Past Events & Exhibits

FotoTexas III: People, Places & Culture 2024

June 21–August 31, 2024
Emmett and Miriam McCoy Cultural Events Center

The opening reception for the Texas Photographic Society’s FotoTexas III: People, Places & Culture 2024 corresponded with the first day of the annual event, Alpine Photo Weekend. The next day’s activities included a morning photo walk/workshop and a full roster of talks and presentations about photography by local photographers.

Click here to find out more about the exhibit and event

Image: Six Mile Backroad by Ginger Russell, 1st Place

8th Heritage Dinner

April 20, 2024
Emmett and Miriam McCoy Cultural Events Center

Bonnie & John Korbell, the 2024 Museum of the Big Bend Heritage Award inductees, were honored at the 8th Heritage Dinner. The Korbells have been avid and long-time supporters of the Museum. They hosted the Ranch Round Up Party for the 32nd Annual Trappings of Texas. Bonnie and John were active and very supportive of the recent Capital Campaign and expansion of the Museum. The Museum of the Big Bend Heritage Award honors those whose contribution help tell the story of the Big Bend for generations to come.

Bonnie and John Korbell have been in ranching most of their adult lives. They have owned and operated the LaMota Ranch in Zavala County since the mid 70s. The south Texas ranch was initially operated in a partnership with Bill Donnell and his son, Billito. The Korbells have owned and operated the 101 Ranch since 2003—after it was divided among four sisters—Bonnie, Ruth Russell, Beth Harper, and Margaret McMahon (dec’d). Bonnie’s parents, Jack and Ruth McLean Bowman, purchased the 101 Ranch in 1958.

 

Image: West Texas White Poppys, 36” x 48”, oil on canvas by Caroline Korbell Carrington. Used courtesy of the artist.

Andy Warhol: Cowboys and Indians

March 1 – June 1, 2024

Andy Warhol, fascinated by icons of American culture, released a portfolio of “Cowboys and Indians” in 1986. The 14 prints in the series portray a fantasy of the American West, mixing together historical figures and mass media interpretations of the past. In addition, 1900s photogravures of Native Americans by Edward S. Curtis and the 1939 Indian Court Series screen prints by Louis Siegriest from the MoBB permanent collection will be exhibited alongside Warhol’s work.

This portfolio is one of the last major series the artist completed before his death in 1987. Andy Warhol: Cowboys and Indians was organized by the Briscoe Western Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

On May 18, Seth Hopkins, Director of the Booth Western Art Museum, spoke at the Museum of the Big Bend on Andy Warhol: Cowboys and Indians. He delved into the significance of Andy Warhol’s appeal in Western art and culture.

Angel Woman by Graciela Iturbide

Graciela Iturbide: Photographs from The Wittliff Collections/Texas State University

November 18, 2023 – February 17, 2024

Graciela Iturbide’s (Mexican b.1942) photographs bring together her interest in traditional culture with a contemporary vision and has gained her enormous recognition throughout the world.

Click here for more information

Land, People, Place:
Experience and Expressions of West Texas

June 23–August 16, 2023

A selection of over 30 works on loan from The John L. Nau III Collection of Texas Art. The exhibit was curated by Christopher Beer and displayed in the temporary gallery of the new Emmett & Miriam McCoy building.

Image: El Capitan at Sunrise, n.d., Oil on canvas, 24” x 30”, William Slaughter, The John L. Nau III Collection of Texas Art

Grand Opening crowd in the new event space with a view of the original building. Photo by Bobby Greeson.

Grand Opening of the new Emmett and Miriam McCoy Building

June 23, 2023

We celebrated the completion of the new Emmett and Miriam McCoy Building at the Museum of the Big Bend on June 23, 2023 with a Dedication Luncheon, Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening reception. It opened to the public the following day with free tours, presentations and book signings.

Click here to read more about the new building

Qahatika Girl, c. 1907
Edward S. Curtis

Photographs by Edward S. Curtis

June 17–September 3, 2022

Between 1900 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis traveled deep into Indian territories and lived among dozens of Native tribes. He captured the ways of life of over 80 Native cultures, producing over 40,000 glass plate negatives, 10,000 wax cylinder recordings, 4,000 pages of anthropological text, and a feature-length film. His dedication culminated in the production of The North American Indian, the most extensive and expensive photographic project ever undertaken. Using the Museum’s Collections, thirty photogravures by Curtis and original maps from this time period will be on exhibit. Both collections were gifted to the Museum by Yana and Marty Davis.

