JULY 2024

CASETA NEWSLETTER

Thank you to everyone for your interest in the 2024 CASETA Symposium and Texas Art Fair! This was the best attended symposium in the history of CASETA, and a special thanks goes out to all the sponsors, presenters, and exhibitors.

Even if you were unable to attend this year, please consider spending a few minutes completing the survey.

We opened this year's Symposium

with a champagne toast and lots of celebrating.

Please watch the video below:



2024 CASETA-Introduction and Book signing-

Making the Unknown Known:

Women in Early Texas Art

1860s-1960s

CASETA AWARDS FOR 2023 PRESENTED AT THE CASETA SYMPOSIUM IN HOUSTON, JUNE 21-23, 2024

Linda and Bill Reaves with Pamela Nelson Harte, CASETA Board member.

Sue Canterbury, CASETA Board member, with Jonathan Frembling, Curator and Head of Archives at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and Pamela Nelson Harte, CASETA Board member.

Sue Canterbury, CASETA Board member, with Judy Deaton, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Grace Museum, and Pamela Nelson Harte, CASETA Board member.

CASETA 2023 Awards

Each year at our annual symposium, CASETA recognizes individuals or institutions that have made significant contributions to the advancement or study of early Texas art in the previous calendar year. In June of 2024 the CASETA symposium recognized outstanding contributions in the following categories:

• The William and Linda Reaves Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023
• Distinguished Service Award for 2023
• Exhibition Award for 2023
• Publication Award for 2023
• Publication Award – Exhibition Catalog for 2023

With these awards, CASETA endeavors to honor recent work in the Texas art field and hopes to encourage future education, scholarship and support for our mission of promoting and preserving early Texas art. Because we are a statewide organization with statewide membership, and because Texas is a big place, there will inevitably be exhibitions, publications and activities of which we are unaware; however, the CASETA board does its best to identify all relevant publications and exhibitions in the previous calendar year for careful consideration before voting on each category. Every category is not necessarily awarded every year.

THE WILLIAM AND LINDA REAVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2024       

Presented to Michael Grauer, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture and Curator, Cowboy Collections & Western Art, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, is pleased to present Michael with our annual William and Linda Reaves Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his longtime work supporting and promoting Texas artists and the appreciation of early Texas art. Michael has been instrumental in supporting a community of art collectors, enthusiasts, scholars, gallerists, and curators with a rich understanding of the state's arts legacy. CASETA recognizes his important and lasting impact on the advancement and study of early Texas art and Texas artists.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD 2024

Presented to Sarah Beth Wilson, Senior Exhibitions Manager at The Menil Collection

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, is pleased to present Sarah Beth with our annual Distinguished Service Award in recognition of “long-time and distinguished service to CASETA and the promotion, preservation, study, and appreciation of early Texas art". Sarah’s commitment has included serving as a board member and as the CASETA Board Chair, and serving as the co-image editor for the CASETA publication “Making the Unknown Known, Women in Early Texas Art 1860s-1960s". Her fellow board members are pleased to recognize Sarah’s many contributions towards the promotion of early Texas art.

EXHIBITION AWARD 2024

Presented to The Grace Museum and Judy Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections. for Witness: Black Artists in Texas, Then and Now.

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, is pleased to present the Grace Museum and Judy Deaton, curator, for Witness: Black Artists in Texas, Then and Now. CASETA's Exhibition Award recognizes work that has "organized and presented the most outstanding exhibition on early Texas art during the previous calendar year". CASETA wishes to congratulate The Grace Museum and Judy Deaton on this achievement.

PUBLICATION AWARD 2024

Presented to William E. Reaves Jr. & Linda J. Reaves, for The Artistic Legacy of Buck Schiwetz published by Texas A & M University Press

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, is pleased to present Bill and Linda with our annual Publication Award in recognition of "the most significant contribution to published literature on early Texas art during the previous calendar year." CASETA recognizes their book: The Artistic Legacy of Buck Schiwetz, as an outstanding contribution that highlights a master Texas artist and advances the broader importance of our State’s visual heritage.

PUBLICATION AWARD – EXHIBITION CATALOG 2024

Presented to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and Jonathan Frembling, Gentling Curator and Head of Archives, for Charles Truett Williams: The Art of the Scene. 

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, is pleased to present The Amon Carter Museum of American Art and Johathan Frembling with our annual Publication Award for Exhibition Catalogue for: Charles Truett Williams: The Art of the Scene. CASETA's Exhibition Catalog award recognizes an exhibition publication that "made the most important contribution to the published literature on early Texas art during the previous calendar year. Charles Truett Williams: The Art of the Scene is an important, scholarly work that will continue to educate, inform, and entertain our community of early Texas art enthusiasts, scholars, curators, and collectors for many years to come.

Emma Richardson Cherry, Watercolorist

Some Beautiful Paintings To Soothe Bruised Souls

From Randy Tibbits, Houston, CASETA member

Today, to soothe bruised souls, some beautiful watercolors by Houston artist Emma Richardson Cherry.

My Houston readers know the trauma we’ve faced in the week since Hurricane Beryl tore through our city - and those of you who are “Randy Readers” elsewhere (love that phrase - coined by one of you) may have read about our trials.

There was rain, torrents of rain; and wind, lashings of wind. The deluge and the howl lasted hours – so long it seemed forever. Eventually the storm did end, going on north to terrorize those who live there, as it had terrorized others even before it got to Houston - leaving the ground smothered in a blanket of fallen limbs, many streets blocked and houses bashed by fallen trees, and those of us who live here dazed and confused.

