Category: Special Collections

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form at the DMA – featured in Glasstire

In the first of a two-part essay in Glasstire, Ruben C. Cordova writes about the artist, Octavio Medellín, featured in his retrospective show at the Dallas Museum of Art. Curated by the DMA’s Mark Castro, Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form extensively features the artist’s archives from SMU Libraries Bywaters Special Collections at the Hamon Arts…Continue Reading Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form at the DMA – featured in Glasstire

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form

Octavio Medellín portrait

  The exhibition Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form is now open at the Dallas Museum of Art. This exceptional retrospective exhibition features many fabulous works of art on loan from Bywaters Special Collections. Bywaters Special Collections holds the Octavio Medellin Artwork and Papers. A detailed finding aid and extensive digital collection are available. https://www.smu.edu/libraries/digitalcollections/med https://txarchives.org/smu/finding_aids/00272.xml…Continue Reading Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form

Fall ’21 and spring ’22 screenings for Ghosts of Lost Futures

Flyers for Archive Fever

Curator and artist, Mike Morris, and his collaborators on the experimental videos, Ghosts of Lost Futures, have been busy with additional screenings of this program of works. Ghosts premiered at the Dallas Museum of Art in the Horchow Auditorium on May 22 with ten works by ten experimental video artists commissioned to re-interpret film footage…Continue Reading Fall ’21 and spring ’22 screenings for Ghosts of Lost Futures

In Honor of Veterans’ Day: John ‘Carr’ Pritchett (1921 – 2016)

Untitled (Ranch Scene at Night)

While serving as curator of Bywaters Special Collections there were many times I would find interesting items housed in the archival files that were of importance to Jerry Bywaters and his colleagues. One such discovery was a folder of drawings made by John ‘Carr’ Pritchett who graduated from SMU in May 1942. Pritchett studied art…Continue Reading In Honor of Veterans’ Day: John ‘Carr’ Pritchett (1921 – 2016)

Highlights from Fossils to Film: The Best of SMU’s Collections – Barbara Maples’ Taos Fiesta

Two museums, the Meadows Museum and the Centre Pompidou, are featuring the work of Barbara Maples, a well-known printmaker. On loan from Bywaters Special Collections to the  Meadows Museum’s Fossils to Film: The Best of SMU’s Collections, is Maples’ Taos Fiesta. In addition, she is one of several female artists featured in the Centre Pompidou’s…Continue Reading Highlights from Fossils to Film: The Best of SMU’s Collections – Barbara Maples’ Taos Fiesta

Research in the archives: Texas Made Modern

Since it opened in 1961, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art has always had a commitment to exploring the breadth and complexity of American creativity through its collections and exhibitions. Evaluating Texas art’s importance in relation to the museum’s collection and the larger canon of American art has been one of my focuses since…Continue Reading Research in the archives: Texas Made Modern

Collection spotlight: Everett Spruce Collection

The staff of Bywaters Special Collections is excited about the upcoming exhibition, Texas Made Modern: The Art of Everett Spruce, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. This exhibition, showcasing the work of the Texas regionalist artist, runs from August 18 – November 1, 2020. Shirley Reece-Hughes, Curator of Paintings and…Continue Reading Collection spotlight: Everett Spruce Collection

Footage Found – SMU student collaborative project between Meadows and Jones Film and Video Collection

Footage Found was a collaborative project between students in the Video Art course (ASPH 3315) in the Meadows Division of Art and the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection at SMU. The students were provided footage from the WFAA TV News Film archive, part of the Jones Collection’s holdings, to create new works from…Continue Reading Footage Found – SMU student collaborative project between Meadows and Jones Film and Video Collection

Octavio Medellin and the St. Bernard Church of Clairvaux mural project

“The art of this church has been the largest and most important commission given to me in the 30 years that I have been pioneering art in Texas.”    On December 7, 1958, the Dallas Morning News published the above quote by Octavio Medellin in reference to his commission at the Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic…Continue Reading Octavio Medellin and the St. Bernard Church of Clairvaux mural project

G. William Jones Film and Video Collection – Winter 2019 Update

News We thankfully survived the fall and winter months of 2019, so that we can ring in the new year and celebrate the Jones Collection’s 50th anniversary! Reporter Chris Sadeghi, along with a film crew from WFAA, came down to the vault to film a promotional piece for Sadeghi’s REWIND series, which features footage from…Continue Reading G. William Jones Film and Video Collection – Winter 2019 Update