The Stampede by Fred Darge
Collection of Susan and Jim Lockhart

Fred Darge Paints the Big Bend and Beyond

April 22–June 4, 2022

German-born Dallas artist, Fred Darge (1900-1978) traveled and painted extensively throughout West Texas and New Mexico. The exhibit was curated by Robert E. McKee III of Saint Jo, Texas.

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Satellite image of Big Bend National Park, Texas

Texas as Art

January 14–April 2, 2022

The images in Texas as Art are designed to engage the viewer—through art—with the diversity of Texas landscapes as seen from Earth’s orbit, including the expression of natural ecosystem elements, geologic features, and the expanding human footprint on the natural landscape.

Satellite images enhanced by Rebecca Dodge are complemented by original oil paintings of West Texas landscapes and flora by Fort Davis artist Liz Bartlett Culp. The exhibit was organized by Rebecca Dodge.

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The World in a Cloverleaf

Myths, Monsters, Mistakes and Lies

July-October 2021

Maps that are more a fabrication of the human mind than a true reflection of reality. A fun selection of ten maps, dated from 1550 through 1951, from the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection here at the Museum of the Big Bend.

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Postcard for At Night exhibit

At Night

June 11-September 3, 2021

At Night was a 50-image exhibition juried by renowned night photographer Lance Keimig for the Texas Photographic Society’s 2021 At Night Competition.

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A 1701 map by French cartographer Nicolas de Fer

Treasures from the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection

December 2020 – June 2021

This exhibit features seven favorite maps of long-time friend, supporter and donor Marty Davis who passed away in December 2019. Each map includes a descriptive narrative which will give the viewer a hint of what interested Marty the most about that particular one.

Located downstairs in the Museum of the Big Bend.

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Oxen and Carts, n.d., print, 8” x 5”, Anna E. Keener, Gift of Judy and Stephen Alton in honor of Marty Davis, Museum of the Big Bend

A Century of Fine Art in the Big Bend
SRSU Faculty & Students 1920-2020

April 20 – May 28, 2021

“For those interested in learning about a century of fine art in Texas, from the novice to the long time collector, this exhibit is a must see. Great works by both the instructors and their students, showcasing their skills and love of the Big Bend.” Mary Bones, Director of the Museum of the Big Bend.

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Anthony D’Acquisto
03/6/1926  Milwaukee, WI
U.S. Navy – Boiler Tender
by Zach Coco

WWII HEROES: Photographs by Zach Coco

January 18 – March 25, 2021

WW II Heroes is the culmination of a four-year project by photographer Zach Coco to interview and photograph the men and women who served in the military during WW II. This is the premier exhibit of Mr. Coco’s work.

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The New Blanket by Tony Eubanks

A Feeling of Humanity: The Ken Ratner Collection

October 9 – December 23, 2020

Works by contemporary American Western artists

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Morning Magic by Fran Mayfield

Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners

January 17 – March 13, 2020

Members of the Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners exhibited works interpreting the Big Bend region. This exhibit closed early due to Sul Ross State University’s efforts to protect the community from the spread of the COVID 19 virus.

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Daniel’s Dream by Hans Lufft, 1529

Five Centuries of Mexican Maps

September 20, 2019 – January 5, 2020

Selected maps from the Museum of the Big Bend’s
Yana & Marty Davis Map Collection

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Big Bend Memorial Museum by Julius Woeltz

6th Annual Heritage Dinner

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Cocktail Reception and Dinner were at the Ritchey Brothers Building in Marathon, Texas and were catered by the Gage Hotel.

The 2019 Museum of the Big Bend Heritage Honoree was Charles Mallory, founder of the Greenwich Hospitality Group, the owner and operator of the Holland Hotel and the Maverick Inn in Alpine and the Hotel Limpia in Fort Davis.

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Transmission 19 by Burton Pritzker

Burton Pritzker: Everything is Also Something Else

June 14 – September 2, 2019

The Museum of the Big Bend presents the work of photographer Burton Pritzker of Austin, Texas. Pritzker’s work strips away unnecessary elements that distract from the essence of an experience.

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Book cover of Why the Raven Calls the Canyon by E. Dan Klepper

Alpine Photo Weekend 2019

Friday, June 14 – Sunday, June 16

The weekend began on Friday evening with the opening of the exhibit, Burton Pritzker: Everything is Also Something Else. Throughout the day on Saturday, there were presentations by photographers E. Dan Klepper, Burton Pritzker, Tim McKenna, Ken Zoller and Jill Miller. Participants could take part in guided walks offered on both Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Admission was free to this event.

