Over several decades, Galveston, Texas-based artist Eric Schnell has made intuitive drawings that often develop into extensive installations. One small drawing will suggest the next, and then another, methodically creating sequential images that eventually make up a larger work. For the artist, this linear progression of images creates a narrative as well as a map. Schnell sees the creations as exploratory and never finished, with narratives that undercut themselves and maps that are similar to the complexity of human consciousness. He recognizes an installation of works may become “a visual map of human consciousness or a visual poem that embraces the complexity of human experience—both beautiful and sad.”

For this iteration, Schnell employ new drawings and floor sculptures in companion installations titled The Island of The Umbellifers (Part II) installations. Schnell engages the “cells” of the OJAC’s historic jail building as well as one of the OJAC’s more contemporary galleries for this exhibition—creating islands for discovery within the museum. Viewers will be able to participate in a “learning” search for a fictional quasi-utopian place comprised of drawings and constructions that suggest fantastical islands, boats, and gardens. 

The 2024 Cell Series of exhibitions is generously supported by National Endowment for the Arts, Paula & Parker Jameson, and the McGinnis Family Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, with additional funding from Jay & Barbra Clack, Kathy Webster in memory of Charles H. Webster, and Dr. Larry Wolz.  

In celebration of 100 years of the Texas State Park System, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department commissioned Texas visual artists to create works inspired by state parks and sites. Artists explored 65 parks, natural areas, and historic sites in the state park system. The results are some 30 paintings and drawings that are as diverse and unique as the ecosystems and history they portray.

These works are far more than a record of place, rather they represent the subject’s source of inspiration, beauty, and refuge—while inspiring a sense of duty to appreciate and preserve these places for future generations. Various types of media are employed by 30 artists to create works that focus on expansive vistas to intimate habitats and their flora and fauna.

Established in 1923 by the 38th Texas Legislature to provide conservation and management of public lands, the Texas State Park System has expanded to 89 sites that represent 640,000 acres of public land. These sites — 74 state parks, 6 state historic sites, and 9 state natural areas — preserve Texas’ landscapes, provide refuge and habitat for native plants and animals, and offer an increasingly urban population places to connect to the natural world.

The traveling exhibition of The Art of Texas State Parks includes work by artists Randy Bacon, Mary Baxter, David Caton, Charles Criner, Margie Crisp, Ric Dentinger, Fidencio Duran, Joel R. Edwards, Malou Flato, Gordon Fowler, Pat Gabriel, David R. Griffin, Brian Grimm, Clemente F. Guzman III, Karl E. Hall, John Austin Hanna, Billy Hassell, Hailey E. Herrera, Lee Jamison, Denise LaRue Mahlke, Jim Malone, Talmage Minter, William B. Montgomery, Noe Perez, Jeri Salter, Jim Stoker, Bob Stuth-Wade, and Terri M. Wells.

The Art of Texas State Parks: A Centennial Exhibition is organized and sponsored by The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University. Exhibition partners include the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Additional community support is generously provided by Carolyn & Karl Rathjen, Jeff & Susan Jones, Nancy & Joe Foran in honor of Doris Miller & Don Fitzgibbons, Pam & Bob Tidwell, Scott Chase & Debra Witter, and Doris Miller & Don Fitzgibbons.