History

Two stories, close to the heart of San Antonio’s history, weave together to create the full story of the Southwest School of Art — and both of these threads tell their own particular story of determination, of innovation, and of multi-cultural learning.

The first story centers around intrepid women of the last two centuries — the Ursuline nuns who developed and ran the historic Ursuline Academy, and the second group of civic heroines who saved the site from destruction and planted a community art school on its foundation.

The second story, that of the blossoming of the art school and its ever-growing influence in the art community of south Texas and the nation, is theĀ  vital and contemporary part of what makes this institution so distinctive.

 

 

The Historic Site

The Art School