Book cover of We Make a Tiny Herd:Poems to Honor the Burro Lady of Far West Texas by Lucy Griffith.

Lucy Griffith, poet and essayist

Thursday, May 9, 2019

A reading and book signing by Lucy Griffith for We Make a Tiny Herd: Poems to Honor the Burro Lady of Far West Texas took place in the main gallery of the Museum of the Big Bend. Western artist Mike Capron, illustrator of We Make a Tiny Herd, was also present to share stories of his encounters with Judy.

Click here for information.

Grandfatherly Advice by Richard Orton
(cover photo for Orton’s book, The Upshaws of County Line)

The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family

January 18 – March 24, 2019

This exhibit of photographs by Richard Orton results from a 25 year project to document life in the African-American community of County Line in deep East Texas. The exhibit was organized by Stephen F. Austin State University.

Click here for information.

The Sacred Heart

Selections from The Betty Byerley Retablo Collection

September 21, 2018 – March 24, 2019

Retablos, small personal devotional paintings usually painted on tin, are one form of the religious art of Mexico. The Betty Byerley Retablo Collection is part of the Museum of the Big Bend’s permanent collection.

Click here for more information.

Big Bend Ocotillo

Erin Hanson: Impressions of Big Bend Country

September 21 – December 16, 2018

On September 21, California artist Erin Hanson debuted her modern impressionistic oil paintings inspired by explorations and hiking trips in and around Big Bend National Park.

Click here to see images from the show.

Yucca #2

From Texas to Mexico…What I See

March 20 – November 4, 2018

Ten photographs by Jean N. Cornell were displayed in the Gift Shop Hallway at the Museum of the Big Bend.

Click here to see images from the show.

5th Annual Heritage Dinner

On September 22, 2018, the Museum of the Big Bend held its 5th Annual Heritage Dinner at the Ritchey Brothers Building in Marathon, Texas. The dinner and cocktail reception were catered by the Gage Hotel.

The 2018 Museum of the Big Bend Heritage honoree was John B. Poindexter, a member of the Museum of the Big Bend Director’s Advisory Council. He was Chair of the Development Committee.

A third generation Texan, John is the Chairman of the Board of J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc., which he formed in 1985. He earlier co-founded KD/P Equities, a private equity investment firm, and served as its Managing Partner. As an officer in the United States Army, he commanded tactical units in the United States, Europe, and the Republic of South Vietnam. Mr. Poindexter holds an MBA and Ph.D. in Economics and Finance from New York University. His West Texas home is the 30,000-acre Cibolo Creek Ranch, a popular resort and the site of three restored adobe forts and other historic structures, all built beginning in the 1850s. John actively directed the development of the ranch beginning in 1990. The Ranch has three listings in the National Register of Historic Places, five Texas State Historical markers and has received three national and state awards for architecture among other honors.

Before dinner, Larry Speck, principal at PageSoutherlandPage architectural firm, discussed his bold vision and design for the new Museum of the Big Bend Complex. Adding 10,000 sq. ft. to the existing historic Museum building, the Museum Annex will include a temporary exhibit gallery, a dedicated Tom Lea exhibit hall featuring his paintings of the history of beef cattle in America on loan from the Dallas Museum of Art and an inviting interior event space with a connecting outdoor patio that highlights the panoramic view of the western mountains.

Five Cowboys by Ashton Thornhill

FotoTexas II: People, Places & Culture

June 15 – September 2, 2018

The Texas Photographic Society celebrates the rich history, culture, people, icons, landscape and natural resources of Texas.
FotoTexas II was curated by critically acclaimed, Dallas-based photographer, Laura Wilson.

Also exhibited: History of the 35mm Camera, curated by Monika Rodgers.

Click here for more information.

Dawn beyond the Rio Grande by Jim Bones

Echoes of the Cordillera: Attitudes and Latitudes Along the Great Divide

January 13 – March 25, 2018

Photographs by Jim Bones of the Continental Divide from Alaska into Mexico alongside ekphrastic poetry, poems written after reflecting on an objet d’art, by 39 poets from Texas and New Mexico.

