SAN ANGELO, Texas — The gallery is lined with paintings, sculptures, quilts and more from Texas and across the country.
At the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, creativity is celebrated and put on display, and from Sept. 22- Nov. 27, two new exhibitions will be introduced to the public.
"It's a little bit of everything from taxidermy to quilting and blacksmithing, as well," SAMFA assistant director and curator Laura Huckaby said.
Huckaby has been working at the museum for the past 10 years and she is passionate about sharing art with the San Angelo community.
She said the new exhibits were created by Texas artists from San Angelo all the way to Del Rio near the Mexican border, and from 5:30-8:00 p.m. Sept. 22, there will be a reception with free food, drinks and music for the public to enjoy.
The exhibition is titled "True Texas II: Folk & Traditional Arts from the Concho Valley to the Rio Grande" and it includes a wide variety of artistic styles.
The second floor of the museum will feature art from Angelo State University faculty members while the third floor will include artists from 9 surrounding counties.
"It's all folk artists and traditional craftsmen from this region around us," Huckaby said.
Some of the artists include Roxanne Fargason, Isabelle and Letícia Ramos, and Beau McClellan, who created portrait paintings, a catricia piece and wine stoppers respectively.
The show will also include a variety of miniature sculptures by Gene Zesch who grew up living on a central Texas ranch.
Zesch gained some attraction from former president Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife "Lady Bird," who purchased some of his pieces. His work has also been featured in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery, where his "cartoon" style is evident.
Exhibit pieces were carefully selected by a folklorist who conducted interviews and from there, Huckaby worked with the individual artists to determine which of their pieces would work best in the show.
Huckaby spends much of her time figuring out where to place the artwork in the museum and she hopes visitors are inspired by what they see.
"We always hope that when people come to the museum they'll discover something new, they'll learn something new and they'll also enjoy it and be enriched by what they've seen here," Huckaby said.
The museum will be closed until Sept. 22 when the new exhibits open to the public.
