A Tejano music artist addressing a large festival crowd from the stage

San Antonio, Texas

Preserving Tejano history, one story at a time.

Documenting the music, stories, photographs, recordings, and people who shaped Tejano history for future generations.

Viva Tejano Musician Documentation Day Our inaugural event is currently full. Check back for the next date. Details

Why We Exist

Every family album holds a piece of history.

Somewhere in a closet, attic, garage, or photo album is a photograph, concert poster, recording, or story that deserves to be preserved.

Viva Tejano Cultural Arts Foundation exists to make sure those memories are not lost to time. Our work begins with documentation: identifying people, preserving images, recording stories, and building the foundation for a future digital archive.

Historic dance hall filled with people dancing to live Tejano music — Tejano music has always lived in community: dance halls, stages, family celebrations, and shared memory.

Vintage black and white performance photo of saxophone players on stage — Historic photographs help identify musicians, venues, instruments, and the communities that sustained the music.

Why Now?

The stories are still here. The time to preserve them is now.

Every year, irreplaceable photographs, recordings, posters, and memories disappear. Many of the musicians and pioneers who shaped Tejano music are still with us today.

By documenting their stories now, we preserve them for future generations.

Musicians documenting music and stories in a studio

First Public Initiative

Viva Tejano Musician Documentation Day

Our inaugural Documentation Day is currently full.

We are grateful for the overwhelming response from the community. Additional Documentation Days are already being planned.

DateJuly 26

Time2–7 PM

LocationGuadalupe Theater

Notify Me About the Next Date

PhotographsPostersRecordsProgramsStoriesMemorabilia

Mission

Preserve. Document. Educate. Inspire.

Gilbert DeAnda and The Tejano Brass publicity photograph

Preserve

Protect photographs, recordings, posters, programs, and other cultural materials.

Musicians recording together in a studio

Document

Capture names, places, dates, memories, and oral histories while they can still be told.

Young Tejano artists performing on stage

Educate

Create resources that help students and communities understand Tejano cultural history.

Modern Tejano musicians performing on stage

Inspire

Connect today’s artists and audiences to the legacy they carry forward.

History Lives Here

From personal archives to public memory.

Jimmy Gonzalez of Grupo Mazz smiling while playing guitar — **Jimmy Gonzalez**A candid performance photograph preserves presence, sound, and memory.

Vintage Rainbow Ballroom Fresno Tejano concert poster — **Posters & Flyers**Printed materials tell the story of venues, promoters, cities, and audiences.

The Latin Breed posed at a historic mission — **Artists & Places**Each photograph connects musicians to a time, a place, and a community.

Vintage promotional image of Laura Canales — **Women of Tejano**The archive will honor the artists, families, and leaders whose stories deserve to be preserved.

Our Vision

Building the future home of Tejano history.

Documentation Day is the first step toward a larger vision: a digital archive, oral history collection, educational programs, community events, and a permanent cultural home for Tejano music.

Read the Vision

Our Promise

We believe every photograph deserves a name, every musician deserves a story, every family deserves to know its history, and every generation deserves access to its cultural heritage.