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David Valdez and George H. W. Bush
Photo by Harry Naltchayan

Presentation by David Valdez, former Presidential photographer

March 21, 2018, 6:00 PM
Briscoe Administration Building, Room 304
Sul Ross State University

Valdez, the fifth Presidential photographer of only 10 in history, showed his White House photographs of George H.W. Bush while recounting stories of his time in the White House and with the Bush Family.
Click here for more information about this event and to see some of Valdez’ photos.

This event, sponsored by the Museum of the Big Bend, was free and open to the public.

Initiation of the Tenderfoot by Charles M. Russell

Charlie Russell Heads West and They Savvy Russell

September 16 – December 17, 2017

Charlie Russell Heads West
Works by Charles M. Russell  about his history and the people and events that shaped his career and life.

They Savvy Russell
Original works by present-day Western artists who are influenced by Charlie. Artists featured: Wayne Baize, Teal Blake, Mike Capron, Kathryn Leitner, Kim Mackey, Tim Oliver, Lauren Pomatto, Chessney Sevier, Edgar Sotelo and Herman Walker.

Click to view 9 works from They Savvy Russell.

Exhibits were sponsored by Kay & Don Green.

Initiation of the Tenderfoot by Charles M. Russell

4th Annual Heritage Dinner & Fall Exhibit Opening

September 15 and 16, 2017

On Friday, September 15, the Museum of the Big Bend’s 4th Annual Heritage Dinner was held in honor of Al & Jane Micallef and Family at the Gage Hotel’s Ritchey Brothers Building in Marathon and catered by the Gage Hotel. The dinner was sponsored by Kathy & Mac Stringfellow, Anne & Johnny Weisman and the Gage Hotel. On Saturday, September 16, an Afternoon with Charles M. Russell Scholars took place at the Espino Conference Center on the Sul Ross State University campus. These talks were followed by an Exclusive Cigar Party at the Reata Restaurant in Alpine, sponsored by the Reata Restaurant and Micallef Cigars. In the evening, the Museum of the Big Bend hosted the Opening Receptions for the exhibits Charlie Russell Heads West and They Savvy Russell.

Al & Jane Micallef have called Texas home for decades. Al was born with an entrepreneurial streak. At the age of 7 he was selling his own brand of rust remover which combined sand and Ajax. He sold Christmas trees and started a dance club while in high school. By 25, he stepped in to help his friend’s parents manage their company, Detroit Silicone Rubber Co. Three years later, when the company was sold to K&M Plastics and renamed Jamak, Inc., Al became vice president and general manager. He then purchased 20% of the company. Al now is the sole owner of Jamak located in Weatherford, Texas.

Al’s other business ventures include the Reata restaurants in Alpine and Fort Worth; CF Ranch, Land and Cattle Company, Jeff Davis and Brewster Counties; Sierra La Rana, a planned housing community outside of Alpine and Micallef Cigars as well as many others.

Al, through his sponsorship of Trappings of Texas, helped to create a permanent collection of Trappings art and gear for the Museum, while supporting the artists who made those works.

Al & Jane have three wonderful children, Mike who resides in Fort Worth; Amanda who resides in Los Angeles, California and Sarah residing in Alpine, Texas.

Turning Points in Teaching: Early Education and the Annual Summer Normal in Alpine

In 1886, shortly after then Murphyville, now Alpine, was established, a one-teacher school was established. The school continued to grow and by 1907 the Alpine Independent School District was established.

The president of the AISD was Joseph Daniel, J.D., Jackson and he along with school superintendent George W. Page oversaw the expansion of the district. More importantly, however, they created the Annual Alpine Summer Normal that offered continuing education courses to teachers in the area beginning in 1910.

With the incredible success of the Summer Normal, Jackson and others began a campaign to secure a permanent Normal School in Alpine.

This exhibit explored these historic times in Alpine, what a Normal School is, the story of J.D. Jackson and the start of Sul Ross State University! The exhibit ended September 3, 2017.

Images courtesy of the Archives of the Big Bend, Bryan Wildenthal Memorial Library, Sul Ross State University.

Alpine Photo Weekend

June 16 – 18, 2017

On Friday, June 16, there was an Opening Reception for Terry Cockerham: Big Bend and The Terlingua Project featuring color and black & white photographs of the Big Bend area by fine art photographer, Terry Cockerham of Dallas, Texas. Also on display was Write with Light: An exhibit of cameras from the personal collection of Monika (Moni) Rodgers.

