Since 2011, Spotlight has celebrated the remarkable achievements of
student artists reflecting on one work in the McNay collection. This year, over a thousand students from 38 San Antonio area schools created works of art in various media in response to vanessa german’s BLACK GIRL WITH
SNAKES. The altarpiece, as german calls it, is a reflection on renewal and rebirth that she created during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The artist
combined a variety of found objects including mirrors, silk flowers, artificial fruit, bird figurines, and fake snakes to make the assemblage.
The McNay showcased all 267 works of art during the Spotlight celebration
in May 2023. The festivities were heavily attended by teachers, students, and
their families. Selections of inspiring student art will rotate in a series of three presentations through April 28, 2024.
Funding is most generously provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, The William Randolph Hearst Fund for Education Programs, and the Louis A. and Francis B. Wagner Endowment.
Image credit: vanessa german, BLACK GIRL WITH SNAKES, 2020. Assemblage. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds gifted anonymously in memory of Madeline O’Connor, 2021.13. © vanessa german
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