Healy Murphy Park on the near East Side will receive a significant injection of new life thanks to the vision of a local nonprofit dedicated to street art.
During a Saturday evening block party at Healy Murphy, the San Antonio Street Art Initiative (SASAI) will announce the yearlong transformation of the city park into a permanent “art park,” with a restored basketball court, a breakdancing pad, new walkways, landscaping, fencing and lighting, public sculptures and — the centerpiece of the project — 10 concrete wall slabs that will host a rotating selection of the work of local street artists.
As a neighborhood gathering spot, “It’s gonna be like nightclub-meets-street art park,” said SASAI Programs Manager Burgundy Woods.
Woods said the new San Antonio Street Art Park at Healy Murphy will be the centerpiece of a multi-year initiative to create an urban arts district in the Dignowity Hill neighborhood.
When Woods and SASAI founder and president David “Shek” Vega saw District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez on the news talking about incorporating art into his East Side revitalization efforts, they reached out to pitch their art park idea. They found not only a receptive audience but also a City Council member in a position to provide $500,000 from the city’s general fund to restore and transform the neglected Healy Murphy Park. The city will invest an additional $250,000 in a later phase of the project.
Parks and Rec
The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department also got involved to help with planning, construction and logistics.
“We’re going to walk with them hand in hand” throughout the project, said Parks and Recreation Manager Sandy Jenkins. “We’re really working in complete partnership for these improvements. Basically, they come up with the ideas, and then we talk together about how it’s going to be done.”
Construction is expected to begin in December and take one year to complete. Safety fencing will be installed around the perimeter, and a park manager will be hired to open and close the park each day.
Jenkins said that the new art park, along with the Berkeley and Vincent Dawson Park currently under construction next to the Hays Street Bridge, will be “transformative to that area.”
Woods said SASAI has also moved its headquarters from Southtown to a 7,000-square-foot building near Healy Murphy Park. The organization plans to activate the new art park with events throughout the year.
Neighborhood activation
Each year since SASAI started with 16 murals decorating pillars of the Interstate 35 underpass at Elmira Street, the group has thrown block parties celebrating what it calls the “Largest Outdoor Gallery in Texas,” considering the more than 60 murals SASAI has sponsored throughout the city.
For this year’s block party, 10 temporary art walls will be installed at the new art park to represent the 10 walls that will eventually become a permanent fixture of the park. But following the street art ethos, the walls will be repainted each year by a new selection of artists, Woods said.
Attendees at the Saturday block party will witness live painting by mural artists Ashleigh Valentine Garza, Joseph Ramey, Crystal Duron, Scotch, James Supa, Albert Gonzales and Nik Soup, among others. Philadelphia street artist group MZ.ICAR will show inflatable sculptures and breakdancer Billy “Voodoo” Angelini will show fundamental hip hop moves during a 7 p.m. teaching demonstration.
The neighborhood will join in the celebration with eight activation locations, Woods said, including Local Sprout, Pulp Coffee, food trucks in Booker Alley, a street closure at Chestnut and Nolan and the Cruising Kitchens parking lot and warehouse.
The SASAI block party takes place Saturday from 5-9 p.m. and is free to the public, with $25 advance tickets available for VIP access including a swag bag and other amenities.
This article has been updated to reflect the amount of city funding allocated for the first phase of the art park.
