Three To See: Exhibitions to View During The Holidays Before They Are Gone

’Tis the season of schools and offices going quiet, with loose ends neatly (or disharmoniously) tied, and packages carefully wrapped. In the brief calm that follows, before the year is in full throttle, there is time to slip into an art gallery or institution and linger before it disappears from view. Here are three exhibitions worth seeking out in San Antonio just after the holidays, inviting moments of reflection, beauty, and creative spark to carry you into the New Year.

Closing December 28, 2025- Strong Stuff at Mercury Project

Step inside Mercury Project, the artists' gallery and studios, and encounter the creative engine that keeps the space alive. Strong Stuff is a group exhibition drawn from the daily rhythms of its resident artists—painters, illustrators, ceramicists, photographers, upholsterers, sound artists, collectors, and community builders—whose practices unfold here day after day. Rather than a polished snapshot, the exhibition offers an honest portrait of work in motion: process, experimentation, and the quiet labor that sustains creative life.

More than a survey of objects, Strong Stuff introduces the people and passions that shape Mercury Project itself. It reveals a studio as a living ecosystem, one built on collaboration, shared curiosity, and mutual support. Seeing this exhibition will help you understand what happens when individual practices overlap, and a creative community takes form.

Participating artists include Nina Hassele, Christopher Lee, Olivia De Jesus, Pamela Martinez, Anita Becerra, Patrick Farris, Gavin Rodriguez, Crystal Rocha, Emily Tarleton, Pedro Salazar, Darcy McConnell, Michelle Hernandez, Logan Mask, Lu Farrell, Danielle Cunningham, and Micah Bell.

Their closing event takes place December 28, 2025 from 2:00-4:00pm. Outside this time/date, you will need to contact them to schedule an appointment.

Closing January 4, 2026- Larry Bell: Improvisations at SAMA

The San Antonio Museum of Art invites viewers into a mesmerizing encounter with light and perception in Larry Bell: Improvisations, on view through January 4, 2026. The exhibition traces fifty-five years of work by Larry Bell, a defining figure of the 1960s Los Angeles art scene whose practice has long hovered between art and science. From his iconic floating glass cubes to intimate collages and subtly radiant works on canvas, Bell’s art resists fixity, asking viewers to slow down and notice how surfaces shimmer, dissolve, and reassemble as light shifts around them. It is an experience less about spectacle than sustained attention—about seeing space itself become active and alive.

Anchoring the exhibition is The Dilemma of Griffin’s Cat, a monumental, site-specific installation Bell created for SAMA’s grand opening in 1981 and now returning to view for the first time in decades. Its reemergence feels both historical and immediate, underscoring Bell’s lifelong fascination with the way glass can bend perception and blur boundaries between object, environment, and observer. Using vacuum-deposited metallic films and transparent planes, Bell transforms light into a medium; one that reflects, absorbs, and transmits in equal measure. In doing so, Larry Bell: Improvisations becomes not just a survey of a career, but an invitation: to linger and to rediscover how profoundly art can recalibrate the way we see the world around us.

See our more extensive article on the exhibition here.

Be sure to check their website for holiday operating hours before visiting.

Closing January 16, 2026- CoSA Confluence of Cultures: Nuestra Gente, Cultura y Comida at Culture Commons

San Antonio’s status as the only U.S. city to hold both a UNESCO World Heritage site designation and the title of UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy anchors the vibrant exhibition at Culture Commons Gallery. Titled Confluence of Cultures: Nuestra Gente, Cultura y Comida, the show unites twenty local artists to interpret the 300-year convergence of indigenous peoples, Spanish colonists, and global settlers that forged the city’s distinct identity. Through mediums ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation, these creators explore the complex "interweaving of cultures" evident in the region's architecture and the unique fusion of flavors that define its culinary landscape.

The exhibition serves as a visual dialogue on sustainable development and contemporary food connections, featuring works by artists Abel Aguirre, Kat Cadena, Manuel Davila, Douglas Galloway, Adriana M. Garcia, Doroteo Garza, Michelle Hernandez, Soomin Jung Remmler, Nishima Kaplan, Blas Lopez, Marcos Medellin, Cruz Ortiz, Ashley Perez, Crystal Rocha, Eva Marengo Sanchez, Jose Sotelo Yamasaki, Ronney Stevens, Daniela Talamantez Martinez, Bria Woods and Ursula Zavala.

Curated by the Department of Arts & Culture in partnership with the World Heritage Office to mark the 10th anniversary of the local Missions' global recognition, the collection invites the community to reflect on and take ownership of the diverse heritage that shapes their daily lives. Visitors can experience this celebration of local artistry and cultural fusion at the 115 Plaza de Armas location until the exhibition closes on January 16, 2026. 

Culture Commons Gallery will be closed Wednesday, Dec. 24 to Friday, January 2, 2026. You can catch this exhibition from Tuesday, January 6, 2026, through its closing date on Friday, January 16, 2026. Gallery hours are Tuesdays - Fridays from 9:00am-5:00pm.

Be sure to watch our interview with three of the artists, Douglas Galloway, Ronney Stevens, and Michelle Hernandez.

Happy Holidays and happy viewing from MiSA!