Celebrating 100 years of changing lives

Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas celebrated its Centennial on March 11, 2024—but we didn’t stop there. We spent the entire year celebrating the milestone and looking forward to the next century of building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the year memorable, from kicking things off at our Birthday Bash to participating in our 100 Hours of Giving supporting The Backyard, and from cheering for us on our Centennial float in local parades to having fun at our Adventure Days. We loved honoring our past while showing our communities that the future of Girl Scouts is bright.

One of the biggest ways we marked our Centennial is our Centennial Mural. In partnership with Centro San Antonio and the Art Everywhere Project, our mural, “Celebrating a Century of Leadership,” can be found in downtown San Antonio at 114 Main Plaza. Forty-eight-feet long, it depicts seven real life Girl Scouts from the Southwest Texas area.

The mural was made possible by the Frost Charitable Foundation. With a focus on education and youth development, the Frost Charitable Foundation is a longtime valued supporter of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas.

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Celebrating a Century of Leadership

Girl Scouts have more than a century of traditions, and one thing girls do today that they have always done is march—whether in celebration, commemoration, or in peaceful protest. The line of marching girls featured in the mural represent generations of Girl Scouts. All were or are real-life Girl Scouts from the San Antonio and Southwest Texas area, with several prominent women leaders depicted as the young Girl Scouts they once were.

From the left:

The Honorable Lila Cockrell toggle arrow

The Honorable Lila Cockrell: Depicted as a Girl Scout in the 1930s, Lila was the first woman elected as mayor of San Antonio. She served from 1975 to 1981 and was reelected in 1989. Lila was honored with the Girl Scout’s coveted Trefoil Award in 2004 and remained a public servant and prominent leader in San Antonio until her death in 2019 at age 97.

Sally Cheever toggle arrow

Sally Cheever: Depicted as a Girl Scout in the 1940s, Sally was a Girl Scout volunteer for more than 40 years, serving as troop leader for her four daughters and leading girls on numerous trips to Girl Scout World Centers abroad. Honored with the Girl Scout Trefoil Award in 1994, Sally’s passion for our movement led to four generations of Girl Scouting in the Cheever family. A young Sally is depicted holding a 1960s photo of her daughters (from left: Joan Cheever, Cece Cheever, Jean Cheever, and Suzanne Goudge) selling Girl Scout Cookies® to San Antonio Mayor Walter McAllister.

Joan H. Duncan, Ph.D. toggle arrow

Joan H. Duncan, Ph.D.: Depicted as a Girl Scout Senior when she attended the national Girl Scout Roundup in 1956. Joan was one of the original campers at Camp Mira Sol, which was the first resident camp for Black Girl Scouts in Texas. Joan enjoyed more than 40 years as an educator in the San Antonio Independent School District, teaching, conducting research, and working with young people and their families to address substance abuse. Joan is depicted holding a photo of Camp Mira Sol’s founder, Zudora McCoy, who worked for Girl Scouts for 34 years.

Major General Angie Salinas, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret) toggle arrow

Major General Angie Salinas, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret): Depicted as a Girl Scout Senior in the 1960s, Angie is a Girl Scout alum and has served as CEO for Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas since 2015. Salinas served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 39 years and made history as the first Latina selected and promoted to its general officer ranks. Serving as the first woman in multiple assignments, Angie was the commanding general of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego/Western Recruiting Region from 2006-2009. At the time of her retirement in 2013, Angie was the senior ranking woman and the senior Hispanic in the Corps.

The Honorable Leticia Van de Putte toggle arrow

The Honorable Leticia Van de Putte: Depicted as a Girl Scout Cadette in the 1960s, Leticia is a lifelong Girl Scout, public servant, and entrepreneur. She has been a practicing pharmacist since 1980 and served in the Texas Legislature for 25 years—five terms as a state representative and five terms as a state senator. Leticia tirelessly advocated for children, veterans, quality education, and the economic development of San Antonio. Admired for her strength of character, resilience, and faith, Leticia was honored with the Girl Scout Trefoil Award in 2023.

Amerie Jo Garza toggle arrow

Amerie Jo Garza: Amerie was a Girl Scout Junior through our after-school program for only six months before she was fatally shot at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, along with 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022. For her reported attempt to call 911 when the shooting started, Girl Scouts of the USA posthumously awarded Amerie Jo the Bronze Cross award for her extraordinary heroism. Amerie Jo is depicted wearing a Girl Scout sash with her Bronze Cross award and badges she hoped to earn based on her interests, including the Independence Badge, Junior Girl Scout Way Badge, Art and Design Badge, Outdoor Art Explorer Badge, Social Butterfly Badge, and the Craft and Tinker Badge.

Luz Fonseca toggle arrow

Luz Fonseca: A current Girl Scout Brownie in San Antonio, Luz is in second grade and participates in our Girl Genius after-school tutoring program at the West Side Girl Scout Leadership Center. She represents the thousands of girls across our 21-county council whose lives are changed every day by being in Girl Scouts.

