc Romero
  • Violeta De Leon Davila
  • Suzy Gonzalez
  • Andrew Jacobi Jeter
  • Jeremy Kingg
  • Nain Leon
  • Amalia Ortiz
  • Andrea Vocab Sanderson
  • Jesus Toro Martinez
  • Satara
  • Jonathan Treviño

History of the Working Artist Fund

The Working Artist Fund has awarded $89,831 to 175 artists to date. It began as the Corona Arts Relief Program in March 2020 as a response to the significant impact COVID-19 had on San Antonio’s arts community, with many artists losing revenue and professional development opportunities because of distancing requirements and cancellations.  To keep San Antonio’s vibrant culture energized during these adverse times, Luminaria created and managed two successful calls for the Corona Arts Relief program, providing up to $600 of aid to 109 individual artists from all genres of the arts. Luminaria also generated public support for individual artists through an online telethon with community partners, targeted social media, and philanthropy requests.


The Luminaria Artist Foundation Grants Program awarded individual San Antonio artists with grants for new works in 2020 and 2021. It was supported by the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture, Kay and Scott Armstrong in honor of Kathy Armstrong, Rick Liberto, The Lifshutz Foundation, Patricia Pratchett, Guillermo Nicolas in honor of his mother Irma Cortez Nicolas, and numerous individual donors.

In 2021, the City of San Antonio renewed their commitment to individual artists by offering grants to support a diverse portfolio of artists working across the City of San Antonio in the production of new, original, high-quality art. Visit getcreativesanantonio.com to apply.

Learn More about the 2021 Grant Recipients

Join our mailing list and follow us on social media for updates on our grant programs!

Luminaria is dedicated to the innovative interpretation of our city’s culture, history, and environment through creative placemaking and site-specific arts integration. We coordinate with anchor arts institutions, cultural and heritage organizations, and other community partners to give San Antonio residents and visitors access to a vibrant arts culture.

Join our mailing list and follow us on social media for updates as we plan for 2021!

2020 PlaceMaking

In 2020, Luminaria partnered with Centro San Antonio, the National Park Service, and Mission Heritage Partners on five mural PlaceMaking projects.

Mission San José Tricentennial Mural
Artist Sandra Gonzalez created the mural for the Roosevelt Avenue facing wall of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Visitor’s Center. The park’s mural commemorates the 300-year history of Mission San José.

Centro San Antonio Art Everywhere
The Centro San Antonio murals are part of Centro’s Art Everywhere initiative and will adorn the facades of four downtown buildings when they are all completed. San Antonio artists Suzy Gonzalez, Kat Cadena, Rudy Herrera, and Joe De La Cruz will each add their creative voices to our city’s urban core.

Creative ventures such as these are made possible in part by our partners at Centro San Antonio, the National Park Service, and Mission Heritage Partners.

Centro San Antonio
US National Park Service
Mission Heritage Partners
Centro San Antonio
US National Park Service
Mission Heritage Partners