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CONTEMPORARY WEST TEXAS ART
401 N. 5th Street • Alpine TX 79830
(432)837-5999
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203 E Holland Ave, Alpine
432.837.1055
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608 1/2 E Holland Ave. • Alpine
(432) 837-5000
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Made in the Big Bend
HWY 118 • Terlingua
3/4 mile N of HWY 170
432.371.2292
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Colony, cont’d from page 4
was “well acquainted with the
Davis Mountains as he (had)
walked over a greater part of
them.”
This initial art colony set the
template for all to come. The
teaching emphasis was on composition,
landscape, figure and
design. Coursework for students
emphasized the art and techniques
of outdoor painting with
trips into the Davis Mountains,
the Big Bend country and the
surrounding areas. The course
included private instruction and
criticism with Gonzalez. At the
conclusion of the six-week art
colony a certificate indicating the
quality and quantity of work
done was awarded to those students
who successfully completed
their work. The certificate
was signed by Gonzalez and the
president of the college, Horace
W. Morelock.
For four years Gonzalez and
Woeltz taught one summer session
of the art colony each.
However, in 1933 Gonzalez
talked his friend Paul Ninas of
New Orleans into leading an art
colony session. Ninas said that
his students were soon “realizing
that there can be new shadows
under the sun and only five
hours painting in the afternoon
seems not enough.” Ninas later
became known as the “dean of
New Orleans artists.”
Woeltz resigned from Sul
Ross in 1936, and Sarah Miltia
Hill of Eldorado, Texas became
the head of the art department
and continued in this capacity
until her retirement in 1961.
After leaving Sul Ross, Woeltz
taught at the University of Texas
at Austin from 1942 through
1953, though he took time away
while he served in the military
during World War II. According
to Woeltz’s sister Evelyn Reveley,
“I just remember how happy
Julius and Xavier were with every
summer class. They always found
students with promising talent,
which made the art classes a joy to
teach.”
Gonzalez and Ethel Edwards
were married in Alpine on Aug.
24, 1935 at the Brown Ranch.
During his 1937 art colony,
Gonzalez and his students
formed the Rio Grande Group
of artists and painters. The goal
of the group was “to give students
the opportunity to exhibit
their work in museums and galleries
in different parts of the
country, and to foster the arts in
the South west.” Gonzalez led
the art colony through 1939,
when he and his wife, a former
student and artist in her own
right, moved to New York City.
On the East Coast, they established
a summer art school at
Wellfleet, Mass.
During the 1939 summer session
Coreen Mary Spellman of
Dallas worked with Sarah Hill
teaching the regular art courses.
Spellman taught at her alma
mater, Texas Women’s University,
from 1925 until her retirement in
1974.
Hill continued the tradition of
a summer art colony begun by
Woeltz and found outstanding
instructors to bring in to lead the
art colony, in addition to conducting
one herself.
For the 1940 and 1941 art
colony, Harry Anthony De
Young was selected. When asked
to speak at the Fort Davis Men’s
Mile High Club supper on how
to judge a picture he offered this
advice, “A picture is good if you
like it. That’s a good rule to go
by.”
In 1943, Beatrice Cuming of
New London, Conn. conducted
the colony. When asked why she
was in Alpine she replied, “I’m
not really sure, but back in the
East, everyone thinks that the
Photo by Jim Bones
“Sun Dancers San Idelfonso,” no
date, color etching, Elizabeth
Keefer, Museum of the Big Bend,
Sul Ross State University, Alpine,
Texas.
Photo courtesy Archives of the Big
Bend, Bryan Wildenthal Memorial
Library, Sul Ross State University,
Alpine, Texas.
Dr. Horace W. Morelock, 1933,
conte crayon on paper, Xavier
Gonzalez.
Southwest is a very special place,
that every painter should go
there.” Field trips were essential,
and according to one reporter
they could be rather strenuous:
“The sun is always at an odd
angle so that you get blistered
only on one side, the only place
soft enough to sit down in is an
ant bed (just ignore the ants and
keep painting)…”
In the late 1940s, Otis Dozier
conducted the 1947 art colony,
and William Lester from the
University of Texas at Austin
helmed the 1949-1950 sessions.
The Big Bend country was a natural
for Lester as according to Art
Digest, “Lester’s world is one of
brilliant, pulsing color afire with
life and sun.”
The art colonies held during
this 10-year period offered students
the same opportunities as
those that had been conducted by
Gonzalez and Woeltz. Painting
outdoors remained the emphasis,
and field trips were still an important
aspect for instruction.
Students were encouraged to try a
variety of media such as watercolor,
oil, pastel and scratch-board.
It is unclear why the art
colony ceased to exist after 1950.
Intermittently thereafter, starting
in 1955, three-week workshops
were held in lieu of the colony.
Students could still receive either
undergraduate or graduate
course credit as was offered in
26
Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2011