SAN ANGELO, Texas — As the visual arts capitol of Texas, San Angelo is well-known for its wide array of murals and 3D pieces handcrafted by local creatives.
With this in mind, the Art Alliance of San Angelo has partnered with Discover San Angelo to create a free citywide art map featuring San Angelo businesses.
"Right now, we're just trying to get everybody that wants to be on it involved, make sure they're on the map," Art Alliance co-founder Alejandro Castanon said. "And then we'll go through the design process, we'll do a proof and then once the proof is approved by the folks that are participating, we'll go ahead and send it to print..."
Castanon has been working on the Art Alliance for approximately two years now.
At first, his inspiration behind the organization was simple: to showcase local artists and create a point of connection.
Now, he hopes to continue this goal with a free art map which will highlight murals and pieces located inside of city businesses.
"We decided to partner with them [Discover San Angelo] by creating these little maps and brochures that would allow us to identify which businesses were art friendly already," Castanon said. "That were open to foot traffic so like retailers, restaurants, bars, cafes, the normal places that you would see traffic coming through normally."
So far, Castanon has heard from approximately eight or nine businesses, including the San Angelo Center for Performing Arts, Angelo Ale House & Pizzeria and Old Central Firehouse Pizzeria & Taproom.
Murals will also include QR codes which can be scanned, where artist websites, Venmo accounts, etc. will then be available online.
Eventually, Castanon also hopes to create a virtual version of the map so it can be updated when needed.
Those interested in purchasing murals for their businesses can do so by contacting the Art Alliance directly.
Although this is still a work in progress, Castanon is eager to see his vision come to life.
