{"id":499,"date":"2026-05-30T19:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=499"},"modified":"2026-05-30T19:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:31:09","slug":"more-arts-and-cultural-spaces-will-boost-economic-development-leaders-say-at-state-of-the-eastside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=499","title":{"rendered":"More arts and cultural spaces will boost economic development, leaders say at State of the Eastside"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As the East Side prepares for a $191.8 million investment in the Frost Bank Center and the eventual departure of the Spurs, leaders gathered at a community event Wednesday morning to deliver a message: Investing in arts and cultural spaces will help bring attention east.<\/p>\n

Read more Bexar County is negotiating a $15M tax incentive package for H-E-B expansion<\/a><\/p>\n

San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside (SAGE) hosted its State of the Eastside event and CEO James Nortey said he wanted to widen the lens of economic development. The event\u2019s speakers focused on reasons for residents to spend their time and money in the area and highlighted arts and culture as a way to bring people in.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we wanted to show an undervalued, underinvested segment of our economy and really bring it to the forefront,\u201d Nortey said after the event.<\/p>\n

A group of politicians, businesses and nonprofit groups gathered at the Embassy Suites by Hilton at Brooks as leaders of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, St. Phillip\u2019s College and the Carver Community Cultural Center talked about the role cultural institutions can play on the East Side. All three institutions have been centered in the area for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been seeing out there all over the nation how rodeo and stock shows can essentially become a central hub, bringing in out-of-town people that stay for extended days at our competitions, our events,\u201d said Stock Show and Rodeo CEO Cody Davenport. \u201cThat creates an opportunity for overnight stays and eating and all the things that we\u2019re looking for on the East Side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cassandra Parker-Nowicki, the executive director of the Carver Community Cultural Center, pointed to the array of performances coming to the center this year, including music, dance and theatre.<\/p>\n

The speakers also discussed their institutions\u2019 role in creating education, workforce development and youth opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 100 years, we\u2019ve been developing a pipeline of individuals that will respond to the needs of our community,\u201d said St. Phillip\u2019s College President Adena Williams Loston.<\/p>\n

She noted the college\u2019s earliest degrees \u2014 sewing and cooking courses for women leaving slavery \u2014 and the institution\u2019s current educational opportunities in the hospitality and restaurant industries. Those programs support San Antonio\u2019s workforce, Williams Loston said.<\/p>\n

Parker-Nowicki and Davenport discussed youth programs. The stock show and rodeo has scholarship programs for local kids. Davenport also said agricultural robotics and technology competitions the rodeo helped sponsor exposed youth to new skills and opportunities.<\/p>\n

Read more Where I Live: Monticello Park<\/a><\/p>\n

Parker-Nowicki highlighted the Carver Community Cultural Center\u2019s summer activities for kids. Those gave them pathways to careers in dance and music, she said, but also created exposure to the arts that low-income communities don\u2019t always have.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about contributing to the holistic well-being of the communities that we are part of, and that\u2019s probably one of the most fulfilling aspects of what we do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Parker-Nowicki, Davenport and Williams Loston were preceded by Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who represents the East Side. Calvert also called for more retail opportunities on the East Side and criticized the typical, private business-driven economic development process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn economic development theory, retail follows rooftops,\u201d Calvert said. \u201cIn 2014 on the East Side, the median income was a mere $17,800. Stores and markets didn\u2019t see a customer or consumer to buy their products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calvert highlighted the improvement of the area\u2019s housing stock, which helped \u201cbring the middle class back to the East Side.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was another key to bringing entertainment and retail options to the neighborhoods in his precinct.<\/p>\n

Creating retail and cultural spaces has become a greater focus recently on the East Side. SAGE is creating plans for a public market complex that will incorporate local art and business.<\/p>\n

At the same time, community leaders are ironing out the future of the Frost Bank Center, armed with $191.8 million from Proposition A\u2019s passage. Nortey wants investment in the arts to be part of that\u00a0 future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to send a signal to the business community and to our East Side that it\u2019s worth investing in arts,\u201d Nortey said. \u201cIn that way, we try to respond to the needs of residents who feel like they\u2019re losing their sense of community or culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018They\u2019re gonna throw everything they have at us\u2019: Talarico bats down first Paxton attacks at San Antonio\u2019s Paper Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAGE hosted its State of the Eastside event where speakers focused on future economic development in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMore arts and cultural spaces will boost economic development, leaders say at State of the Eastside - San Antonio moving report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=499\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More arts and cultural spaces will boost economic development, leaders say at State of the Eastside - 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