What do you get when you combine art, wine, food, and business leadership? You can enjoy an incredible evening at the Helotes Gallery for the Helotes Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting! Last night, we celebrated the accomplishments and contributions of the Chamber’s outstanding members and leaders. Its strategic support and dedication to our local businesses allow the Chamber to create a more vital and vibrant business community in Helotes.

The Helotes Gallery provided a beautiful setting for the Chamber’s “Sip into Art” themed annual meeting – with a variety of original sculptures, oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, pottery, glass art, photography, and handmade jewelry from more than 70 Hill Country artists.

It was also great to see the original watercolor paintings by Charles B. James from “The Art of Helotes,” the latest book about Old Town Helotes with a series of watercolor paintings by Charles and historical stories by writer Cynthia Leal Massey.

The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of “Western Dance,” a life-size sculpture by artist Esther Benedict. The 12′ tall line sculpture features a horse on its hind feet, with a cowboy on his back, and is roping a steer that cuts underneath the horse. The rustic look perfectly complements Old Town Helotes and captures a special part of our history—past cattle drives.

Kudos to the Chamber’s members, staff, board, and sponsors for their hard work to make this annual meeting and year so successful. Here’s to an exciting 2025 for the Chamber and Helotes!