On Saturday, June 17, several experienced photographers shared their work and techniques. Classic to contemporary photography topics were discussed. All presentations and demonstrations were in the Museum of the Big Bend Womack Education Room:

Robert Haspel: The Digital Advantage: The Importance of Post Capture Processing, Where the Magic Happens
Monika Rodgers: Writing with Light: History of the Camera
Carolyn Macartney: 
From Family Photographs to Film
Terry Cockerham: 
Why Projects?

On Saturday evening there was a sunset hike up Hancock Hill behind the Sul Ross State University campus with local guide, Jim Glendinning and on Sunday morning, there was a sunrise walk through the Sul Ross campus with Alpine photographer, Caneel Cardwell. These excursions gave a wide range of photo-making opportunities for participants.

Click to view all 48 works from Terry Cockerham: Big Bend and The Terlingua Project.

A Feeling of Humanity: Western Art from the Ken Ratner Collection

September 17, 2016 – March 26, 2017

On Saturday, Sept. 17, A Feeling of Humanity: Western Art From The Ken Ratner Collection, opened in the main gallery of the Museum, located on the Sul Ross State University campus. The exhibition featured 70 works by both contemporary artists along with works by early 20th century painters including Kenneth Miller Adams, John Sloan, Boardman Robinson, Georges Schreiber and Bettina Steinke. This exhibit explores and celebrates the beautiful in the ordinary. Included in the show are works by contemporary Texas artists Julie Davis, Tony Eubanks, David Forks and V…. Vaughan.

Saturday, Sept. 17th activities began with Morning Gallery Talks, 10 a.m.-noon. Ratner presented “Forming the Feeling of Humanity Collection,” followed by exhibit artist Erin Hanson, Los Angeles, California, who made a powerpoint presentation on her painting style known as “Open Impressionism.” The opening reception for the show was scheduled from 6-8 p.m.

Click for more information and to view all 70 works from this exhibit.

New Deal Murals: The Amarillo Competition

October 18, 2016
Espino Conference Center, Sul Ross State University

Michael Grauer, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Art and Western Heritage presents the rollicking story of the 1940s Amarillo post office mural competition that had sixty-four contestants including El Paso artist Tom Lea. Julius Woeltz, who taught at Sul Ross from 1932-1936, won the competition and his every move in Amarillo was documented in the newspapers, from his needing a haircut to his unpolished workmen’s shoes!

About Michael Grauer:

Michael Grauer directs the PPHM’s curatorial staff, is the museum’s Curator of Art, and oversees the weapons, sports, and cowboy and ranching artifact collections. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, he received a bachelor’s degree with a double major in art history and painting from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in Art History from Southern Methodist University.

After college he worked at the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) in Washington, D.C. Michael didn’t always plan on an art career, though. Originally, he wanted to play professional football or be a cowboy. Instead he went to art school, “because I could draw horses better than anyone and I didn’t know what else to do.” If Michael could live anywhere else in the world, it would be Taos, New Mexico (for the art scene) or Saskatchewan (because the name “sounds cool”).

About Our Sponsor:

This event was made possible by CASETA, Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art whose mission is to promote the preservation, study and appreciation of Texas visual arts and its history.

3rd Annual Heritage Dinner honoring Leighton & Jim Donnell

Friday, September 16, 2016

On Friday, September 16, the Museum of the Big Bend honored and recognized Leighton and Jim Donnell of Marfa and Fowlerton, Texas at the third annual Heritage Dinner. Begun in 2014, the Heritage Dinner is an annual fundraising event that supports the exhibits and programming at the Museum of the Big Bend and each year honors an individual or individuals that have made a significant contribution to the heritage, culture and history of the region and the museum. Past recipients include Victor J. Smith, 2014, and Miriam and Emmett McCoy, 2015.

Leighton and Jim Donnell became friends with the museum in 2000 when they donated works from the Beryl Lowe and John Rice estate. Beryl, Jim’s mother, was an accomplished artist who worked in a variety of media including monotypes, stitchery, primitives, sculpture, and ceramics. From this initial donation, the Donnell’s continued their enthusiastic support of the museum by contributing funds through the Beryl Lowe and John W. Rice Foundation for the museum’s capital campaign to restore its historic 1936 Texas Centennial era building and to support children’s programming at the museum beginning in 2001. The Donnell’s contributions have impacted people from all walks of life through their financial support.

