Contemporary Texas Shines Spotlight on TMA’s Permanent Collection

TYLER – The latest major exhibition in the Tyler Museum of Art’s busy summer and fall season highlights the museum’s milestones in building its Permanent Collection – while celebrating its achievements in cultivating the talents and reputations of some of the state’s most noteworthy artists of the modern era. That’s according to a TMA news release about Contemporary Texas: Selections from the Permanent Collection, which opened to the public Sunday and continues through Nov. 30 in the TMA’s North Gallery. Admission is free.

Museum officials say that since the TMA opened its doors in 1971, Texas art has been a critical component in its exhibition programming. As a direct result, the TMA has played a vital role in the contemporary Texas art scene over the past four decades, according to the release. Officials say the exhibition, curated by TMA marketing and special events coordinator Caleb Bell, highlights close to 30 of the most notable works the Museum has acquired since the 1970s. The release adds that the display represents a cross-section of artists across a broad range of media who have made a significant impact on the contemporary Texas art scene, many of whom have been featured in previous TMA exhibitions. “This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view some of the most celebrated works from the TMA’s Permanent Collection together in a single exhibition, offering a glimpse into the Museum’s rich history and its indelible place in the Texas art scene over the past few decades,” Bell said.

Acclaimed artists represented in Contemporary Texas include photographer Skeet McAuley (focus of the 1980 TMA exhibition Barriers), painter William B. Montgomery (the subject of TMA shows in 1988 and 2009), multi-media artist Lance Letscher (2005), and sculptor James Surls, who held his first solo museum exhibition at the TMA in 1974. Vernon Fisher, MANUAL, Sam Gummelt and Al Souza are just a few of the additional Texas luminaries in the spotlight for the exhibition.

Several of the artists whose works are represented in Contemporary Texas will be the focus of the 2014 Fall Lecture Series coinciding with the exhibition. Three Sunday afternoon programs are in the works:
• Sept. 14: MANUAL (Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom)
• Oct. 19: Martin Delabano
• Nov. 16: William B. Montgomery
All Fall Lecture Series programs will begin at 2 p.m. at the TMA. Admission is free, but seating is limited. For reservations, call (903) 595-1001. Sponsorship for Contemporary Texas is provided by Collectors’ Circle Platinum members The Byars Foundation and Collectors’ Circle Gold member Sheryl Rogers Palmer. You can go to http://www.tylermuseum.org/ for additional information on the museum.