We know you came to San Antonio to take loooong walks, but there are two fascinating public art installations just a five minute walk from the hotel. Don’t miss them!
Labyrinth Gateway, a sculpture at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) Downtown Campus, was installed in 2003 on the corner of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and South Pecos-La Trinidad Street. (Turn left out of the hotel onto W. Cesar Chavez, carefully cross the highway and you’ll see it on the corner of the campus.) When the sun shines, the shadow of the mysteriously suspended labyrinth projects onto the small plaza, and you can engage in a short meditative walk there. Designed by San Francisco artist Lewis de Soto, the labyrinth is surrounded by trellises planted with flowering jasmine and incorporates quotations from renowned poet and onetime UTSA dean Tomas Rivera on surrounding benches.
The public artwork at Unity Plaza, in front of the new San Antonio Public Safety headquarters, honors the service men and women who “protect the grid” of the City of San Antonio. The plaza contains an 18,000 square foot mosaic map of San Antonio that delineates the San Antonio River, and major roadways and interstates. Lit at night by built in lighting strips, the illuminated roads unite at the plazas beacon tower which extends almost 60 ft. high, and emits a beam of light extending two miles into the sky. It is the only permanent light sculpture in the United States, so make sure you stop by at night. Capping the northern edge of the plaza are two 16 ft steel silhouette sculptures of a police officer and firefighter. Like the UTSA labyrinth, they intriguing cast shadows onto the plaza (so visit in the daytime, too!) (Turn right from the hotel onto W. Cesar Chavez and then make an immediate left onto Santa Rosa. The plaza is in this block to your left, at the corner of W. Nueva.)
