SAN ANTONIO – A high school student is making history through art.
Ciara Casarez, a junior at Communications Arts High School, was named the winner of this year's Tejano Conjunto Festival Poster Contest, becoming the first high school student to ever win.
“I never imagined doing something as big as this,” Casarez said. “When I found out that I won, the first person I told was my parents. I ran downstairs screaming and was, like, 'Oh my God, I just made history. I'm the first high school student out of 38 years of the festival to win the poster contest.'”
The poster she created shows the Tower of America in downtown, two musicians and a dancing couple.
Casarez has many inspirations, including the mural located at the intersection of Guadaulpe Sand South Brazos streets.
“I wanted to use as many of those colors that were in the mosaic as possible,” Casarez said.
She created the poster on a computer, using techniques she learned in school.
Her poster hangs at the Galeria Guadalupe on South Brazos Street, alongside past winners dating back to 1982.
Festival coordinator Yadhira Lozano said Casarez’s poster had everything they were looking for.
“It has to represent San Antonio. It has to represent the music and the people,” Lozano said.
Casarez wants this to be a valuable lesson for students that they, too, can be part of San Antonio’s art history.
“When somebody looks at this poster, I want them to see the fun in the festival itself,” Casarez said.
The 38th annual festival takes place May 15-19.