Robert Rivera Ojeda and the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture presents “Tribute To The Mexican American Orquesta, The History and Influences on Music by Mexican American Musicians.” Performed by Robert Ojeda’s Bronze Band, this tribute will chronicle the history and development of Mexican American music across a 50 year span from the 1930s through the 1980s. Throughout this journey, Ojeda will lead audiences through the rich historical background that gave rise to the “Mexican American” generation in the post-WWII era, to the “Chicanos” of the 70s and 80s. This will include an exploration about the influences left by American performers such as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie after their performances at Mexican-American venues like the Galvan Ballroom in Corpus Christi.
Come out to the URBAN-15 Studio for this FREE event Sunday May 17th from 5 PM to 8 PM CST.
Robert Ojeda, a respected musician, educator, and historian, states that the Tribute to La Musica Chicana is to fill the gap in San Antonio’s music history by preserving, promoting, and performing the music of San Antonio’s history. He is a 2024 grantee of the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture Individual Artist Grant. These grants support a diverse portfolio of artists in their creation of new original work in the literary arts, media arts, multi-disciplinary arts, performing arts, and visual arts. Ojeda is thankful to the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture in recognizing the need to showcase music and histories of Mexican American music.
The Bronze Band is a group of seasoned musicians that will perform a myriad of genres created over the years, including Indigenous, Tex-Mex, Chicano rhythm and blues, country-western swing, cumbias, boleros, oldies and much more that reflects the creations by Mexican American musicians.
URBAN-15’s Mega Corazon Poetry Marathon premieres at urban15.org/live-stream on Thursday, April 16 at 7pm CST. The 2026 marathon will feature 19 poets, each reading six poems in celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary and in observance of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The Mega Corazón Poetry Marathon was conceptualized in 2014 by URBAN-15 in collaboration with Inaugural San Antonio Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla during a production of Tafolla’s “San Antonio, Mi Pueblo.” The participating poets of that production became the backbone of the now yearly Mega Corazón. This online tour-de-force highlights the works of some of Texas’ best performance poets, ranging from local legends such as Anthony “The Poet” and Jessica Tilton, all the way to state-wide recognized voices from the likes of Octavio Quintanilla and Eddie Vega.
Mega Corazón will be formatted as a playlist of individual poems in an extended 24-hour loop, featuring 19 poets and over 100 poems. URBAN-15 anticipates a global viewership of over 2,000 individuals around the globe, helping to propel Mega Corazón’s mission to provide free and easy access to local poetic voices for poetry lovers worldwide.
The 2026 Mega Corazón Poets Are:
Amalia Ortiz, Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, Anthony “The Poet” Flores, Carmen Tafolla, Don Mathis, Eddie Vega, Eduardo Garza, Frances Treviño Santos, Jennifer Yañez-Alaniz, Jessica Tilton “Tiltonica”, Jim LaVilla-Havelin, John Phillip Santos, Johnny Rivers “Space Dragon”, Marisol Cortez, Naomi Shihab Nye, Natalia Treviño, Octavio Quintanilla, Rohn Bayes, Tomas Roque
URBAN-15 announces the triumphant return of the Incognito Masquerade after an eight year hiatus! The official Fiesta dance party occurs Friday, April 24 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. CST (doors at 7 p.m.) at Jaime’s Place, located at 1514 w. Commerce, San Antonio, Texas, 78207. Celebrations will include thrilling performances by URBAN-15’s dance & drum ensemble, live music by two-time Grammy Award-winning group Brave Combo, tapas by Food Network champion Chef Kirk, and a free costume contest with prizes.
Presale tickets are now available at urban15.org/events/incognito-2026 at $25 per person, or at the door for $30. Tables of six are also available at a discount rate of $140 per table, a great deal for any group, family, or business outing!
Come as your are NOT… come INCOGNITO!
URBAN-15 invites you to the 2025 Josiah Media Festival Awards Ceremony! This livestream event begins Monday, February 16th at 7pm CST and will highlight the top three films in each of the Josiah Media Festival’s four categories; Narrative, Documentary, Animation and Experimental. Also highlighted in this livestream will be the award winning film of this year’s “Debra Varner Award for Innovation”, a special award granted to just one film per year that stands above and beyond in its creative storytelling and vision.
Join us at urban15.org/live-stream for a special opportunity to watch these 13 winning films, listen to post-film interviews with the filmmakers, and learn more about URBAN-15’s creative opportunities, including how to submit your own film to the 2026 Josiah Media Festival!
