San Marcos Arts Commission
Connecting Community, Culture, and Place Through Public Art
For six years, I served on the City of San Marcos Arts Commission, eventually leading the commission as Chair. In this role, I helped guide public art initiatives, arts funding programs, and long-range cultural planning efforts designed to strengthen San Marcos’ identity as a creative and culturally vibrant community.
As part of the commission, I participated in the review and allocation of annual arts and cultural grant funding supporting nonprofit organizations, festivals, public art projects, and tourism-focused programming throughout the city. I regularly engaged directly with artists and applicants during public review sessions, helping evaluate community impact, audience engagement, and long-term sustainability.
Beyond grant stewardship, I served on both the Community Involvement Committee and the Mural Arts Committee, helping strengthen relationships between local artists, community members, and city leadership. This work included organizing artist studio visits, developing quarterly networking mixers, participating in mural artist and site selection, and supporting highly visible placemaking projects such as the San Marcos Gateway mural and Sacred Springs Art Kites exhibition at the public library.
I also contributed to the development of the City of San Marcos Arts Master Plan, a strategic framework positioning arts and culture as drivers of tourism, economic development, and community identity. During my final term, I helped advance future-facing projects including a public basketball court mural initiative and feasibility study for a future performing arts and cultural center.
One of the initiatives I’m most proud of involved expanding the city’s traffic box art program through a partnership with local schools, transforming city infrastructure into public art installations featuring student-created artwork. I also supported a large-scale community mosaic mural project that brought together more than 300 residents to collaboratively create a permanent public artwork in downtown San Marcos.
Impact
Served on the San Marcos Arts Commission for 6 years, including leadership as Commission Chair
Helped oversee annual arts and cultural grant funding supporting artists, nonprofit organizations, and tourism-focused programming
Contributed to the development and implementation of the City of San Marcos Arts Master Plan
Participated in public art selection, mural program development, and community engagement initiatives
Helped launch artist networking mixers, listening sessions, and community-centered public art programs
Supported a downtown mosaic mural project involving 300+ community participants