Points of Interest
Visiting the River Walk Museum Reach? Plan your route with our map and read our travel and parking advice.
Pearl Brewery
Pearl is undergoing a transformation from a historic brewery to a multi-use cultural center. Set on 22 acres, Pearl features a variety of restaurants, studios, shops, educational facilities (including the Culinary Institute of America and the Aveda Institute), living areas, offices and public spaces.
Free parking is available here, and it serves as a great starting/ending point for a round-trip walk through the Museum Reach.
River Barge Turning Basin
The 1100 feet of urban riverfront at the Pearl Turning Basin is dedicated to preserving the river as a precious natural resource.
This lush wide spot is the northernmost boundary for barges traveling the Museum Reach and entryway to the hike/bike trails leading to Brackenridge Park. Take a few steps up from the river to activities at Pearl.
River Origins and Movements #2
George SchroederNewell Street Bridge
Abstract interpretations of plants and animals from the river below become fluid lines of forged steel by San Antonio sculptor and metal artist George Schroeder. Working on both Camden and Newell Bridges, Schroeder’s street-level hand-railings will bookend the new Grotto area below. Installation is planned for Fall, 2010.
The Grotto
Carlos CortésRiverside and Street Corner at Camden and Newell Streets
Third generation Faux Bois (false wood) concrete artist Carlos Cortés created another spectacular addition to the river’s attractions – a fantastic grotto with craggy faces carved into cave-like walls, splashing waterfalls and surrealistic, winding passageways with eerily realistic stalagmites and stalactites. The three-story, dream-like sculpted structure is located in a bend of the river between the Camden and Newell Street bridges, adorning both roadway and riverway.
Besides the many hand-carved decorations or artist “follies,” the grotto features benches, recessed lighting, a picnic area and a street-level stairway leading into the jaws of a giant jaguar head. Directly across the river on street level, Cortés constructed a palapa – a thatched-roof shade structure with benches sprouting from wood, all carved in concrete.
River Origins and Movements #1
George SchroederCamden Street Bridge
Abstract interpretations of plants and animals from the river below become fluid lines of forged steel by San Antonio sculptor and metal artist George Schroeder. Working on both Camden and Newell Bridges, Schroeder’s street-level hand-railings will bookend the new Grotto area below. Installation is planned for Fall, 2010.
F.I.S.H.
Donald LipskiI-35/Camden Street Overpass
It’s hard not to smile at Philadelphia artist Donald Lipski’s school of giant fish swimming through the sky beneath the interstate overpass. The cluster of 25 seven-foot-long creatures of hand-painted fiberglass resin are anatomically correct models of long-eared sunfish, native to the river. Impressive by day and stunningly lit from within at night, the glowing fish are a beacon from blocks away, adding color and levity to a once neglected downtown area. A 26th fish is on display in SAMA’s contemporary gallery offering an up-close view of the installation’s vibrant detailing.
Ewing Hasell Pedestrian Bridge
Original Lone Star Brewery barrel bridgeRoy Smith Street
This 8.6-ton steel truss bridge once linked two towers of the Lone Star Brewery, now home to the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Where thousands of kegs and barrels once rolled, now thousands of visitors cross the San Antonio River from bank to bank.
San Antonio Museum of Art & Jesus Moroles Sculpture
Sonic Passage
Bill FontanaJones Avenue Underpass and Bridge
San Francisco sound pioneer and artist Bill Fontana recorded bird calls, crickets, croaking bullfrogs, buzzing insects, rushing water and manmade sounds all along the San Antonio River for this “call of the wild” audio installation. The unique public art work sparks mental images of life along the river, from the serene to the thrilling.
One of Fontana’s only permanent public works, it enlivens the Jones Avenue Bridge and barge landing for the nearby San Antonio Museum of Art.
Alamo Flour Mill chase & dam remnant
Underwater lights illuminate a portion of a dam built in 1883 to provide water to power the Alamo Flour Mill, once located two blocks south at Eighth Street.
Look for more details about the mill and its role in the city on signage located on both sides of the river near this historic site.
VFW Post 76
Now home to VFW Post 76, chartered in 1917 by veterans of the Spanish American War and the oldest post in Texas, this grand Victorian-style home was built in 1904 for the Petty family who donated it to the post in 1946.
Designed by legendary architect Atlee B. Ayers, it remains an active home base for its members, who give a warm welcome to the public. Drop in for a beverage or snack and enjoy true Texas hospitality.
Under the Over Bridge
Mark SchlesingerNinth Street Underpass
Mark Schlesinger teases viewers with texture, form and color, using existing bridge concrete as canvas to experiment with space and perception at the Ninth Street underpass. The New York painter, now based in San Antonio, developed glittering fiber-optic terrazzo benches and new, vibrant coatings and compounds to highlight the bridge’s structure.
By day, light appears to travel in zigzag paths through the large cubes that are part of his installation. Just wave your hands over the surfaces of the cubes for playful visual effects. By night, bands of color across the ceiling of the underpass glow to create a colorful portal of illumination and reflection.
The Lock and Dam Complex
The Brooklyn Lock and Dam is the first in San Antonio, moving river barges effortlessly through a 9-foot change in water level. The adjacent overlook provides a mesmerizing view of the mechanics as water taxis and their passengers enjoy the ride within the dam chambers.
A public restroom, barge ticket office and shaded gazebo make this a natural resting point along the Museum Reach.
29° 26' 00" N and 98° 29' 07" W
Stuart AllenUnderpasses at McCullough and Brooklyn Streets
Shifting blocks of color sampled from nature create a flickering, vibrant illusion and optical moment for visitors experiencing San Antonio artist Stuart Allen’s installations under the twin underpasses at McCullough and Brooklyn Avenue. Challenging boundaries between art and architecture, Allen’s minimalist suspended panels appear to shift and morph with changing patterns of color and texture as visitors walk past or float by.
29° 25' 57" N and 98° 29' 13" W
Stuart AllenUnderpasses at McCullough and Brooklyn Streets
Shifting blocks of color sampled from nature create a flickering, vibrant illusion and optical moment for visitors experiencing San Antonio artist Stuart Allen’s installations under the twin underpasses at McCullough and Brooklyn Avenue. Challenging boundaries between art and architecture, Allen’s minimalist suspended panels appear to shift and morph with changing patterns of color and texture as visitors walk past or float by.
Maverick Vintage Tile Mural & Hugman Dam
Mexican Arts and Crafts StudioRiverbank wall near El Tropicano Hotel
Maverick Vintage Tile Mural
In the 1930’s the Mexican Arts and Crafts Studio produced many colorful murals, fountains and decorative public art pieces seen throughout the city. The artisans were commissioned by then-mayor Maury Maverick to create this tile mural for his private use.
The bustling Mexican village scene was removed from its home prior to demolition, restored and donated by Susan Frost, a friend of the San Antonio River Foundation.
The Hugman Dam
Dedicated in 1941 and named after the River Walk architect and visionary Robert H.H. Hugman, only this small section of the original dam remains.
An in-depth explanation of Hugman’s original beautification and flood control plan is detailed on a sign near the site, which is adjacent to the Maverick Vintage Tile Mural.
Shimmer Field
Martin RichmanLexington Street Underpass
British artist Martin Richman’s first public art project in America immerses the Lexington Street Bridge and passers-by in gently shifting, dancing, colored light. Dazzling, reflective, suspended dichroic strips move in the river breeze, creating a portal of ever-changing light to awaken the senses and signify entry and exit of the Museum Reach.