Narrative Category Winners:
1st Place: “Overload” by Mosayeb Hanaei from Tehran, Iran
2nd Place: “I’m Giving Birth” by Medeya Vlastopulo from Moscow, Russia
3rd Place: “A Waltz on the Moon” by Francisco de Assis Parcerias from Porto, Portugal
Documentary Category Winners:
1st Place: “Beyond the Down” by Gabriel Corasini from São Paulo, Brazil
2nd Place: “Second Chance” by India Anne Mitchell from Petaluma, California
3rd Place: “Changing Tides” by Renn Smith from Mill Valley, California
Animation Category Winners:
1st Place: “The Cleaner” by Mykola Shkoda, fromKyiv, Ukraine
2nd Place: “Sunrise Falling” by Alexander Salomon from Los Angeles, California
3rd Place: “The River” by The Animation Incubator in Bucharest, Romania
Experimental Category Winners:
1st Place: “Frozen” by Ryan Zreik from Prosper, Texas
2nd Place: “The Door” by Paulina Wozniak from Poznan, Poland
3rd Place: “Snow” by Ruoyi Dong from Calgary, Canada
Debra Varner Award Winner:
“Nibbling of the Night” by by Gabi Bania from Warsaw, Poland
URBAN-15 is proud to present the 2025 JMF “Locals-Only” Screening! Join us on Saturday, January 31st at 2:30pm for a screening of films made exclusively by filmmakers from San Antonio and the surrounding area! Emcee’d by Say Sí Theater Arts Director and “Las Hijas de La Madre” Founder / Frontwoman Amalia Ortiz, this curated collection of films will highlight the works of local filmmakers. This event will be held at the URBAN-15 studio at 2500 S. Presa, and will be FREE to attend and open to all ages!
Preceding the screening will be “Coffee Talk” presented by the San Antonio Film Commission from 12:00-2:00pm. This FREE event is a great opportunity to network and mingle with the San Antonio film community, expand your network and meet local filmmakers!
For more information on this event, please contact: josiahfestival@urban15.org – or – events@urban15.org
URBAN-15’s annual youth film festival returns for it’s 19th year, join us for an online showcase of international films, streaming at urban15.org/live-stream beginning Tuesday, December 16th at 8pm CST, and continuing on a 24 hour loop until the official award winners ceremony on February 7th!
Open only to filmmakers 21 years old and younger, the Josiah Media Festival is URBAN-15’s annual worldwide film and media event. It celebrates the talent and gumption of young filmmakers around the globe, many of whom have little means to create films except for their desire to create art. Over the years, JMF has screened films from all corners of the globe, including China, Afghanistan, Ukraine, India, and beyond. The stories these young artists tell not only showcase their passion for filmmaking, but are often reflections of their own struggles, be it war, poverty, political persecution, or the challenges of love.
URBAN-15 is honored to bring these films to a global audience via our annual livestream, beginning every year in mid December and continuing on a 24 hour loop through the end of January. This event is completely free to watch, and is one of URBAN-15’s many programs brought at no cost to our community.
Now in its 19th year, the Josiah Media Festival is one of the longest-running youth film festivals in the world!
With a wide range of free programs that we provide to our community, URBAN-15 kindly asks to during your yearly donations to support us for years to come!
By making a donation of any amount on this Giving Tuesday, you can support programs such as our cultivation youth and senior classes, the Mega Corazon Poetry Festival, the Josiah Media Festival, and more!
Join us for the great Soul Stick Q, Sat Sep 27 & Sat Oct 4 before the Manhattan Short Film Festival!
Blending a sound of soulful acapella in a doo wop style, this group of veteran musicians produces a beautiful sound that you will not want to miss out on!
Soul Stick Q is interested in the history and development of R&B and Soul, from its gospel roots on through its heyday during the 1970’s.
The group is developing a theatrical series of songs, with some historical commentary that illustrate the development of the genre.
“The Soulstick Q” will present their showcase at URBAN-15 in 2026.
Purchase tickets for any Saturday of the Manhattan Short to hear their stylings!
Join URBAN-15’s illuminated ensemble during their procession performance at this year’s official Day of The Dead River Parade! Watch as dancers and drummers perform on board a river barge down the San Antonio River!
Come out for a spectacle unlike any other, Friday October 24th!
LEADING BY EXAMPLE – Seven Remarkable Storytellers
URBAN-15 is proud to announce a week-long livestream event in celebration of 16 de Septiembre and the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.
This week-long livestream will highlight three local filmmakers, a film historian, and three musical artists who are making an impact on the Cultural evolution in our Hispanic community.
Program includes:
Luvine Elias, pianist “We Go Together”
Dora Peña “So You Want to be a Screenwriter?”
Ray Santisteban “Bootcamp for Documentary Filmmakers”
Theresa Coronado “The Life of Pioneer Filmmaker: Alice Guy”.
Amalia Ortiz “Belly of the Beast”
Joyous Windrider “Dannie the Dandelion”
Juan and Armando Tejeda “La Llorona”
The stream will loop continuously from Tuesday, September 16 through Tuesday September 23 at URBAN-15’s livestream site: urban15.org/live-stream.
URBAN-15