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Galveston’s Bryan Museum celebrates the exuberant history of Mardi Gras through the fabric of designers past and present.

Galveston’s Bryan Museum celebrates the exuberant history of Mardi Gras through the fabric of designers past and present.

The Bryan Museum is proud to present, “Mardi Gras: Party By Design.” The exhibition will be on view at the Bryan Museum from February 10 through March 26, 2023. The sparkling costumes and capes worn by revelers during Mardi Gras season bathe the parties and parades in a dazzling wash of color. With the third...

January 24, 2023January 24, 2023
Chapter 4: His Legacy

Chapter 4: His Legacy

For almost 30 years, José Cisneros worked full time for El Paso City Lines. What had begun as a job in an essential industry during World War II became a career for the young artist. Although Cisneros had answered a draft notice in 1939, his color-blindness led to a military classification of 4-F (disabled and...

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022
Chapter 3: Collaboration

Chapter 3: Collaboration

The burgeoning friendship between José Cisneros and El Paso artist Tom Lea not only marked the beginning of Cisneros’ professional career in the art community, but also granted him increased notoriety and an introduction to Carl Hertzog, an El Paso typographer and book designer. José Cisneros and Carl Hertzog both met Tom Lea in 1937....

January 13, 2022January 13, 2022
Chapter 2: A Chance Meeting

Chapter 2: A Chance Meeting

In 1937, José Cisneros was employed as a window dresser at White House Department Store. At the federal courthouse in El Paso, just six blocks from his work, an artist named Tom Lea had begun work on a mural to honor the people who had come to the Pass of the North throughout its history....

December 17, 2021December 13, 2021
Its Texas Time: Iconic Artistry

Its Texas Time: Iconic Artistry

This week, we learned a bit about Charles Franklin “Frank” Reaugh (pronounced ray), the cat outside our marketing office and also the Texan artist known for immortalizing the imagery of Texan cattle. Born in Jacksonville, Illinois in December of 1860, Frank Reaugh moved to Terrell, a town near Dallas, Texas at the age of 15....

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021
It’s Texas Time: Schisms and Schemes

It’s Texas Time: Schisms and Schemes

If you saw the episode this week you know we discussed how Texas played a major role in the Civil War. 60,000 to 70,000 Texans served in either state or Confederate units, of which 20-25% lost their lives in the process. More than half of these deaths were caused by diseases contracted while living in...

November 5, 2021November 3, 2021
Cisneros | Chapter 1: An Introduction

Cisneros | Chapter 1: An Introduction

José Cisneros was born in Villa Ocampo, Mexico in 1910. The Cisneros family home was situated on a twenty-seven-acre plot located just outside of the village. In addition to carpenter work, José’s father, Don Fernando Cisneros, also operated a barber shop and blacksmith business out of the family home. As political unrest cast a veil...

October 29, 2021November 4, 2021
It’s Texas Time: Honing Your Craft

It’s Texas Time: Honing Your Craft

This week we talked about the iconic Stelzig saddle company. Here’s a brief rundown: Austrian immigrant Antone Stelzig and his wife Theresa arrived in Galveston in 1843, quickly setting up a system where the couple – 19 and 16 respectively – would travel by ox-drawn cart from ranch to ranch offering on-site leather work.   Now,...

October 22, 2021October 11, 2021