Voting rights activist, artist will take last lap as Superman on Inauguration Day

If you’ve missed the local man who runs in a Superman outfit, Wednesday might be the last time to catch him for a while.

David Alcantar, 42, plans on performing his final Superman run at 11 a.m. starting at Artpace (445 N. Main Ave.) on President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day.

In October, the San Antonio artist put on his Superman suit and ran about 3 miles a day in local neighborhoods and at election sites across the city with a huge “Vote!” flag to encourage others to be a hero and hit the polls.

“When it started, I didn’t know how it was going to be perceived,” Alcantar said. “I didn’t know if people would think I was just this strange character out on the streets, but the response has been overwhelmingly positive, which fuels me to keep going and doing it again and again.”

READ ALSO: San Antonio artist runs in Superman outfit to promote voting

In January, Alcantar also took his Superman running performance art to Georgia for the runoff election. He said he was there for three days and ran in three counties with his flag and hero ensemble.

Alcantar launched his Superman project after the 2016 election with a series of superhero drawings he used to relate to political issues. He later added the physical aspect to his project, calling his exercise efforts “The American.” Alcantar said he focused on Superman because the superhero is recognized by many as an American champion.

“There’s a desire for us as people to be heroic, and we tend to define that in lacking error, but truthfully Superman may be an American champion, but he’s a character written by humans who also have flaws and make mistakes,” Alcantar said. “We should really look at any mistakes Superman makes and seize upon those and think about how we can compare and how we overcome those mistakes to be more like a Superman character.”

Alcantar added he hopes his Superman art piece inspires others to be the directors of their own destiny and their own government.

“Democracy is work, and it takes all of us in order to push it forward and to ensure it’s continence for ourselves, for our children, and for the others that come after us,” he said.

On Wednesday, Alcantar said anyone is welcome to join him as he carries around the American flag. He added he will likely run 3 miles starting from Artpace.

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | [email protected] | @CillaAguirre

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