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servation Society. At present, the Discovery program (a story in itself) involves 50-plus students from all sections of the school district, who travel to the academy every Saturday morning to learn how to make pottery, paint, weave, etc. 

A new aspect of the program is Ballet Folklorico classes held twice a week at the academy and led by Mrs. Teresa Champion (wife of Willie "El Curro" Champion), a nationally known flamenco dancer. The purpose of these classes is to preserve and encourage the cultural traditions in dance and song of Mexico and Spain. 

Numerous individuals have had an impact on art in San Antonio-some of them mentioned earlier in this article. One of the most influential was Marion Koogler McNay. A native of Ohio, Mrs. McNay moved to San Antonio in 1925, and for several decades was a prominent patron of the arts in the Alamo City. Through the years she purchased major works from all over the world; but not until her death in 1950 did her fellow San Antonians learn of the magnitude of her collection of modern art. 

Mrs. McNay left her paintings, her home, and a sizeable endowment to the city to establish the McNay Art Institute. Opened to the public in 1954, the Institute houses one of the best collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in the United States, including works by Cezanne, Dufy, Gaugin, and Pissarro. 

Because it is funded by a large endowment, the Institute does not have to solicit public money-nor charge admission to visitors. "In fact," says John Palmer Leeper, Jr., the Institute's director, "all we ask of the people of San Antonio is that they use our facilities. We want to develop an intelligent audience for quality art. 

"It's a lot easier to give money than to be intelligent," adds the outspoken Leeper. 

One effort being made by the Institute to create an intelligent audience in San Antonio is a program whereby the San Antonio Junior League takes classes of San Antonio school children on guided tours through the museum (see photo on page 14). 

The institute also aids the community in other ways. For instance, when Southwest Research Institute began recruiting doctors for its faculty, it insisted that each prospect visit the McNay (and other cultural attractions) "to show that San Antonio is not a cultural wasteland," says Leeper. 

San Antonio has two other noteworthy museums-the Witte 
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[[Image of Cecil Casebier]]
Cecil Casebier. "I'm sort of a recluse by nature..." notes Cecil Casebier, considered by some to be the present dean of San Antonio artists. The owner of a local art supply store and a part-time teacher at Trinity University, Casebier is constantly besieged by young artists. To get away from it all, he travels to neary Boerne every week to do some painting in a house he has rented. ("where else can you get five rooms for $30 a month?") There he surrounds himself with cigars, classical music, and quietude. He shuns local art competitions, explaining: "I quit exhibiting years ago. An artist's competition should be with himself."

[[Image of Amy Freeman Lee]]
Amy Freeman Lee. "I believe that in a previous reincarnation I was an Oriental," says Amy Freeman Lee, one of San Antonio's best-known art critics and lecturers. An accomplished artist in her own right, Mrs. Lee has been classified as an "Oriental expressionist." She tends to agree with-and appreciate-this label. As she explains: "I'm not sure we've ever surpassed ancient Oriental art." Always on the go, Mrs. Lee spends her summers in Maine, but calls San Antonio home. "San Antonio has a positive effect on my work," she says. "I am a child of sunshine, light, bright colors, and space... and San Antonio has all that." 

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