Golden hour in The Briscoe Western Art Museum garden

We were invited to an evening reception in the McNutt Sculpture Garden at the Briscoe Western Art Museum.  The event was sponsored by San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) and we made a point of arriving early to take advantage of the light.



The courtyard incorporates an ancient access pathway to the San Antonio River so it's open free to the public during museum hours but is usually closed in the evening and early morning making this quite a treat to catch native Lindheimer muhly grasses grazed with the sun's last rays of the day.

The "golden hour" for photos as one of our SAWS hosts put it when she welcomed our early arrival.

The Rainmaker

Lake|Flato architecture designed the Jack Guenther Pavilion event space in 2013 as an addition to the 1930 Art Deco gallery building.  Austin-based Christy Ten Eyck landscaped the courtyard.

Another excellent Lake|Flato and Ten Eyck collaboration in San Antonio and it's been on my must-see list for a while.



These two firms are so prolific it's a challenge to keep up with them.

Riverfront hotels form a backdrop to this small urban space.

El Caporal

Live Oak trees screen nearby buildings.

Or at least screen as much as possible.  Someday those oaks will meet and the parking garage across the street should disappear.

Dance of the Eagle

Golden Wings

Cow's tongue opuntia native to Comal County just north of San Antonio and Hesperaloe set the stage.

The century old original waterworks for San Antonio forms one side of the courtyard.  It's small because our underground aquifer water source is so clean it's simply piped out of the ground and into our homes with only a spritz of chlorine to keep bacteria at bay.  

The Eyes of Texas

Lindheimer's Muhly in a slight evening breeze.

Sculptural Live Oaks, like the one at the end of the walk, fit right into this garden repeating the curvy form of those longhorns.

Horses on these large panels which also function as gates.

The 'Partners in Conservation' event celebrated a milestone of a trillion gallons of water saved through conservation over twenty years.  Another milestone, a new desalination plant is up and running.  We're about 150 miles from the beach so what gives with that?  We have a major source of brackish, but otherwise clean, water in the Wilcox aquifer south of town which now provides 12 million gallons of drinking water a day.  More importantly, the Wilcox aquifer is not subject to drought restrictions.

Strength of the Maker

Variegated ginger adds a bright highlight.

More of those sunlit grasses.



The event got underway just as the sun set.  During regular hours you will find tables and chairs to enjoy lunch or a break from a day of walking in the city.

On the right is a group learning about the first artesian well in San Antonio depicted in a tile mural.

The gusher just right of the Alamo marks the waterworks and museum location.

The museum's river portal has a spectacular waterfall.

A look down at live oaks from the upper level of the pavilion with the San Antonio River just visible through the trees.

Bird Woman

What a beautiful place to spend an evening!

I'll be sure to detour through the Briscoe sculpture garden during future trips downtown.

The Briscoe is open until 5pm most days and until 9pm on "Downtown Tuesdays" which is a popular night for locals to visit.  Parking is free on Tuesday night plus many restaurants and other venues feature specials enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

Keeping "Pace" with The Pearl

Our beautiful city just keeps getting better.  New urban re-use projects are creating great outdoor spaces beyond the famous downtown River Walk.   In my last post I brought you a tour of the intriguing new Hotel Emma.  Now I'll take you back a few weeks when we toured the newly opened plaza on the east side of the hotel.

The Pearl is named for the former Pearl Brewery which operated for over 100 years until it closed in 2001.  The site was purchased by Christopher Goldsbury and his Silver Ventures investment firm.  Mr. Goldsbury--one of six billionaires who call San Antonio home--made his money from Pace Foods, the company which helped make salsa America's number one condiment.  Now that The Pearl is coming together, I am amazed by his vision and community investment which has created a wonderful urban destination for locals and tourists.

Let's get walking around the new plaza.  The Second Empire style former brewhouse built in 1894 is now a guest room tower at Hotel Emma.  Photos of guest rooms show those awesome curved windows from the inside and the cupola is now a two-story guest suite.

Open Days Austin Garden Tour: Christine Ten Eyck and Gary Deaver Garden

The Christine Ten Eyck and Gary Deaver Garden was the third garden visited on The Garden Conservancy's Open Days tour in Austin and a convenient short walk from the previous garden.

Christy Ten Eyck is an award-winning landscape architect with offices in Austin and Phoenix.  This was a much-anticipated opportunity to tour her personal garden in Austin.  For more on the background of this garden check out Pam Penick's two posts on this same garden at her blog Digging.

Large agaves with native flowers are living sculptures along the street.