From Aug. 30 to Oct. 25, the Conner Museum is hosting a gallery exhibit featuring the works of local artist Maurice Schmidt, who was a professor emeritus in art at Texas A&M University- Kingsville (TAMUK) from 1965 to 2002.
The exhibit currently housed at the Conner Museum is called “I Call South Texas Home” and includes 84 pieces of art, each with their own story and meaning. Schmidt is inspired by the life and culture of South Texas. His works range from traditional oil on canvas, to watercolors, sculptors and lithography.
Schmidt’s works are a series of glimpses into life in South Texas. Many of the sights and scenes that he captures and interprets are very familiar to most of us who are native to the region. From fields and farms to the fast-paced city streets of San Antonio and Austin, a little piece of the Texan spirit exists within his works.
“Painting only from life, Schmidt captures a dynamic sense of motion and color in his work. This exhibition focuses on Mexicana themes, but includes various samples of Schmidt’s interpretation of the unique South Texas region he calls home,” the Conner Museum website said.
Warm, muted colors invoke a sober, homey feeling in a scene such as the one presented in Viejos in the Park, consisting of two old men sitting on a bench under a palm tree as a woman stands nearby.
Similarly, Mariachis offers the same earthy Tex-Mex colors, but offered with more dynamic expressions and positions of the focal mariachi band, giving the appearance of motion. When staring at the piece, one can almost hear the blaring trumpets set to the driving tune of a traditional guitar.
However, not all his paintings are confined to the farms and cities. From Port Arthur to South Padre Island, hundreds of miles of Texas coastline provide livelihood to a wide and diverse range of Texans. Nautical-themed works such as Bounty of the Sea, a watercolor piece painted with a mixture of cool blues and warm reds and yellows, represents Texas fishermen.
Along with artwork depicting South Texas, the exhibit includes a portrait of John E. Conner, the person in which the museum is named after. Schmidt painted the portrait when Conner was 100 years old.
“I met him (Conner) years ago, he was 100 at the time that I met him, and we just kind of became friends. I enjoyed talking to him and I asked him to sit for a portrait, which he did. And that’s the result of it. I did it in about three sittings about an hour and a half, two hours each. He was a wonderful sitter, and he’s easy to talk with, and he was soft-spoken, and he enjoyed talking about his life,” Schmidt said in a TAMUK video interview.
The art being displayed at the Conner Museum is not the first time Schmidt has given back to the university, according to a TAMUK press release. In the past, he has donated other art pieces and started two endowments. One endowment provides fine arts students scholarship money and the other provides support for the museum.
“I wanted to give back because of what the university allowed me to do—to have a wonderful career in creating art. I did it, and was able to be part of A&M-Kingsville history. Also, much of my subject matter was influenced by the history and lore of South Texas – I really do consider South Texas home,” Schmidt said in a TAMUK press release.
To art enthusiast who would like the experience, or someone who simply would like to see an artistic perspective of South Texas and its people, Maurice Schmidt’s exhibit in the Connor Museum is worth a visit.