Growing up in Lubbock, Texas, Diana Kersey came up with an initial plan for her life. A stellar athlete, she would earn a scholarship to play basketball at Texas Tech. Making good on that goal, Kersey was part of the 1993 Texas Tech women’s national championship team.

Initially, Kersey had an idea of what direction her life would take following graduation, starting with getting a job teaching and coaching. Her path was laid out for her, except for something else that kept gnawing at her. She had taken art classes all through school. As her basketball career wound down, something from her childhood would always be in the back of her mind: clay.

As a child, she asked her parents if she could dig a swimming pool in the family’s backyard. The unique topography and geography of the Texas Panhandle Plains region introduced Kersey to something that would change her life forever. After digging a foot down through the soil, she discovered a unique red clay and from that moment, a lifelong passion was born.

“I love the smell [of clay], I love how classic it is, I love the chemistry involved when you start putting colors and glazes on top,” Kersey said. “I can’t tell you how excited I’ve always felt about the material. My style is to really let the clay material dominate the aesthetics. My hand is just sort of guiding it.”

After graduate school at Washington State University, Kersey moved to San Antonio after being charmed by the Alamo City’s rich culture and history. It was in this part of Texas that she discovered an unending supply of inspiration for her art and where her work began earning acclaim.

“When it was time to come back to Texas, I wanted to come to a place that had history,” Kersey said. “I just felt like a place with a significant human history seemed like an interesting place to land. San Antonio was it. It’s what I’ve found as being my true home.”

The City of San Antonio first commissioned public art pieces from Kersey in 2007 for Brackenridge Park. It set Kersey on the journey of pulling in all the elements she finds beautiful in nature into her art and putting them on display for everyone to see.

“My inspiration really is the South Texas ecosystem,” she said. “I pull in a lot of plants and animals, and I particularly like where ecosystems collide. I like to use those as analogies and as reminders. I’m trying to remind people that we can’t just concrete over the world.”

Kersey’s unique style and love for her adopted city proved to be a natural fit for the San Antonio Area Foundation. The Area Foundation has long been the epicenter of philanthropy in the community and cultural arts play a critical role as one of the organization’s four main grantmaking pillars.

To celebrate the Area Foundation’s 60th anniversary this year, the Development and Donor Services (DDS) team reached out to Kersey for a special keepsake to be shared at the anniversary celebration event at the Witte Museum’s Mays Center.

“As the Area Foundation celebrates its 60th anniversary, we wanted to imagine some creative ways to promote our work in the community,” Laura Giacomoni, DDS Executive Director, said. “As one of the most well-known and respected local visual artists, we reached out to Diana to partner with us on this project. We were over the moon when she agreed to collaborate with us on miniature versions of landmarks.”

For both artist and client, the partnership has been the very definition of a fruitful collaboration.

“Diana is an incredible entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for local nonprofit causes,” Giacomoni noted. “She understands the importance of San Antonio having a strong community foundation and has been so generous in her support.”

For Kersey, the collaboration has been just as rewarding. Teaming up with the Area Foundation has provided a sense of mission and purpose she has truly enjoyed.

“San Antonio has some great philanthropists that have really affected our city,” she said. “I’m proud to be a part of something that helps people. That’s one of the reasons I love San Antonio. We are a community that cares about each other and tries to lift each other up.”

Interested in helping the Area Foundation continue its philanthropic work for the next 60 years to come? Just go here to find out more about the many ways you can get involved in giving back to the community.

Eric Moreno is a contributor to the San Antonio Area Foundation Marketing & Communications Storytelling Ambassador Network.