Taking a Step Outside

The lights dim, and a hush falls over the room. A spotlight illuminates the singular figure standing in the middle of the stage. 

Suddenly, with a flourish, an orchestra begins. The silence is broken, and the audience watches with rapt attention as a dancer and music move in tandem to tell the famous holiday story of The Nutcracker. 

This performance of The Nutcracker was held at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, less than ten minutes away from Trinity University’s campus, and in the audience were Trinity students, enchanted by the scenes. 

Thanks to the ¡Hola, San Antonio! program, Trinity students are enjoying performances like The Nutcracker and many more exciting events in San Antonio. Sponsored by the Carlos Alvarez School of Arts and Humanities, ¡Hola, San Antonio! aims to introduce students to the city's culture and creative expression through visits to art exhibits; films; dance, orchestral, and theatre performances; and more.

The concept for this program was first pitched by Classical Studies Professor Thomas Jenkins, Ph.D., who wanted to find a way to give students the opportunity to learn about and experience the arts and humanities through exposure to San Antonio’s culture. 

As an undergraduate living in a new city for college, Jenkins realized that exploring the cultural arts of his new home was integral to his educational journey. He wanted to make this experience possible for Trinity students as well.

“Trinity is unusual in that it’s a small liberal arts college in a big city, and the program helps to take advantage of the sorts of events that a city provides,” Jenkins says. “It also helps to pop the 'Trinity bubble' and to encourage undergrads to start a lifelong journey of appreciating the arts in their communities.”

Since then, Dania Abreu-Torres, Ph.D., associate dean of the Carlos Alvarez School of Arts and Humanities, has helped to expand the program as its new director. She continues to be guided by Jenkins’s mission to make it accessible for Trinity students to leave campus and explore San Antonio’s rich culture and creative opportunities. 

Mary Katherine Schmidt ’29, an art history and communication major, has attended The Nutcracker and the opera The Magic Flute, and many more events that ¡Hola, San Antonio! offered. 

As a first-year student, she has taken advantage of these opportunities to break out of the Trinity bubble and become more integrated into the San Antonio area. “I will keep going because it provides me with different ideas, performances, and art that I never would have experienced before,” Schmidt says.

Students like Schmidt can continue to attend multiple ¡Hola, San Antonio! events without worrying about the costs because of the donors who have supported the program.  

Additionally, thanks to a $25 million gift from Carlos Alvarez and his family to name the Carlos Alvarez School of Arts and Humanities this past fall, ¡Hola, San Antonio! will gain new funding that allows the program to cover ticket prices and transportation costs. 

“There are considerable barriers to entry to attending performing arts in San Antonio and elsewhere: Tickets are expensive, and students often don’t even know where to look,” Jenkins says. Now, the program can eliminate these barriers, allowing students to explore San Antonio without financial burden. 

Eva Cheng ’26, an art history major from Houston, is another student who has benefited from this program, especially from its effort to make these events more accessible. 

“I love going to see performing arts events, but tickets can be really expensive, so I was really excited to see that ¡Hola San Antonio! was covering the costs of these kinds of events and also transportation costs, because I do not have a car on campus,” Cheng says. ¡Hola, San Antonio! provided her with the opportunity to attend both The Nutcracker and Giselle in the city with her friends, free of charge, and was reimbursed for her rideshare expenses. 

Looking ahead, Abreu-Torres hopes to involve more students when selecting future events. This program already covers a large number of events happening in the city, but Trinity students carry the most weight in choosing where to go, so Abreu-Torres looks forward to broadening the range of events based on students’ interests. 

“We always let our students know: If you know of anything that you would like to pursue and add to the calendar, let us know,” Abreu-Torres states. “I'm hoping it could be more of a community initiative, so everybody can have a voice on the calendar.” 

This spring, ¡Hola, San Antonio! is offering opportunities to visit art exhibits, attend film screenings, enjoy musical performances, and more. To see upcoming events and sign up, visit ¡Hola, San Antonio! site.