San Antonio's St. Mary’s strip became a bar-hopping, live-music destination during its heyday in the 1980s and early ‘90s. One bar in particular became the place to have a drink and listen to live Tejano and conjunto bands: Saluté International Bar.
Saluté opened in 1987 and featured performances by esteemed musicians, including Flaco Jimenez, Eva Ybarra, Augie Meyers, and Esteban “Steve” Jordan. It closed its doors 25 years later after the building was purchased.
Azeneth Dominguez founded Saluté with her then-husband and later ran the bar for 15 years. She described what the bar meant for the community.
“We left our mark, Saluté left its mark,” Dominguez said. “It truly made a lot of people happy … It was so special in its own way to so many people, including myself, because I met so many wonderful people.”
Local educator and writer Bonnie Cisneros saw and recognized the beauty of the bar and curated the archive exhibition at the San Antonio Central Library Art Gallery, “En Vivo desde Saluté: Conjunto Music, Chicano Art, y Mucho Corazón en San Antonio.”
It features posters, photos, flyers and other mementos to memorialize the bar and share its story with those who may not have been able to experience it.
“Azeneth saved everything … and I knew that the story needed to be told in a visual way,” she said. “We started working on pulling it from her archives and piecing it together in a way that makes sense.”
The exhibit will remain on display at the San Antonio Central Library through June 6.
Hear a soundtrack of Saluté curated by Dominguez and DJ Plata below:
