Tom Lea Month schedule of exhibits and events

Adair Margo Gallery
• Exhibit opening reception, Thursday, June 21, 2007 from 5:00-9:00 p.m.
• Series of classes, Tuesdays & Thursdays beginning July 3, concluding July 26, 2007, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
• King Ranch reception, Friday, July 27, 2007, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

The Centennial Museum
• Birthday party, Wednesday, July 11 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library
• Exhibit opening reception, Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

El Paso Museum of Art
• Philip Parisi lecture “Tom Lea’s Historical Imagination”, Sunday, July 29, 2007, 2:00 p.m.

El Paso Public Library
• Featuring Tom Lea and his work as reflected in the collections at the Main Library, 501 N. Oregon 

The Plaza Theater with the El Paso Community Foundation
• Film screenings, Friday, July 13, 2007

El Paso Museum of History
• Exhibits feature the history of our border region which inspired much of Tom Lea’s paintings and writings

Fort Bliss
• Lecture on the international impact of Lea's Life Magazine paintings, Friday, July 20, 2007, 3:00 p.m.

The El Paso County Historical Society
• Garden party, Sunday, July 15, 2007, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Consulate General of Mexico
• Opening reception, "Tom Lea y la Fiesta Brava", Wednesday, July 18, 2007, 6:00-8:00 p.m

Branigan Cultural Center
• Mural “A Franciscan Friar Showing a Book to Indians in the 17th Century”

NMSU Library
• Murals at Branson Library on the New Mexico State University campus

Adair Margo Gallery

Left: Tom Lea, “Sarah in the Summertime, 1947,” Oil on Canvas. Courtesy of Mrs. Tom Lea.

The Adair Margo Gallery will host an exhibit entitled “Tom Lea Centennial Retrospective” curated by Becky Duval Reese, former Director for the El Paso Museum of Art, featuring paintings and drawings by the internationally acclaimed artist Tom Lea in celebration of his Centennial year.  The Adair Margo Gallery is the sole authorized representative of Tom Lea’s work.  Paintings and drawings will be loaned by local collectors, many of which have never been exhibited in public.  The gallery will also feature original drawings and sketches by Tom Lea for purchase.  Other collectors’ items will be available, including original prints and books written or illustrated by Tom Lea.  The opening reception will take place on Thursday, June 21, 2007 from 5-9pm as a part of the El Paso Culture Cruise.  The exhibit will be on view through August 24, 2007.

A series of classes on Tom Lea will be hosted at the Adair Margo Gallery throughout the month of July.  Eight sessions will feature celebrated friends, enthusiasts and scholars from around the world on the life and work of Tom Lea.  The series will consist of one month of eight evening sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning July 3 and concluding July 26 from 6:00-7:30pm. 

On Friday, July 27, 2007, from 5:00-7:00pm the King Ranch will host a reception with the Adair Margo Gallery in honor of the recent publication of the 50th Anniversary Edition of Tom Lea’s historical masterpiece, The King Ranch.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Margo at (915) 533-0048 and/or visit www.adairmargo.com for gallery information.

The Centennial Museum

Above: Courtesy of the UTEP Centennial Museum

The Centennial Museum will present an exhibition centered on the great mural “Pass of the North” created by Tom Lea in 1938 for the Federal Courthouse in El Paso.   It is the oldest mural in El Paso.  A second element of the exhibit is the limestone entrance door lintel of the Museum, based on a drawing by Tom Lea, and completed in 1937.   This great stone panel weighs eight tons.  It is believed to be the earliest historical commemoration in El Paso.

The exhibit will be housed in the Museum’s Tom Lea Gallery, named in his honor in 1991.  The Museum will have a birthday party, with cake and appropriate refreshments, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Tom Lea’s birth and the 70th anniversary of the Centennial Museum on Wednesday, July 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. simultaneously with the reception for the UTEP Special Collections exhibit.

The exhibit will be on view from July 5 to August 18, 2007.  Exhibit hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library

Left: "Tom Lea and Carl Hertzog" (1967), from the El Paso Herald-Post historical files, MS 348, Special Collections Department, The University of Texas at El Paso Library

The Special Collections Department at UTEP will be featuring special art work, manuscript collections and books related to Tom Lea and his historic significance to our region.  The exhibit that will be featured during Tom Lea month is entitled "Tom Lea and the King Ranch."  The exhibit will open Monday, July 9, 2007 and run through August 10, 2007.  It will be located at The University of Texas at El Paso Library.  An opening reception will take place simultaneously with the reception at the Centennial Museum on Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at The University of Texas at El Paso Library.

For more information, please call (915) 747-5697 or visit libraryweb.utep.edu/special/special.cfm.

El Paso Museum of Art

Left: “Sarah (Portrait of the Artist's Wife), 1939,” Oil on Canvas, Collection of the El Paso Museum of Art, Gift of the IBM Corporation.

The El Paso Museum of Art houses over 100 works by Tom Lea, including paintings, drawings, and prints.  It has presented numerous exhibitions on Tom Lea, including, most recently, Light From the Sky: A Tom Lea Retrospective, 1907—2001.

The 5,000 square foot Tom Lea Gallery exhibits works by the artist, including a mural painted for his childhood home and a selection of his landscape paintings, portraits, drawings, and mural studies.  It also features works by other Southwestern artists, mostly contemporaries of Lea who have also concentrated on depicting this region, its people, and its history.

On Sunday, July 29th at 2:00 pm, Philip Parisi will present the lecture, “Tom Lea’s Historical Imagination” at the El Paso Museum of Art.  Parisi is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Logan, Utah.  His book, The Texas Post Office Murals: Art for the People, published in 2005, features several murals commissioned to Lea as part of the New Deal program during the Great Depression.  Please join us for the lecture and closing reception to follow.

El Paso Public Library

Above: “Southwest” Mural at the El Paso Public Library, Courtesy of Marcos Casiano

The El Paso Public Library will be featuring Tom Lea and his work as reflected in the collections  at the Main Library, 501 N. Oregon (on Cleveland Square).  For those who know little about the man, his environment and body of work, the library staff has prepared a pathfinder for those beginning such a study.  This may be picked up at the Reference Desk which is adjacent to the Great Hall (Atrium) of the expanded library.

The Main Library will also be displaying a selection of books and other materials to facilitate the study and appreciation of this native son.  Tom Lea greatly felt the impact of World War II and a selection of photographs from this period both at home and abroad will be available in the Maud Sullivan Gallery.  The library’s mural, “Southwest,” was painted in 1956 by Tom Lea and his wife, Sarah, as a gift to the citizens of El Paso.  It is the only Tom Lea mural in which his wife participated and it is signed by both Tom and Sarah Lea.  Originally painted for the Southwest Reading Room, the mural was relocated to the entrance of the new building in 2006.  After completing the mural, Tom Lea wrote:  It took its shape simply as a luminous window looking out upon its birthland.  It spoke of space, sun, cloud, rain, wind, mountain, mesa, rock, sand, soil, and of living growth nurtured by them.  The only human habitant of this elemental landscape was the viewer of the mural; the landscape’s horizon was at the viewer’s eye level when standing on the library’s floor.  It was the earth, inhabited only by the viewer’s mind.

The study for “Southwest” is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. 

Please call 543-5468 for more information during regular library hours.

The Plaza Theater with the El Paso Community Foundation

Left: Courtesy of the collection of Charles Horak

Two of artist and author Tom Lea’s novels, The Brave Bulls (1949) and The Wonderful Country (1952)  were adapted to screenplays for motion pictures.  The Brave Bulls was directed by two-time Oscar winner Robert Rosson of Columbia Pictures, and starred Mel Ferrer.  The film debut took place at the Plaza Theater and was released on April 18, 1951.

In 1959, the film editor for The Brave Bulls, Bob Parrish, later became a director and directed The Wonderful Country, starring Robert Mitchum.  Although Parrish was unable to pay Lea for using the storyline from his novel, Lea was paid for appearing briefly on screen as Peebles, the barber.  The Wonderful Country also debuted at the Plaza Theater on October 21, 1959.

In the spirit of the history of these films with the Plaza Theater, the El Paso Community Foundation will offer screenings of these two films in the newly opened Philanthropy Theater the evening of Friday, July 13, 2007.  Please visit www.plazatheater.org for showtimes and ticket prices.

El Paso Museum of History

Left: Tom Lea, Sr. and Tom Lea, Jr. ca 1925.  Courtesy of UTEP Special Collections C. E. Waterhouse, Jr. papers, MS 458.

The El Paso Museum of History will feature exhibits taking you through the history of our border region. This unique flowing together of cultures inspired much of Tom Lea’s paintings and writings.

El Paso: A to Z: This three-dimensional, bilingual encyclopedia draws you in as you delve deep into the fabric of El Paso and its history.  Winding like the Rio Grande through the gallery, the exhibit overflows with objects, photographs and documents as colorful and varied as the city itself.  This non-traditional display, organized alphabetically, encompasses the sights and sounds of history as people lived it, focusing on the intimate and meaningful details of day-to-day life.

The Changing Pass:  Experience 400 years of regional history in one unforgettable, three-part exhibit.  Your journey begins with The Living Pass; El Paso as a crossroads for Native peoples. Their pathways take on new character as they are joined by Spanish explorers and missionaries in the 16th Century.  Continuing on your way, The Border Pass illuminates how a remote outpost became a rest-stop community (paraje).  At various times under the control of Spain, Mexico, and the United States, this stopping-off place became a vital connecting point for travelers from all directions.  The Community Pass presents a tapestry of cultures and a survey of the enormous growth El Paso experienced after the arrival of railroads. Who came here and why? How did they arrive? How did they adapt to — and change — this unique place we call El Paso?

Learn more about Tom Lea’s El Paso and how it has developed in the last 100 years since his birth in 1907.

El Paso Museum of History is located at 510 N. Santa Fe Street.  Call 915-351-3588 or visit www.elpasotexas.gov/history for more information.

Fort Bliss

Left: “That 2,000 –Yard Stare, 1944,” Oil on Canvas. Courtesy of the U.S. Center of Military History

Tom Lea’s first assignment for Life Magazine was to draw a Fort Bliss cavalry trooper.  That project led to his becoming a World War II Artist Correspondent.  The paintings created by Tom Lea during his days as a Life war correspondent are now in the collection of the U.S. Army Center for Military History in Washington, DC.  Renee Klish, Curator for the Center, will come to El Paso to give a lecture on the international impact of these paintings on Friday, July 20 at 3pm at the Fort Bliss Museum’s auditorium at 1735 Marshall Road.

The El Paso County Historical Society

Left: Tom and Sarah Lea at the El Paso County Historical Society's Hall of Honor celebration in 1975. Courtesy of the Millard McKinney papers, MS 505, UTEP Library Special Collections

The El Paso County Historical Society will honor Tom Lea's induction into the Hall of Honor in 1975 with photographs, artifacts, and items from others that affected his life or whose life he affected. The Society will host a garden party on Sunday, July 15, 2007 between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.  The event will be at 603 W. Yandell.  Music will be provided as well as hors d' ouvres and wine.

Consulate General of Mexico

Above:  Cartel for The Brave Bulls. Courtesy of the Adair Margo Gallery

The Mexican Consulate will feature an exhibit entitled, "Tom Lea y la Fiesta Brava," focusing on Tom Lea's art and writing about bullfighting.  Lea authored the novel The Brave Bulls, which was adapted to a film starring Mel Ferrer.  He also frequented the bull fights in Juárez and wrote a bullfighting manual that informed the general public on the intricacies and beauty of bullfighting.  The exhibit is from the collection of Carlos Chavez, a bullfighting aficionado and collector of Tom Lea's work.  The opening reception for "Tom Lea y la Fiesta Brava" will take place on Wednesday, July 18 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  The exhibit will be on view from July 11 to July 31, 2007.

The Consulate is located at 910 E. San Antonio Ave.  Please call (915) 533-8555 with any questions.

Branigan Cultural Center

Above: “A Franciscan Friar Showing A Book to Indians in the 17thCentury,” Oil on Canvas attached to Board, 1935. Courtesy of the Branigan Cultural Center.

In the entryway of the Branigan Cultural Center hangs a mural entitled, “A Franciscan Friar Showing a Book to Indians in the 17th Century,” by Tom Lea. The mural was painted in 1935 by Lea for the architectural firm of Percy McGhee of El Paso, Texas.    The mural was funded through the estate of Alice Montgomery Branigan as part of the construction of the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library.  The Pueblo Revival Style building, designed by McGhee to house the library has been the home of the Branigan Cultural Center since 1981.  Although the mural was privately commissioned, it is included with other public art of the New Mexico WPA-Federal Arts Program because of the period and style in which it was created.

In 1935, Lea wrote a letter to Las Cruces Mayor J. Benson Newell, a copy of which is displayed below the mural.  In the letter he discusses the historical background for the mural and his choice of depicting the Franciscan friars’ bringing the first books to New Mexico in the early 17th century.

The Cultural Center is located on the northern end of the Main Street Mall, adjacent to the Las Cruces Museum of Art.  Open Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and on Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. 

NMSU Library

Above: “Conquistadors,” Mural at NMSU Branson Library.  Courtesy of NMSU.

Two murals by Tom Lea hang in the entryway of the Branson Library on the New Mexico State University campus.   The murals were originally painted in 1934 for the Young Hall Library at New Mexico State University.  They were removed in 1951 during renovations and were unveiled again during homecoming of 1996, after being restored with a grant from the Stockman Family Foundation.

In 1934, Gustave Bauman, the WPA administrator, hired Lea to paint two murals for "the A and M library in Mesilla".  He received $40.00 a week for his work and the paintings took three months to complete.  Lea painted "Conquistadors" first.  It presents several views of the first hundred years of New Mexico history, emphasizing the colonizing efforts of DeVargas and Oñate. The Conquest, the Pueblo revolt of 1680, and the Reconquest are all depicted.  The second painting is "Old Mesilla." This mural depicts historical events in and around the Mesilla area in the 19th Century such as the Gadsden Purchase and agricultural fields. 

Please visit http://lib.nmsu.edu for details about library hours and location.