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....
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....
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....
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...
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...
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,...
This week we talked about the history of the cattle drive. Cattle drives were common in the late 1800s, when cowboys would herd their cattle west, to places like Abilene, Kansas (a major hub), Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, or even Montana. From these Midwestern cities, the cattle would be shipped off to the Northeast and...
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from April 21, 1836, to February 19, 1846. The new Republic was formed by the defeat of Mexico in the Texas Revolution and claimed borders that encompassed an area that included the present State of Texas, as well as parts...
Here’s a lovely poem from our second week of Summer Camp at The Bryan Museum about the main character of today’s blog post. It’s an ‘I Am’ poem, a form which the campers were taught in one of several writing lessons. I am brave and adventurous.I wonder if the New World will ever be conquered. I...
This week we spoke about the huge mission bell in the Spanish Colonial Gallery and its significance in the mission system which spanned across the Southwestern United States. Mission bells were cast in two bronze parts – the ‘core’ inner mold and the ‘cope’ outer mold. The method of production led to each bell having...
