July 31, 2023, San Antonio, TX — The 2023 NALAC Leadership Institute (NLI) took place from July 9-15 at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The annual Institute, a program of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, brings together emerging and established artists and arts administrators from across the nation for intensive training in nonprofit arts management and leadership development.
The 2023 Institute welcomed a cohort of thirty selected fellows from eleven states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. This year’s participants represented ten artistic disciplines, including dance, visual arts, music, literature, and theatre.
Throughout the weeklong Institute, the fellows attended learning sessions and workshops led by esteemed NALAC faculty members and special guests. Special guests included noted Chicano Studies scholar and historian Dr. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, Arnaldo J. López, Ph.D. (Pregones/PRTT), Betty Avila (Self-Help Graphics and Art, Inc.), and opera singer and 2022 NLI alum Zuly Inirio. Throughout the week, fellows also had the opportunity to visit San Antonio cultural spaces and organizations such as Say Sí, San Anto Cultural Arts, and NALAC’s historic campus and office.
A welcome reception was held at the San Fernando Cathedral Centre Hall for the 2023 NLI fellows and faculty. The reception offered a unique opportunity for the fellows to meet local artists, arts organizers, arts professionals, and alums from NALAC’s hometown. Guests were greeted with live music by San Antonio-based musical duo Tommy T and the 210s, featuring saxophonist José A. Castillo Rocha and guitarist Tommy Martin, followed by dinner and dancing with music provided by local artist and DJ Bonnie Cisneros.
NALAC was honored to welcome Texas multi-media and conceptual artist Celia Álvarez Muñoz as the keynote speaker for the 2023 NALAC Leadership Institute. Álvarez Muñoz’s work has been nationally and internationally recognized by numerous awards, including two National Endowment for the Arts awards, the Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Arts from the Women’s Caucus for Art, and a U.S. Latinx Art Forum Latinx Artist Fellowship.
The graduating class presented NALAC with a support fund dedicated to creating a mural to honor NALAC’s CEO and President María López De León’s legacy and significant impact and contributions to the Latinx arts and culture field.
The 2023 graduates now join the community of NALAC Institute alumni, which has over 640 members to date. Learn more about the 2023 NLI alumni.
Applications for the 2024 NALAC Leadership Institute will open in the fall of this year.
The NALAC Leadership Institute (NLI) is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, San Antonio Area Foundation, San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, and the Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation.
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About NALAC
The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. For more information about NALAC and its programs, please visit www.nalac.org.
About Celia Álvarez Muñoz
Celia Álvarez Muñoz is a conceptual multi-media Texas artist known for her diverse works, including artist’s books, photography, installation, and public art. She is a recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Awards in Photography and New Genres, the CAA Committee on Women in the Arts Recognition Award, Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts by Women’s Caucus for Art; The Outstanding Centennial Alumnus by University of North Texas College of Arts and Sciences; and many others. Her exhibition, Breaking the Binding, featuring over thirty-five artworks – including large-scale immersive installations, a photographic series, and book projects – is currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego through August 2023.
Media Contacts
Mari Hernandez, Deputy Director, mhernandez@nalac.org
Penny Rodriguez, Communications Coordinator, prodriguez@nalac.org
Featured Image: NALAC Leadership Institute, Class of 2023. Photo by Luis M. Garza (NALAC).