SAN ANTONIO -- A new program soon to be offered on the city's west side is already gaining some attention.

The program promotes visual arts careers for students.

"Every single person in the community with whom I've discussed the launch of this program, their fervor, their excitement is just immeasurable," said Gene Gonzalez of Alamo Colleges.

Alamo Colleges and the West Side Development Corporation, together with several other groups, are launching a list of new programs to help artists use their talents to build careers.

"There's over 100 people who have participated physically in putting this together,” said Harvey Mireles of La Printeria. “There's at least 60 artists that will have a piece here."

Right now, this facility serves as an education and training center for students interested in other fields.

But this community was calling for something different.

“The west side is home to a number of artists and i think they really look forward to be able to showcase their work in their home area. It's an art destination we are trying to create on the west side, which is long needed,” said Mireles.

Though the building is a little outdated, officials say the program focused on print and film will make the ultimate impact.

“It will allow them to affordably work in the west side community, to do work in fine art print making,” said Gonzalez.

Organizers say this is just the beginning of much more to come, not just for this space but for the future of the program.

“The vision for this space is to see a new center, a new facility,” said Leonard Rodriguez of the West Side Development Corporation. “What the community desires is a facility that looks like any other Alamo college facility throughout the rest of San Antonio.”

They're ready to see what the future will hold.