The Department of Arts & Culture will host a Sustainable Food & Landscape Panel Discussion at Culture Commons Gallery on Thursday, August 21 from 6 – 8 p.m., an ancillary event for the Confluence of Cultures: Nuestra Gente, Cultura y Comida exhibition. The exhibition brings together 20 San Antonio-based artists who explore the merging of cultures that made their home and shaped their people. Through paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and installation pieces, these artists explore the legacy that has created two UNESCO designations: Creative City of Gastronomy and World-Heritage-designated missions.  This event aligns with the UNESCO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, whose 17 goals include promoting sustainable land-use planning and development.

Panelists include Larissa Leath, San Antonio Soil Sister, Stephen Lucke, Gardopia Gardens Executive Director, and Colleen Swain, Director, City of San Antonio World Heritage Office, and Lee Marlowe, Sustainable Landscape Ecologist with the San Antonio River Authority.  They will discuss the local environment and ecology, community gardening, and native landscapes that are sustainable, edible, have curb appeal, and are beneficial to bees and butterflies.  Each participant will receive native seeds for planting and literature from San Antonio Water System on the SAWS WaterSaver and Garden Style San Antonio programs. Three lucky attendees’ names will be drawn and receive a copy of Plants with Purpose: Twenty-five Ecosystem Multitaskers by Monika Maeckle.  The event is free and open to all. This is the fourth and final ancillary event for the exhibit, which closes on January 16, 2026.  The Culture Commons Gallery is located at 115 Plaza de Armas and is free and open to the public Tuesday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.