by Elizabeth Ruiz

It's beginning to look alot like Fiesta with the unveiling of the 2013 Night in Old San Antonio poster and medal.

Titled "Cornucopia of Culture," it depicts San Antonio's ambassador of song, the late Rosita Fernandez, who performed on stage at the Arneson River Theatre at NIOSA for many years.

Rosita is wearing a shawl and holding a colorful fan as she's surrounded by symbols representing 15 cultural areas of NIOSA.

"The colorful boots represent Frontier Town, the French Quarter is represented by the fleur de lis and there's this wonderful dragon for Chinatown," said NIOSA Chair Kathy DeWaal.

The artist, Debra Benditz also incorporates the clover of Irish Flat, the edelweiss of Sauerkraut Bend and the saxophone of Froggy Bottom.

"The colors are just so brilliant and it represents everything that our event and our culture are all about," DeWaal told 550 KTSA News.

Benditz owns Debra Benditz Art Studios in La Villita, but before she was an artist, she owned a successful steel business supplying pipe to the oil and gas industry.

She sold the business and after completing culinary school, she went back to school to study art history, interior design and finally, studio art and painting.

Benditz graduated from Texas Christian University with a BFA in Studio Art and Painting. She's been selected by the Hungarian Multicultural Center to do an artist residency for the month of August in Budapest.

DeWaal also is an artist. She designed the 2013 NIOSA Cloisonne medal depicting a mariachi and a flamenco dancer on stage at the Arneson River Theatre suspended from the NIOSA letters above.

"The river has blue glitter and right below the stage of the Arneson it says "Celebrating 65 Years," said DeWaal. "The dancer slides back and forth across the stage."

The medal sells for $10 at the NIOSA office, on the NIOSA website and at the Fiesta Store on Broadway. The poster sells for $45 at the NIOSA office, on the NIOSA website and at Sigoloff's Frame and Art at 8222 Broadway.

"Not only does Debra share my love of vibrant colors, but she's definitely the appropriate NIOSA poster artist because her studio is in La Villita, the home of NIOSA and two Conservation Society properties," DeWaal said.

"We know she appreciates La Villita's beautiful setting and how the Conservation Society continues to restore its phenomenal historic buildings and amenities as much as we do," added DeWaal.

Fiesta San Antonio kicks off April 18-April 28. NIOSA is scheduled April 23-26 at La Villita.