San Antonio's art landscape now includes online platforms exploring how music and public art shape the city's identity.

Why it matters: While separate projects, the platforms turn San Antonio's art history into interactive, living archives.

The latest: The UT San Antonio Libraries and Museums Community-Engaged Digital Scholarship Hub (CEDISH) and the city of San Antonio last week launched The Sounds of San Anto and an online public art portal, respectively.

Zoom in: The Sounds of San Anto blends data and storytelling to preserve the city's musical history. The project features three components: an interactive concert map, a collection of oral histories and a deep dive into a historic corrido tied to the region.

• The map visualizes San Antonio's live music scene from 1970-2010, allowing users to explore genres, venues and how the scene evolved.
• More than 30 oral histories capture memories of storied nightclubs like Taco Land and El Camaroncito.
• A third feature examines the corrido of Gregorio Cortez — a South Texas outlaw turned folk legend — layering song lyrics with historical records to show how Mexican American communities preserved their own versions of the story.

What's next: The team plans to develop curriculum materials for K–12 and college classrooms.

What they're saying: "By blending technology with human stories and working directly with the San Antonio community, we're making digital scholarship more engaging, accessible and deeply personal," Carolyn Ellis, CEDISH co-director and senior associate vice provost for the libraries and museums, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the city of San Antonio's new online portal catalogs more than 800 works in its public art collection, spanning murals, sculptures, gardens and installations.

• Users can search by neighborhood, learn about artists and explore the stories behind each piece.

The bottom line: "Public art is not an add-on in San Antonio, it's part of our DNA. It tells our stories, shapes our identity, and strengthens the path toward our future," Krystal Jones, director of the city's Arts and Culture department, said in a statement.

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Look up! Millions of birds are traveling through Texas as part of the annual spring migration.

Why it matters: Texas sits in the Central Flyway, a superhighway for birds traveling south before the winter months and back north during the spring.

State of flight: Fall migration happens between August and November. Spring migration peaks mid-April to mid-May.

• Warblers, ruby-throated hummingbirds and northern parulas are among the dozens of species that travel through Texas.
• Most of the migration happens at night, and some birds travel as far as the Arctic in the spring.

By the numbers: An estimated 14.8 million birds crossed Texas between Wednesday night and Thursday morning alone — one of the busiest times for birds last week.

• Roughly 1 million crossed Bexar County during that same time period, per Cornell University's BirdCast dashboard.

Threat level: Drought, urbanization and heat can threaten birds by making it hard for them to find food and reproduce, per the National Audubon Society.

• Brightly-lit buildings can also be disorienting to birds.

What to do: Lights Out, Texas! asks residents, businesses and institutions to turn off or dim nonessential lights at night during peak migration and reduce window reflections during the day to help prevent bird collisions.

What to watch: Use the BirdCast dashboard to check which birds are flying through the area.

🍹 Paradise Unknown, a downtown tiki bar from the team behind Be Kind & Rewind, will open on Friday. (SA Current)

⭐️ Hotel Emma ranked No. 8 among the best U.S. hotels for food and drink in Food & Wine's 2026 Global Tastemaker Awards, rising from No. 10 last year. (CultureMap SA)

🏡 Stat du jour

Bexar County home values dipped 0.11% over the past year, with average sale prices also slightly down.

• Still, overall property values rose 2.5%, boosted by new construction. (SA Report)

Bank of America is offering San Antonio kids cheap access to golf.

Why it matters: The initiative aims to make a sport that's often cost-prohibitive more accessible.

The latest: Bank of America's Golf with Us program is offering kids ages 6–18 a free one-year membership to Youth on Course for a limited time.

• Memberships cost $40 on average, depending on location.

How it works: Kids can play rounds for $5 or less at participating courses, including Brackenridge Park, Cedar Creek, Fort Sam Houston, Mission Del Lago and Olmos Basin.

• The membership includes $5 simulator rentals and free lessons at Golf Galaxy and Dick's House of Sport.

By the numbers: About 650 local kids signed up last year, playing more than 1,300 rounds across the city.

The fine print: The nationwide offer ends once 150,000 memberships are claimed or by June 15, 2026 — whichever comes first.

What they're saying: "Golf teaches powerful life lessons, how to compete, stay patient, and handle setbacks, and those lessons shape who you become," golf star Rory McIlroy — who is donating $500,000 to the program — said in a statement.

• "Opening access to the game is key to giving more kids that opportunity."