Un Taller for Dreaming Sobremesa

San Antonio Texas, 2022

By Tanya Orellana

Spatial justice is a field of study that analyzes regional and urban planning decisions with the goal of achieving equitable distribution of our needs such as jobs, healthcare and quality air. I am a set designer and narrative installation artist who believes that the stories we tell and retell create the culture we share. But along with telling a multitude of stories, what is equally important is that the way we tell those stories reflects the vast perspectives that make up the national community.  So to not give all stories a public platform is an attempt to suppress them out of the national culture.  As a spatial designer I am constantly asking myself what is the physical environment that will tell my point of view of this story-a point of view that is highly influenced by my belief that the distribution of space and the design of spaces is at the heart of how our lives have played out. 

 Going to San Antonio for the first time I learned very quickly the importance of water - water as a source for farming, water as a source of physical connection and water as a form of tourism. I heard stories, historical and personal, about what the river once looked like, how the river has changed and the future the developing walkways will bring. At the San Anto: Taller for Dreaming sobremesa I asked the group to imagine what San Antonio would ideally be in 200 years. The answers that came varied but over and over I heard a collective dream to have equal access to healthy land, water and community.  As the city rapidly grows, and the reality of Texas’ drought brings questions of who will continue to have access to affordable water-I listened to over 40 people temporarily put away their fears and collectively imagine that the city would protect its residents and become a haven of shared resources.  I was deeply inspired by how many people spoke about protecting the water and land.  It was a great privilege to hear residents of San Antonio dream of what it could one day be.  Of course, while there are many steps between dreams and realities, the first will always be simply to imagine it and the Taller for Dreaming is creating the space for that to happen.