“Power” (as in electricity, which means air conditioning to cool these 100 degree days and soothe these damaged souls) has become the word on everyone’s lips: Power out? Got Power yet? Still Powerless? We know the meaning of that last one for sure now.

But rather than fixate on all this trouble and trauma, I offer today, for a little while, the respite of Mrs. Cherry’s masterful watercolors - because she was a master of the form - and she didn’t shy away from making gorgeous paintings. As I’m sure you’ll agree when you’ve glanced down the page at these splendid works.

Be safe - and soothed - and soon, if not already, powered (and cooled) again.

Continue reading on Substack

https://randytibbits.substack.com/p/emma-richardson-cherry-watercolorist

Emma Richardson Cherry Hurricane Havoc 1943 

Hermann Lungkwitz (1813-1891), Untitled (Texas Landscape), 1860-1865, oil on canvas, Collection of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

For Love of the Land

four exhibitions celebrating the art of the Texas landscape

Curated by Judy Tedford Deaton

The Grace Museum, February 17 - September 14, 2024

One of the first chroniclers of art in Texas was Abilenian Frances Battaile Fisk, who wrote in her 1928 publication, A History of Texas Artists and Sculptors,  "...our painters of Texas landscape, with its ever changing moods and rapidly developing country are rendering a great service as with canvas and brush they are faithfully picturing the characteristics of our Lone Star State...." 

For Love of the Land: Painting the Texas Landscape

February 17 - September 14, 2024, main gallery

This exhibition is curated as a visual dialogue focusing on the longstanding tradition of art as an expression of the lore, lure and love of the vast and varied Texas landscape. Paintings by 35 artists who have captured the beauty and majesty of the everchanging landscape in the state dating from the late 19th century through the 21st century, reveal images as distinctive as the individual artists who captured on canvas the changing seasons, native flora, forests, deserts, rivers and mountains they encountered. The works of art remain as a time capsule and tribute to romantic visions of unspoiled places and hope for astute stewardship of the state's natural environment.

Paintings by important Texas artists Jose Arpa, Thomas Allen, Dwight Holmes, Jose Aceves, Frank Reaugh, L. O. Griffith, Julian Onderdonk, Edward Eisenlohr, Charles Taylor Bowling, Otis Dozier, William Lester, Everett Spruce, Porfirio Salinas, Dawson Dawson-Watson as well as contemporary landscape painters Dennis Blagg, Lilian Garcia-Roig, and many others will confirm the long tradition of artists' expressing their love of the land as a primary subject expressed over the decades in a variety of media and styles. The rich diversity of ecosystems and natural environments throughout Texas will be explored through the works of art and educational programs.

Bill Wright, Untitled, n.d., gelatin silver print, Courtesy of the artist and The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

Bill Wright's Texas: Luminous Landscapes

March 17- September 21, 2024

Bill Wright, courtesy of the artist and The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

"Texas is renowned for its diverse and expansive landscapes, showcasing a remarkable array of natural features. From Gulf Coast beaches to stunning western mountain ranges, indigenous peoples' cultural and historical imprints add depth and richness to the region's story. From ranching to astronomy, the natural environment and the current culture of the Texas countryside attract me. All contribute to the diverse tapestry of the land, with parks and preserved areas providing a glimpse into the past. My goal is to use photography to interpret this incredible panorama."  Bill Wright

In the early 20th century, painters continued to embrace the landscape. As photography gained acceptance as an art form, artists used the medium to create interpretations of the land through pictorialist effects and, later, through formal compositions of close-up, cropped views of the landscape. Even though the major artistic movements of the mid-20th century were no longer dominated by the landscape as a subject, the genre's importance continued as artists responded to fears of increased industrialization.

In the second half of the 20th century, the definition of landscape was challenged and pressed to include concepts like urban landscapes, cultural landscapes, industrial landscapes, and landscape architecture. As concerns about our stewardship of the environment and a desire to recapture lost prairie and canyon vistas the popularity of so called pure landscape photography continues to evolve and rise in popularity.

This exhibition by acclaimed photographer and Abilene native, Bill Wright is an extraordinary example of landscape photography that captures the awe and majesty of the Texas landscape ablaze with color, echoing the ancient beauty of natural landforms still responding to the rhythms of the natural world.

The Artistic Legacy of E. M. "Buck" Schiwetz

April 25 - September 21, 2024, 2nd floor gallery

Artist Edward “Buck” Muegge Schiwetz (1898-1984) was born in Cuero, Texas on August 24, 1898. After their brief stay in New York, Schiwetz moved back to Houston where he became a partner in what was to become Wilkinson – Schiwetz and Tips, which later became McCann-Erickson. While in Houston, Schiwetz won many awards for his sketches and paintings of Texas buildings, landscapes and oilfields throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He also won the Houston Popular Prize in 1951 – 1952. His work was exhibited throughout the country, including the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the Art Institute of Chicago. Other honors bestowed upon him include his selection as the official state artist of Texas for 1977-1978 and as the artist-in-residence at his Alma Mater, Texas A&M during the school’s centennial celebration in 1976. This retrospective exhibition of the work of Schiwetz is organized by Drs. Linda and William Reaves and Texas A&M University Press and includes drawings, prints, watercolors, and oil paintings. 

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strong year after year.

Thank you to these organizations for their generous support to the

Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art

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