Growing up in San Antonio, artist Citlali Diaz knew from an early age that they had a passion and a talent for art. 

Their graphic design talent led to being selected this year as the creative mind behind the San Antonio Area Foundation’s 2025 Fiesta medal. For Diaz, it was a dream project that was virtually a lifetime in the making.

“For the San Antonio Area Foundation’s medal, I wanted to create something that describes the culture and background of San Antonio and Fiesta,” Diaz said. “Fiesta to me means that we all come together and celebrate our foods, our music, our different communities.”

Early in life, Diaz found passion for sketching, drawing and color while drawing on the ideas and concepts they saw all around. Influenced by their Hispanic heritage, San Antonio roots and interest in pop culture, Diaz brings it all together into a style that’s bold and unique. 

“Usually, I get inspired by watching cartoons or reading comic books, reading fiction and history books,” Diaz explained. “I was born and raised [in San Antonio], but my parents are both from Mexico. So, I get a lot of inspiration from those parts of my culture. Tex-Mex and Mexican folk art, things like that are where my inspirations usually come from.”

As early as elementary school, Diaz believed there was a chance that they could make a career out of being an artist. Hours spent idly sketching and drawing would, over time, become time spent honing and refining art and their style, slowly morphing into their current-day approach.

“I started to practice and build my portfolio,” Diaz said. “I would draw for my peers [in school], I would draw and trace from art books that I would get from the school library. From there, I actually taught myself how to draw and I learned the fundamentals of color and design. That was way before I got into SAY SI.”

Founded in the 1990s as an art outreach program between the King William Neighborhood Association and the Blue Star Arts Complex, SAY SI – a nonprofit grantee of the Area Foundation – has been a force for many artists in the city, including Diaz, currently a student at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The Area Foundation reached out to SAY SI for an artist recommendation for the organization’s official Fiesta medal design and that’s how the partnership with Diaz was formed. 

“I’m really excited to have been a part of something that I never thought I’d get the chance to do,” Diaz shared. “I’ve lived in San Antonio for a very long time and [this medal], and what I put into this medal was just my love for the city.”