Museum Director, Liz Jackson said, “The Donnell’s epitomize the impact of philanthropy in our region with their long standing support of the Museum of the Big Bend and our larger community. I hope our Big Bend friends will come join us in celebrating the contributions of this exceptional family.” In honor of the Donnell’s, the Friends of the Heritage Dinner have come forward to support this event. These generous contributors include the Gage Hotel, Anne & Malcolm Calaway, Yana & Marty Davis, Susan Combs & Joe Duran, Kay & Don Green, Kathleen & Pat Kennedy, Poco Reata Properties, John Poindexter, Leslie & David Pohl, Paula Wilson & Lonnie Rodriquez, and Anne & Johnny Weisman.

Texas Photographic Society
TPS 25: The International Competition

June 3 – September 4, 2016

TPS 25: The International Competition highlighted 60 works by 25 artists to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this show. The exhibition opened with a reception June 3, 2016, at Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas, and was accompanied by supplementary programming during Alpine Photo Weekend.

Exhibiting Artists: Mariana Bartolomeo | Craig Becker | Ellen Cantor | Valerie Cargo | Jo Ann Chaus | Calvin Chen | Bob Cornelis | Marcus DeSieno | AnnieLaurie Erickson | Bin Feng | Steve Goff | Leah Gose | Cynthia Hurayt | Tracy Lynch | Jamie Maldonado | Marilyn Maxwell | Molly McCall | Laurie B. McCormick | Jelisa Peterson | Lori Pond | Charles Rozier | Janet Flato Sanders | John R. Van Beekum | Sandra Chen Weinstein | Angilee Wilkerson & Jana C. Perez [award winners noted in bold]


Juror Rixon Reed of Santa Fe, New Mexico, selected 60 images from 25 photographers for TPS 25: The International Competition. Reed writes of his selections:

In today’s image-laden world, it’s not hard to find interesting photographs to view. There are an incredible number of websites with constant streams of images, but usually with very little context. Scroll through them long enough and you’ll almost always find something to linger on. But for me, it’s rare that these images give me the desire to delve deeper and learn more about the work scrolling past me.

So, what do I respond to?

As a bookseller who sees hundreds of new titles each year, I get most excited about work that uses the medium in aesthetically interesting ways. I’m drawn to all kinds of imagery from documentary, street photography, portraiture, nudes, to constructed photographs and studio work. In judging whether or not a book is successful, I ask myself, does this present an unusual viewpoint? How creative is the design? Does the form it takes make sense aesthetically with the work it contains?

As a gallerist, I’m drawn to artists who are exploring their world in exciting new ways and producing images with fresh ideas and/or aesthetic beauty. I’m particularly interested in the use of alternative processes in the age of the digital image or unusual uses of digital photography.

But ultimately, when looking at individual images, I want to be struck by their originality. I want to feel the image emotionally and I want it to be smartly done. I want to find images that make me think, “Here is a creative mind working on something different.”

 

Jim Bones

Jim Bones: 50 Years of Bagging Light in the Big Bend

June 3 – August 31, 2016

Jim Bones was born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1943. His father was an Air Force officer so he attended many primary schools, graduating from high school in Lompoc, California, in 1962. He enrolled at UT Austin in 1962 to study aerospace engineering, but soon switched to geology. He then changed to fine arts to study and work with the documentary photographer Russell W. Lee.

In 1965 Bones began a lifelong career working with a large-format camera that makes 4×5 inch transparent slides. His first professional job was as production assistant to filmmaker Ron Perryman, for the H.E.W.-sponsored film, Pandora’s Box, Austin, Texas (1967) and the following year as a research photography consultant, for Programma de Education InterAmericana, for Texas A&M University. From 1971 to 1972 he was a photography teacher at Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, Texas. He spent a year (1972-1973) at the Dobie-Paisano Ranch, near Austin. The photographs made during his residency were published in 1975 in Texas Heartland: A Hill Country Year with John Graves.

From 1975 to 1978 he worked in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the dye transfer printing assistant to Eliot Porter, who was widely respected for his large-format color work, especially of nature. Bones’ other works include the black and white book Texas Earth Surfaces (1970), Texas Wild, with Richard Phelan (1976), Junks of Central China, with Joseph E. Spencer (1976), Texas West of the Pecos (1981), Rio Grande, Mountains to the Sea (1985), Texas, Images of the Landscape (1986), Seeds Of Change-The Living Treasure, with Kenny Ausabel, (1994), The Smithsonian Guides To Natural America, The South Central States, with Mel White (1996), and A Long View Southwest, with J. Frank Dobie (2012). Encino Press of Austin, Texas, published two portfolios of Bones’ handmade dye-transfer prints, A Texas Portfolio, with John Graves (1977), and A Wildflower Portfolio (1978).

