ITC Steering Committee to present three scenarios for the future of the institute

JUNE 9, 2022 — In less than a week, the public will have an opportunity to provide input on how UTSA and area leaders ensure the long-term sustainability of the Institute of Texan Cultures, one of San Antonio’s leading cultural resources.

On June 14, the steering committee overseeing the ITC Centennial 2068: Community Stakeholder Visioning process will release a draft of its final report for public review. The report will include three feasible scenarios for the ITC’s future success.

The visioning process represents the shared belief of UTSA and the steering committee that the voices of Texans—and particularly San Antonians—are crucial to shaping the museum of the future. With the release of the steering committee’s draft report, UTSA will initiate a third round of Community Conversation soliciting public feedback on the three scenarios in an online survey.

“We are eager to share the collective input of the many people who have devoted their time, energy and expertise to envisioning the next 50 years of the ITC.”

“The ITC is a cultural gem that showcases the indomitable spirit of Texans, and UTSA is committed to ensuring it evolves and thrives for the benefit of future generations,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, UTSA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “We are eager to share the collective input of the many people who have devoted their time, energy and expertise to envisioning the next 50 years of the ITC. We look forward to the community’s feedback.”

UTSA launched the ITC Centennial 2068 visioning process last year to engage community members, industry leaders, elected officials and stakeholders in envisioning the institute’s next 50 years. To help inform and guide the visioning process, the university engaged a diverse group of community leaders and stakeholders to serve on three task forces and a steering committee.

In fall 2021, the task forces began convening to explore the ITC’s future with a focus on museum programming, community outreach, and considerations around the institute’s site and facility. Museum, development and land-use experts helped inform their work.

This spring, the task forces provided their final recommendations to the steering committee, which held more than a dozen meetings to develop a report that outlines three feasible scenarios for the future of the ITC.

To date, the visioning process has included opportunities for public input and ideation through two rounds of Community Conversation that sought input from a wide variety of ITC stakeholders. To raise awareness of the conversations, invitations were sent for community participation to nearly 800 individuals connected to ITC, local community and government leaders, ITC donors, more than 100,000 UTSA alumni, and 1,400 UTSA faculty members and students and promoted through social media and local advertising. Each conversation’s online survey was available in English and Spanish. Community members also had the option to visit the UTSA Westside Community Center to complete the questionnaire.

“The ITC is the only resource devoted entirely to Texas’ diverse cultural history and since its debut at the 1968 World’s Fair it has been beloved by generations of Texans, especially San Antonians,” said Sabrina Casas-Avila, co-chair the ITC Centennial 2068 steering committee. “Throughout the process, we have received significant feedback from a wide array of community members. That input has been valuable in helping us shape three scenarios for the ITC’s future. We invite the public to share its thoughts around the scenarios before we share a final proposal with President Eighmy.”

Matt Brown, chief executive officer of Centro SA and former chair of the Facility and Land Stewardship Task Force that provided input to the steering committee added, “These scenarios are conceptual and serve as a launching point for further exploration to move the process beyond the visioning phase. A reimagined ITC is refreshing and creates great opportunities for San Antonio. The Community Conversation allows every San Antonian to be part of this renaissance by asking their opinion on the three scenarios.”

The intent of the steering committee is to provide UTSA leadership with information regarding the community’s vision for the ITC of the future including programmatic needs and sustainability models surrounding the location scenarios to support the transparent evaluative process that is to follow.