Institute of Texan Cultures neglected treasure
Every San Antonian who has lived here since 1968 has a story about the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures. Those stories are likely to be more emotional and personal than memories of other cultural institutions in town.
Hundreds of thousands of people traipsed through the institute's doors as children, and millions more have attended its Texas Folklife and Asian festivals. Over the years, tourists have made ITC a top destination, too.
It's beloved because it has staged events and exhibits that recognized us, honored our histories and brought people together to see, hear and eat their way through Texas' diverse cultures. It's been painful to watch its infrastructure deteriorate and cry out for renewal.
The ITC building was the Texas Pavilion at the HemisFair '68 World's Fair. My strongest memories are of visits during and after HemisFair with classmates from Roosevelt Elementary School on the West Side.
On each visit, we were invited to lie back on the carpet to watch a presentation about Texas history projected onto the ceiling.
I get a little misty-eyed thinking of the beautiful images of San Antonio and Texas that filled the domed space.
During one of those childhood visits, I saw a picture on the ceiling that stopped my heart.
It was of my uncle, Genaro Serna, in his ornate charro attire, a handsome horseman who led a local charro association.
The picture appeared to have been taken during a Fiesta parade, occasions when we would shout “¡Tío!” or “¡ Padrino!” (he was godfather to many) to prompt him to wave. He'd gallantly touch the brim of his sombrero in recognition.
That's how I'll always remember him.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, whose leaders may not share such memories, may not have known how much ITC means to residents. They didn't know ITC was personal to us, that it belongs to us.
In July, the university laid off 20 of the institute's 26 employees, including the director of the Texas Folklife Festival, as part of wider staff reductions at UTSA prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the dismissals — which several members of ITC's advisory council painted as unprofessional and mean-spirited — a long list of influential San Antonians have gathered via Zoom to talk about the institute's future.
They're gearing up for a series of community meetings with UTSA leadership next year, to be guided by a professional facilitator.
It might be a fresh start after the debacle that has been the university's handling of ITC. The institute has been part of UTSA since 1973.
Educator Yvonne Katz, who serves on a working group that is dealing with the university, said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy and his administration will have to absorb the backlash before discussions about moving forward — with community input this time — can start.
They'll have to hear the community's take on the way Dean Hendrix, dean of UTSA libraries, dismissed the institute's staff. Katz called it “unconscionable” and his tone toward community input disrespectful.
Community representatives have been reassured to learn that Kimberly Andrews Espy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, will lead the overall ITC initiative.
The No. 1 goal for community advisers is to keep the institute alive and where it is.
They're working to preserve its state funding, a precious line item in the state budget. They're determined to prevent the university from closing ITC, moving it or selling the 14 acres on which it sits. They also want to establish a foundation to sustain it financially, and they'd like permission to redevelop an area around ITC to help fund its operations.
There were plans to monetize ITC's grounds before Eighmy arrived at the university in 2017, but they were shelved, several people said.
“I have spared no words with any of them, especially in individual and collective meetings,” said Katz, a trustee of the Alamo Colleges District and retired superintendent of the Harlandale Independent School District.
UTSA said in a statement Friday that officials remain hopeful about ITC's future, but it offered little details.
“In the new year, we intend to foster dialogue through a community visioning process on the many ways to enhance the role of the Institute as a resource for cultural dialogue and discovery for the next 50 years while remaining centered around its important mission of preserving and promoting the rich cultures of Texans,” the statement said.
“There is a way forward” to keep ITC open with its original mission intact, said civic leader G.P. Singh, a member of the working group.
He said that includes a plan to sustain ITC through a foundation and by generating revenue from a portion of its acreage, which in total is valued at $40 million to $50 million.
Singh said awarding long-term leases to developers for mixeduse projects will provide the support ITC needs to renovate and to reach another goal.
That's to get the Institute of Texas Cultures where it belongs: on the National Register of Historic Places. It's eligible.
All sides sound committed to the ITC's next 50 years.
But how its future will be secured and what it will look like are questions UTSA officials need to answer — clearly, in detail and with respect for all Texans and their cultures.