While living in Santa Fe from 1978 to 2005, he was a self-employed photographer, writer and guide and upon moving to Alpine in 2005 has been the Interpretive Exhibit Photographer and Design Consultant for the Brewster County Tourism Council. Bones also produced Images and Memories, an 8-part series of video programs about nature with writer Bill Porterfield for The Public Broadcasting System at KERA-TV, Dallas, Texas (1970-1971). In 1998 he produced The Seed Ball Story, a half hour video about a unique habitat restoration technique. His most recent video, Dreams of the Earth, Love Songs for a Troubled Planet, was made in collaboration with Terlingua songwriter, June Rapp. All are viewable on Youtube.

His works are in the permanent collections of: Alexander and Alexander of Texas, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas ; Allen State Bank Collection, Dallas, Texas, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Greg Copeland Collection, Fairfield, New Jersey; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; Photography Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Southland Royalty Company, Fort Worth, Lucent Corporation, Dallas, Wittliff Collection, Texas State University-San Marcos, and Story Sloane Collection, Houston.

Look Learn & Shoot – Alpine Photo Weekend
June 3 – 5, 2016

Presentations: Farm Worker Portraiture by Caleb Jagger, Dye Transfer Printing demonstration by Jim Bones, Traveling Light in the Backcountry by Crystal Allbright, James Evans and Select Images and I-phoneography by Steve Goff.

Photo Hike up Hancock Hill led by Matt Walter and Downtown Alpine Morning Photo Tour with Caneel Cardwell.

Tom Lea: A Retrospective
Tom Lea, The Left-Handed Buffalo Hunter, 1937, oil on canvas, 41 x 41”, El Paso Museum of Art, Bequest of Billie Ruth Simpson

Tom Lea: A Retrospective

September 18, 2015 – March 20, 2016

* * * * * * *

Knowing the North Star: The Life and Art of Tom Lea

Presented by Adair Margo, President of the Tom Lea Institute Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 10 AM Sul Ross State University – Morgan University Center – 2nd Floor

Though largely unknown outside of El Paso, Texas, Tom Lea, 1907-2001, knew where he belonged. A muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist and historian, Lea was probably the only person to have been threatened by Pancho Villa, interrupted by Chiang Kai-shek and regaled by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. However with his worldwide travels, he always returned to his beloved El Paso. Lea created murals for federal buildings across the U.S. during the 1930s, created illustrations for two books with J. Frank Dobie and was an “Accredited War Artist-Correspondent” for Life magazine during World War II. His firsthand account of the Marine landing on the Peleliu beachhead was a turning point in his career. He published a fine press book of his eyewitness account with illustrations with the help of master printer Carl Hertzog. His eleven paintings from this landing including “The Two Thousand Yard Stare” have been reproduced in countless publications. After his WWII experiences, he became an author in his own right. His works which he fully illustrated include The Brave Bulls and The Wonderful Country, which were both made into major motion pictures, and the two volume set of the history of the King Ranch. In the 1970s he returned to his studio full time. His painting Rio Grande hung in the Oval Office during the administration of President George W. Bush. Over twenty original works of art from the El Paso Museum of Art were on display.

Big Bend Plein Air Poster

Big Bend Plein Air

June 19 – August 30, 2015

Big Bend Plein Air, an exhibition and sale of art from the Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners, opened Friday (June 19) at the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University. The exhibit remained on display until Sunday, August 30. Five exhibiting artists, including Marilyn Taylor, Farmington, NM (bottom photo) were present at the opening reception. Also present were Carolyn Dailey, Moab, UT; Deborah Doty, Mancos, CO; Stephen Unger, Aztec, NM; and K. K. Walling, Farmington, NM (Photos by Steve Lang)

Federico Villalba

Federico Villalba: Mexican Pioneer in the Big Bend

February 10 – August 30, 2015

Based on research by Federico Villalba’s great-grandson, Juan Manuel Casas, and his publication Federico Villalba’s Texas this exhibit tells the story of Villalba and his rise to rancher and merchant in the Big Bend.  Included in the exhibit will be numerous family artifacts.

War Stories

War Stories Project Invitation

Saturday, June 13 from 10 am – 4 pm

The Department of History at Angelo State University, supported by a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, invites West Texas residents to participate in a new historical preservation project, “War Stories: West Texans from World War I to the Present.”