Other symbolic elements of the mural include:

A campfire toggle arrow

A campfire: A tradition of Girl Scouts is to sing songs and make s’mores around a campfire. The first official recipe for s’mores was published in the 1927 Girl Scout handbook.

Bluebonnets toggle arrow

Bluebonnets: Depicted throughout the mural to commemorate our first commissioner, Sallie Ward Beretta. She became known as the “Bluebonnet Lady of Texas” when she recruited Girl Scouts to a statewide service project to collect and distribute bluebonnet seeds.

Friendship bracelets toggle arrow

Friendship bracelets: Symbolic of the lifelong friends girls make in Girl Scouts, the words on the friendship bracelets—Brave and Be Kind—were inspired by conversations the artist had with girls about what Girl Scouting means to them.

Dinosaur tracks toggle arrow

Dinosaur tracks: Reminding generations of Girl Scouts of Camp La Jita, our resident camp in Utopia, Texas, preserves the prehistoric story of the region with dinosaur tracks visible in shallow bed of the Sabinal River.

Girl Scout Cookies® toggle arrow

Girl Scout Cookies®: The largest entrepreneurial program for girls in the world, the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches girls essential life skills while generating funds to support our movement. The mural features the Trefoils® cookie—symbolic of the first shortbread cookie recipe from 1917—the Samoas® cookie, Tagalongs® cookies, and the Lemon-Ups® cookie featuring the phrase “I Am A Leader.”

The mural features five recreations of photos throughout our history. toggle arrow

From left:

1980s photo of the Storybook Tree at Camp La Jita.
1982 photo of Girl Scouts on a trolley car in downtown San Antonio. The troop of girls depicted were residents of the former Victoria Courts community housing complex.
1988 photo of Girl Scouts sorting cases of Girl Scout Cookies®.
1947 photo of Bexar County Girl Scouts celebrating Girl Scouts of the USA’s 35th anniversary.
1982 photo of Girl Scouts with Girl Scout alum Mayor Lila Cockrell.

About the artists:

Cristina Sosa Noriega toggle arrow

www.cristinapaints.com

Facebook.com/CristinaPaints

Instagram: @mommypaints

“As a Latina growing up in San Antonio, my artwork has always been influenced by my Mexican heritage. In 2005, I spent a year re-creating the Mexican Lotería, updating it to reflect the Tex-Mex symbols and culture I knew grew up with. The My Lotería game and corresponding line of kitchenware appeared in H-E-B grocery stores and boutiques around the country.

“Today my focus is creating large-scale murals and public art. My work is characterized by its intense, oversaturated color palette and attention to detail. Murals are my favorite type of art because they involve the community and help define a space, time, and place. In the summer of 2022, I had the honor of painting a portrait mural of Amerie Jo Garza, one of the victims of the Robb Elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas. Working with her family to make sure the piece captured her spirit, favorite things, and likeness was an experience I will treasure forever. It is my purpose as an artist to create work that impacts the community in a lasting, positive way.

“In 2023, I was commissioned by UTSA to create a mural for the new school of data science in downtown San Antonio. “I Wish, I Will” portrays a young Mexican- American girl making a wish on a dandelion, representing her dreams for the future. She wears a traditional embroidered blouse, orange with blue embroidery. Using UTSA colors and a Latina reinforces the idea that UTSA is a Hispanic-serving institution—these are your roots, and your future. The floating seeds start as regular dandelion seeds, then slowly transform into digital data. This gives the mural a surreal quality and hints to the larger purpose/themes of this grand new facility.”

Silvia Ochoa toggle arrow

www.silvyartstudio.com

Facebook.com/silviaochoaartstudio

Instagram: @silvyartstudio

“I discovered a passion for art at the early age of six. At home in my native Colombia, I noticed the wall next to the kitchen was painted in a dark green chalkboard color, like in my classroom. I secretly brought chalks from school and started drawing big dolls on the wall. The moment my mother saw me she decided to encourage me instead of getting upset. This had a big and positive impact on me, and since then I’m aware how much joy painting brings me, especially on walls.

“After graduating from high school and trying different careers, I took an admission test at one of the most prestigious universities in Colombia, Universidad de Antioquia, in the city of Medellin. Twelve hundred people took the exam just for visual arts. Only 38 spots were available. I passed in 4th place. I attended classes for over four years; as a student, I learned many different media and techniques such as drawing with various materials, painting with different media, sculpture, photography, engraving, art history, and more.

“I moved to the United States in 2016 and after a couple of years of living here with my family, I decided to start Silvy Art Studio and offer my services as a muralist and portraitist.

“I have been commissioned by many brands and companies, including Tequila Cazadores, Deep Eddy Vodka, Bacardi Rum, and Juvo Plus. I have done commercial murals in offices, restaurants, hotels, bars, clinics, and gyms, in addition to private murals for homes. I’ve been commissioned to paint dozens of portraits in pencils, watercolor, acrylics, oils, and digital. I have also done a collection of birthday cards sold in the German market and done in-person artwork in Colombia, Mexico, and the United States.”

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