2025 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival
The festival will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 6:00pm to midnight at the arts and entertainment historic district, St. Paul Square. The festival will feature over 100 artists and 42 art projects.
Luminaria announces the 2025 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival list of Featured Artists, location, date, and highlights for this year’s annual event. The festival will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 6:00pm to midnight at the arts and entertainment historic district, St. Paul Square. The festival will feature over 100 artists and 42 art projects including film, digital art, dance, large art installations, fine art, live music, performance art, poetry and more.
New this year is an extension to the festival footprint North to include the Street Art Initiative’s Gravelmouth Gallery and D.R.E.A.M Mural District. The majority of Featured Artists are from San Antonio and will be joining artists from Corpus Christi, Houston, Illinois, Miami, New York City, Berlin, Sweden, and the Navajo Nation.
Luminaria is also proud to announce we are the recipients of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. In May, we were notified that funding was allocated through their Grants for Arts Projects initiative to cover festival expenses. We have also received the Creative Forces grant from Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts. Creative Forces serves to unite military-connected people to the arts with only 48 recipients across 38 states. The project, Luminaria Urban Military Innovation Network for Art (LUMINA), builds on recent research on arts-based interventions for veteran wellbeing and integrates community-centered practices in order to create a special experiential interdisciplinary arts experience unique to San Antonio and its military community. Isaac ”Papa Bear” Cardenas (USMC) will serve as lead curator uniting Native American veterans and their families for a storytelling project including Jesse Borrego, a large feather sculpture by Ricky D. Reyes, and a traditional teepee. The project also includes a short documentary film on Native Veterans by Ryan Begay (Airforce) of the Navajo Nation. Both Jesse Borrego and Ryan Begay have extensive film credits including Jesse’s iconic roles in Fame, Dexter, Mi Vida Loca, and Blood In Blood Out; and Ryan’s most recent appearance in the award-winning series Dark Winds.
Festival curators include Shelly Lares, Mauro de la Tierra, and Nain Leon. Shelly Lares will be showcasing artists signed to her Shellshock Records 3 label located in San Antonio. As the 2025 Luminaria Working Artist Fund mentor, her work in promoting the next generation of artists ensures our talented community has the resources and knowledge to run their small arts businesses in a professional setting. Mauro de la Tierra, will be installing large displays of alebrijes alongside his sister Mel.
Another festival highlight is a tribute to Flaco Jimenez featuring Jesse Borrego, whose father, Jesse Borrego Sr., was also a Conjunto accordionist and friends of Flaco. In 2021 and 2023, Jesse joined Los Texmaniacs and Flaco Jimenez on the Luminaria stage to end the night on a spectacular memorable note.
”Luminaria is a testament to the spirit of San Antonio,” said Yadhira Lozano, Executive Director. ”Our artists bring the streets and buildings to life with their heart and soul and I invite all of San Antonio and beyond to come celebrate with us.”
The 2025 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival Featured Artists are:
Live Music
The34K
Monique Martinez (Corpus Christi)
Brooklyn Michelle
Shelly Lares Showcase
Zeus
Tribute to Flaco Jimenez featuring Jesse Borrego & Flaco’s son Arturo Jimenez
Organizations:
The Carver Community Culture Center’s Carver Cruiser
The Street Art Initiative
Sponsor Activations:
Community First Health art wall
Film
Tere Garcia (Miami, FL)
Ryan Begay (Diné, Navajo Nation)
Caleb Barber
Jose Corres
Performance Art
Cirque Aria
Violeta De Leon Davila
Urban 15
Digital Art
Emilie Duval (Houston)
Seme Jatib (dance)
Timothy Walsh (lasers)
Jesus Toro Martinez
Art Installations
TAB Labs (Bill Baird & Taurin Barrera)
Isaac ”Papa Bear” Cardenas (Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation)
Jesse Borrego
Daniel Miller (Skokie, IL)
Johan Fredrik Kallman (Västra Götalands Län, Sweden)
Los Tierra’s (Mauro de la Tierra & Mel Tierra)
Jonathan Alvarez
Kristina Salinas
Alex Schweder (Berlin, Germany/New York, NY)
Dance
Forza Dance (New York, NY)
Sculpture
Caterina Suttin Holdbrook
Joshua Rodriguez & Charlemagne Scarlett
Ricky D. Reyes
Poetry
Octavio Quintanilla
House of Shyne
Fine Art
Kai Aguirre
Cassandra Gnehm
Laura Rhodes-Jimenez
Dominique Jordan
Ace Phoenix
Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival
Saturday, October 18, 2025
6:00pm – Midnight
St. Paul Square
Mark your calendars because the Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival is almost here!
Get ready to dive into a night overflowing with inspiration. More than 200 artists will gather to showcase their finest creations. Wander the beautiful streets of St. Paul Square and experience everything from paintings and digital art to interactive installations, films, dance, live music, poetry, and countless surprises waiting to be discovered.
Join friends and family on October 18, 2025, at St. Paul Square, from 6 PM to midnight, where Commerce and Downtown meet. Enjoy the magic of Luminaria and create lasting memories. Don’t miss out—join us for an unforgettable evening and experience the festival for yourself!