The project’s goal is to collect and preserve the stories and experiences of armed forces personnel and their families with a West Texas connection, past or present. The result will be a digital archive to serve as a research resource for future generations and a memorial to those Americans who helped shape the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

The digital archive, which will be at ASU’s Dr. Ralph R. Chase West Texas Collection, will include photographs, letters and other memorabilia, as well as oral and video interviews from military members, veterans and their families.

Angelo State University’s History Department & West Texas Collection
with The Archives of the Big Bend and Museum of the Big Bend

Click Here for More Information about this Project

Russell Lee Photographs Exhibit

Russell Lee Photographs

February 10 – March 29, 2015

“The legacy of Russell Lee’s documentary photography is profound,” said Dr. Don Carleton, director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. “From his work with the photographic unit of the Federal Farm Security Administration during the Depression, his controversial study of Spanish-speaking people in Texas, and his political work as a photographer for the Texas Observer, Russell evidenced a singular compassion for the human condition.” This traveling exhibition of 37 black and white photographs by renowned documentary photographer Russell Lee draws from the magnificent archive that he donated to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History just prior to his death in 1986. Russell Lee Photographs offers a rare glimpse into the remarkable images he produced in 1935 and 1936 when he first took up a camera and goes on to highlight the vast body of important work that Lee produced from 1947 through 1977. This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fugV-Ukdt7c An illustrated discussion with Jim Bones and Lonn Taylor in conjunction with the show Russell Lee Photographs at the Museum of the Big Bend, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas, February 19, 2015.

Kurt Lange and the Art of Bootmaking

Kurt Lange and the Art of Bootmaking

February 10 – March 29, 2015

In 1939 Russell Lee traveled to Alpine, Texas, where he photographed the art of bootmaking at Kurt Lange’s Bootshop. Lange a native of Dresden, Germany, was born on February 29, 1888. He immigrated to America and arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1905. After working with H.J. “Joe” Justin in Nocona, Texas, and owning a shop in Ozona, he moved to and opened a bootshop in Alpine in 1911, which he operated until 1959. This exhibit includes the story of Lange and photographs of his men building a pair of boots.

Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country
by Paul V. Chaplo

Exhibit Dates: September 19, 2014 – January 18, 2015

“The landforms that are obstacles to ground travel in Big Bend become awe-inspiring sculptures when viewed from above.” – Paul V. Chaplo

The Museum of the Big Bend is proud to have been chosen as the premier venue for the exhibit and book launch of Paul V. Chaplo’s Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country. The exhibit features over thirty large format color photographs taken during Chaplo’s aerial sorties over the rugged terrain.

The work covers a large area from the Rio Grande north to Alpine and Fort Davis including the Chisos Mountains, Santa Elena Canyon, Marfa Flats, Capote Falls, Davis Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, and many more mountains, canyons, and badlands.

Chaplo works as a professional photographer specializing in corporate and architectural photography. He spends most of his time working from a helicopter flying with the doors off over Dallas, producing both still images and stabilized HD video.

The opening reception and book signing was on Friday, September 19th at 6 p.m at the museum. A Roundtable Discussion and book signing was held on Saturday, September 20th at 10 a.m. in the Morgan University Center. Panelists included Paul V. Chaplo, Roger Amis, pilot, Larry Francell, historian, John Morlock, NPS, and Dr. Kevin Urbanczyk, SRSU geologist. The exhibition was on display from September 19, 2014, through January 18, 2015. All events were free and open to the public.

REMINGTON: Treasures from the Frederic Remington Art Museum

Exhibit Dates: September 24 – December 8, 2013

An exhibit of art from the Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, New York

The Museum of the Big Bend brought “Treasures from The Frederic Remington Art Museum” to West Texas. Frederic Remington is considered the most influential and important artist to portray the American West. Works from the Remington Museum rarely leave their home in Ogdensburg, New York.

This historic exhibit displayed a large number of Remington’s best known works from September 20th through December 8th. The iconic bronze, The Broncho Buster, and the never-before toured painting, The Charge of the Rough Riders, were but two of the pieces in the exhibit. Brought to the museum through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mallory and The Holland Hotel, the exhibit contained more than twenty-two works that explored the diversity of the media and styles that Remington used in his pursuit of creating fine art while chronicling the West.

Brought together for the very first time was the nation’s leading Remington scholars presenting new scholarship and research during the course of the weekend. Presenters included Mr. Peter Hassrick, Dr. Ron Tyler, Dr. B. Byron Price and Mr. Michael Duty.