I grew up in San Antonio during a time of expansion for the city. We take pride in the fact that although we are a geographically large city, we like to think of ourselves as a small town. We are still geographically segregated but like to think of ourselves as a more liberal city in a conservative state.  Like our city, our artists are all over the place. We have Latinx art but also bluebonnets. Our city is rich with layers of traditions that recall our German settlers but also our Mexican roots. I am a product of a generation that dealt with civil rights issues and working women reaching for the glass ceiling. I was the first of my family to graduate from college, earning a B.A. and M.A. from Trinity University. As the product of a single parent household, there was no way I would pursue a profession in the arts. As a child, I was always interested in the visual arts but knew that this was not something you could make a living at so I chose a path that would eventually lead to me becoming a lawyer. Life pulled me in a different direction. Soon after my graduation I met my husband and moved to Ohio to begin my career as a civil servant. Within the next couple of years, I became married, earned a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute and gave birth to my first son. We moved to California, and I gave birth to my second son, who today has a degree from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and is a sculptor working in museum administration. My father-in-law was an abstract painter and a member o the Men of Arts Guild in San Antonio at a time when only realistic landscapes were the fashion in Texas. Though I may not have chosen art in the beginning, art chose me. As with most artists, it is not a choice but is a calling and a lifestyle. As artists, there is no choice you simply are always in art.