The Tejano Conjunto Festival, one of the city’s largest and longest-running music events, kicks off on May 17 at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.
On Tuesday, event planners announced which bands will perform, and they unveiled the festival's poster art.
The Guadalupe gave their press conference some soulful song by allowing a 3-piece Conjunto group to perform.
Juan Tejeda produced the Tejano Conjunto Festival for decades. He said it's always had a clear objective. “For everyone … not only our people but for all cultures to learn about our people, our music, our art, and our culture,” Tejeda said.
Each year the Guadalupe asks artists to create a poster to represent the event. They give out prizes for elementary, middle and high school offerings, as well as a grand prize, from which posters and t-shirts will be made.
The prize winning entrant Elisa De Hoyos smiled throughout and wiped away tears.
“I'm so happy. I've been on cloud nine since I found out!” she said.
De Hoyos said she's been doing art for quite a while.
“I started as soon as I was old enough to hold a crayon. My mom was trying to keep me out of her art stuff so she would give me all my supplies and my tools,” De Hoyos said. “And she never told me no. She had [painter] Bob Ross on the TV all the time, and I would just sit there and watch [my mother] paint all night.”
Art isn’t the only endeavor she shares with her mom. The music at the press conference was De Hoyos on accordion and her parents Mari and Frank on guitar. They're from the Rio Grande Valley, and their band is called The Texas Sweethearts.
De Hoyos recalled the moment when she first learned her poster has won. She said they were about to leave for a gig when the phone rang.
“And it said San Antonio on the phone. And I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness!’ And then I'm like, ‘Hello?’ And it's Juan. He says ‘hi.’ Oh, my goodness. I started crying. I started crying on the phone,” De Hoyos said.
Her winning poster has a tan background, with 55 painted roses all connected by a chain. On the center screen is a woman playing accordion — a woman that bears a striking resemblance to her.
“My very first self-portrait! And the only thing that told me I could just do it was because Frida did it,” she laughed, referring to Frida Kahlo.
The Tejano Conjunto Festival is May 17 to 21. Information on times and tickets is at its website.
