Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio

Located directly across from the Pioneer Flour Mill, this collection of former warehouses spanning 137,000 square feet is now home to San Antonio's most expansive collection of art galleries, student exhibits, alternative theater, and also restaurants and a brew pub. Blue Star was founded by several local artists including Jeffrey Moore, Richard Thompson, Kent Rush, Richard Mogas, Adair Sutherland, and Lewis Tarver; the complex was first opened in 1986 with an exhibit featuring the work of local artists. The following years brought more successful shows as well as funding by the City of San Antonio, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Within two years of that first exhibit, the complex expanded to include studios and both work and living space for artists. Today shops specialize in a variety of art forms, from folk art to glass objects to jewelry.

Location: 116 Blue Star (downtown), San Antonio

Website: www.bluestarartspace.org