Mayor Hardberger Urges Support for Urban-15 Trip to D.C.

January 7, 2009 ·Urban-15’s effort to find the money to travel to D.C. to perform at the presidential inauguration just got a boost from San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger.

“The one problem when you are invited is that the invitation is real but it doesn’t come with any money,” said Hardberger.

Hardberger joined George Cisñeros of Urban-15 at a press conference asking for donations to pay for trip to Washington D.C.

“It’s been four weeks since we got the invitation, and we are almost there,” Cisñeros said. 

The performance art group has about fifty members. They are one of two Texas organizations invited to take part in the inaugural parade. 

“I don’t want Urban 15 to become Urban-12. I want them all to go,” joked Hardberger. 

This would be the third time that Urban-15 performed at a presidential inauguration parade. Hardberger said the group’s appearance is good for San Antonio because it promotes the city’s unique culture.

Cisñeros said San Antonio’s corporations have made donations including H-E-B, Valero and AT&T, but they are also getting donations from everyday people. 

“Yesterday we received a check for nine dollars, and it was from a woman who said, ‘This is what I make per hour, andif everybody could send one hour of wages to help Urban-15, then we could get there with no trouble at all.’” Cisneros said.    

The group will be traveling by bus to D.C., and they are scheduled to depart early Saturday morning on Jan. 17. Urban-15's participation in the Jan 20 inauguration parade which will be broadcast nationwide.

Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies will be joining Urban-15 on their journey to the inauguration. He’ll be filing reports and blogging along the way for the San Antonio Express-News and TPR. You can also follow the trip on Twitter.