Still Here: Stories From the Westside is a collaborative oral history project and print portfolio created by both past and present students of Lanier High School. This project aims to foster a sense of connection and deeper understanding of the history and culture of the Lanier community. Through the process of collecting and sharing oral histories, the project encourages community members to engage with their past and present in meaningful ways.

Organized by Ashley Mireles and Jennifer Arce, the exhibition is free and open to the public with an opening reception occurring Friday, May 12, 6:00-8:00PM at the Rinconcito de Esperanza at 816 S Colorado.

The research, portfolio, and exhibition are an outcome of the San Antonio Area Foundation’s Youth Leadership Development Artist Fellowship awarded to Ashley Mireles and SAY Sí. The grant focuses on strategies designed to develop youth as leaders, prepare youth for future success, and build resiliency. The project and exhibition are supported by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Lanier High School and San Antonio Independent School District, SAY Sí, and the San Antonio Area Foundation.

ABOUT ASHLEY MIRELES

Ashley Mireles is an artist, educator, and native San Antonian focusing her practice on access by developing and organizing creative projects for regional institutions and community spaces in Central Texas. Ashley is a Friends of San Antonio Public Library Arts & Letters Award recipient, San Antonio Area Foundation Artist Fellow. She currently acts as the Public Art Curator for the San Antonio River Foundation and has served previously as a Leadership Fellow for NALAC, Education and Community Programs Manager for Artpace San Antonio, and Artist Mentor for the New York Foundation for the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Mentorship program. Her works can be found at and in the collections of Artpace San Antonio, Hardberger Park Tobin Land Bridge, Mexic-Arte Museum, National Museum of Mexican Art, Texas Christian University Print Collection, University of Texas Libraries Special Collections, Walt Disney Company, Zuckerman Museum of Art, and the San Antonio River Walk.

ABOUT JENNIFER ARCE AND LANIER HIGH SCHOOL

Jennifer Arce is a native San Antonian, born and raised on the Southside of the city.  Arce is an alumna of the Visual Arts program at SAY Sí, a community-driven creative youth development organization. Arce went on to receive a Bachelors of Fine Arts and a Minor in Social Work from Our Lady of the Lake University in 2015. As an artist, she dabbles in various mediums including acrylics, watercolors, printmaking and ceramics. Her works are heavily influenced by her family ancestry. Arce has a combined 15 years of working with creative youth. She began by teaching healing arts to inner-city children as part of SAY Sí’s Artist Building Communities program through partnerships with other organizations such as The Woman’s Battered Shelter, Guadalupe Cultural Arts, ChildSafe, among others. Since 2015, Arce has expanded her teachings by sharing her passion for art as an Arts Teacher for the San Antonio School District and has played a major role as one of the Arts Teachers at Lanier High School for the last 5 years.

Lanier High School believes in high expectations with strong student support, a climate of respect and caring, learning that is rigorous, challenging, relevant and engaging, and a safe and orderly learning environment with appropriate interventions that meet students’ academic needs. Lanier provides students with an advanced and rigorous curriculum in all core subjects, with a focus on postsecondary readiness.

ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS

The San Antonio Area Foundation serves as your most trusted and impactful philanthropic partner.

SAY Sí ignites the creative power of young people as forces of positive change. We value artists, empower marginalized communities and advance culture.

The Esperanza Peace & Justice Center advocates for those wounded by domination and inequality — women, people of color, the lesbians, queer, trans and gay community, the working class and poor.