Leadership class looking to put SEGUIN art in city park
5 Feb 2024
News, Quality of Life
Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette
The newest Leadership Seguin class is big on the city of Seguin, which they plan to show in a big way.
Each year, the class is tasked with implementing a community service project, which this year will include purchasing giant letters spelling out the city’s name and placing them in Walnut Springs Park in Downtown Seguin, said Maria Castilleja, a Leadership Seguin 2024 class member.
“Our community service project is a public art element. … It’s 5-foot (tall) interactive letters that spell out ‘Seguin,’” she said. “These are big, interactive letters. They’re going to go crazy about these letters.”
This year’s Leadership class — comprised of 14 members — compiled a list of possible project ideas and then democratically chose Castilleja’s vision of placing the enormous letters at the park across Nolte Street from the Seguin Public Library.
They decided around September and began making the rounds to get their idea approved, Castilleja said.
Obtaining permission meant visiting several city entities, said Amy Jimenez, another Leadership Seguin class member.
“We had to go to City Council and basically get their blessing and see if this was something they would like to see,” she said. “Then we went to the art commission to get their blessing because it’s an art piece going in the park. Then we had to go to the parks department and get their blessing.”
Members like the idea of the letters serving as a type of tourist attraction, Jimenez said. The art project should help bring recognition to the downtown library area and provide a place where people can go, take pictures and make memories, she said.
“A lot of people if they’re visiting the library it’s going to be right there across the street in eyesight,” Jimenez said. “People are going to be like ‘lets’ go over there and take pictures.’ It’s going to be a destination spot for people visiting the city to show them what Seguin has to offer.”
Joanna Rodriguez, a board member on the Seguin Commission on the Arts, said she’s a fan of the project. As a graphic designer and art director, she volunteered her time to help make the idea become a reality, Rodriguez said.
She provided the Leadership team ideas for two fonts and two color palettes and the group landed on one design, she said. How the final product will turn out also excites her, Rodriguez said.
“So many times people think of art and just think of something hanging on a wall in a museum that you’re told please don’t touch,” she said. “Something like this where you can touch it and take pictures with it and interact with it, I think that’s always a fun experience for people of all ages. It’ll be exciting to see it unveiled.”
Before all of that, Seguin Leadership 2024 has to raise about $36,000 for the project, which includes help from the community, Castilleja said.
The group is hosting a fundraising golf tournament March 8 at Starcke Park Golf Course. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. shotgun start, Castilleja said.
“We have several different levels of sponsorship. We also have several different ways the community can support even without being in the actual golf tournament,” she said. “The golf tournament is our prime way of funding these Seguin letters.”
For more information on sponsorship opportunities or to sign up a team, contact the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce at 830-379-6382 and speak with Castilleja or Katie Dickey.
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