 To celebrate the sacred spring, the blue hole that is the source of the San Antonio River, a local nonprofit organization is hosting reception March 9th from 68th for the opening of Art of the Sacred Texas Springs, a month-long exhibit at the Kelso Arts Center on the University of Incarnate Word campus. The exhibit, Organized with Headwaters at Incarnate Word, features 38 artists and more than 60 pieces, including photography, sculpture, and painting. As the artists stage their pieces for the exhibit, Diana Roberts, one of the organizers, part of the art collective, sets her hopes to exhibit both awareness and an often overlooked space in the city. It's very easy to forget in a bustling big city and an urban setting like San Antonio that we have these amazing natural resources around us, and they are these wonderfully quiet magical pockets that you can go to get away from everything. By viewing all of this artwork, you'll get a sense of that connection between the artist and their connection with water, but also to reflect on one's own connection to water and the resources that are around us. A lot of the artists that we ask are not necessarily artists who are already doing water painting to work, but they took the opportunity to kind of do some research about it. I have a little over 14 acres is covered in limestone rocks, so the idea of using what you have hit my head is a good idea. When cleaning them, they put out the smell you get when you're in a grotto here in Texas. I was trying to get all the life that springs out of the water here in Texas and springs that are so important. Part of the sale proceeds go to support the nonprofit Headwaters and Incarnate Word. The executive director, Alexandra, talked about the significance the spring has to the region and shared the background and mission of the organization. We're a nonprofit earth care ministry of the Sisters of Charity of Incarnate Word. They had originally purchased all of George Brackenridge's land in 1897, which was 283 acres, and they developed it. They sold it off over years to build their ministries, and then in 2006, they had 53 acres left that weren't disturbed, and they decided to set it aside as a sanctuary. There's evidence that people have inhabited here, have visited and utilized the loophole for 12,000 years at least. We continue to have folks from all different indigenous backgrounds coming to perform ceremonies here, pay their respects. We focus on environmental education, ecological restoration, and then being a space for personal reflection. Everything we do is free for the public, from kids to adults. We want everyone to have access to the head of the river, and similarly, we want everyone to have access to both natural environments and cultural and artistic resources. 150 years ago, it was a geyser, and 150 years before that, it was a geyser 20 feet high by the Spanish records. And what's happened over the years is that as San Antonio's population has boomed, the Edwards aquifer level has dropped, and it no longer has the pressure needed to push the loophole out as a geyser. And in fact, some years, if we're in drought or if people are really overusing water, it doesn't flow at all. So unfortunately, right now, at the time of this filming, it is not flowing presently. The aquifer is not high enough. But the spiritual and creative energy is still there, and we're thankful that these artists are sort of channeling that and sharing it in a different way, keeping the idea of the springs flowing even when they're not. The Council Arts Center is on the University of Incarnate World Campus. The celebration is part of a pilgrimage of sacred springs in southwestern Texas, which include the headwaters at the Comel River, Barton Springs, San Marcos Springs, Tripping Springs, and San Pedro Springs. To learn more about the other events in the series honoring San Antonio's sacred spring, check out www.headwaters-iw.org.