A LEAGUE OF WOMEN: WOMEN ARTISTS FROM THE SAALM PERMANENT COLLECTION, 1950-PRESENT
Without visionary women, there would have been no San Antonio Art League. In 1912, Mrs. Ethel Drought was instrumental in fostering a salon environment in her home, encouraging artists, art connoisseurs, musicians, and other patrons of San Antonio culture to meet -- and the Art League was formally founded. For her continued leadership and dedication to the organization throughout her life, Mrs. Drought is considered the founder and honorary life-president of the Art League. Her name lives on in the Ethel T. Drought Founders Award for outstanding contribution to the Arts, awarded each year by the San Antonio Art League.
Through the past hundred years, the women of the Art League have been the innovators and forecasters. Mary Bonner, active in the San Antonio Art League in the 1930’s, was a Texas printmaker whose etchings are sought after and prized by collectors. Mary elevated the print to fine-art status. Amy Freeman Lee, Artist of the Year in 1953, brought national recognition to the Art League in her role as lecturer, civil libertarian, humanist, and member of the International Association of Art Critics. Martha Mood, a remarkable fiber artist and Artist of the Year in 1967, paved the way for another celebrated fiber artist, Jane Dunnewold, be selected as Artist of the Year in 2019. And on they go, opening doors and building legacies.
Each of the women represented in this exhibition, A League of Women, is a multifaceted wonder of talent and vision, creative expression, and inspiration for other women in the arts. The San Antonio Art League, begun and sustained by women, proudly presents this collection of work by artists who form a strong, golden thread that runs through the history of the Art League, the history of San Antonio, and beyond.
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Read about five representative artists from this important exhibition by clicking on their names, right.
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Kathy Vargas: Photographer and Lecturer
'I Was a Little Dress' San Antonio Art League and Museum, Onderdonk Award winner, 1998 After grief, “When the heart starts to sing again, it wants to fill with flowers. It takes its memories back to the grave and says, 'I remember you in this dress, in these gloves; sitting in your chair … Sometimes it is possible to photograph the missing being.'” Lectures: Phoenix, Arizona; Palm Beach, Florida; England; Concoran Gallery of Art and National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; University of Wisconsin; and, University of Colorado. Collections: Smithsonian Institution; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Mexican Museum, San Francisco; Art Museum of South TX, Corpus Christi; San Antonio Museum of Art; Cuba; and, University of California, Santa Barbara. |
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Eva Templeton
Painter, Educator, Juror, Illustrator 'Phantasy Floral' Born 1922, Germany: also lived in Canada, France, and the U.S. Was a companion to Wasily Kandinsky. Teacher: Southwest Craft Center 15 years. “Creating art and teaching art out of an inner necessity and for sheer pleasure and the love of it all is what I would like to stand for.” Exhibitions: 10 one woman shows, even at the Muse des Beaux Arts; Nancy, France: the first foreigner. Illustrator: Ewing Halsell Foundation Yearbook, Botanical Society of San Antonio, and Mexican University in a meticulous and traditionalist style reminiscent of the work of the old masters. |
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Terry Gay Puckett
Painter, Enamelist, Educator, Cultural Explorer 'San Miguel Patio' San Antonio Art League & Museum, Artist of the Year, 2009 “The creative journey continues, using watercolor, acrylics, vitreous enamels on metal and mixed media collage. Sketching just for fun remains my favorite past time.” Growing up in Amarillo, Texas, she scribbled on the tempting blank walls of her home; a lifelong drawing habit began. Also, frequent New Mexico visits have inspired her work. Education: University of Texas in Austin, BFA Studio Art; and, University of Texas in San Antonio, MA. Combining art and travel, Puckett taught and painted in Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, and Cuba. Teacher: Southwest School of Art in San Antonio and Professor Emeritus, St. Philips College: a 31 year career. Twenty five art works are included in the Robert B. Green Pavilion Collection. |
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Martha Mood
Painter, Sculptor, Photographer, Educator, Stitchery San Antonio River San Antonio Art League & Museum, Artist of the Year, 1967. “Stitchery has a unique and distinctive life and character of its own. There is nothing else quite like it. The potential of a sewn tapestry or an embroidered applique is as vast as art itself. The myriad qualities of countless fabrics, combined in myriad ways and enriched with thread and yarn, are a delight to contemplate.” Education: University of California at Berkeley; California School of Art and Crafts. Educator: San Antonio Art Institute; public & private schools. Exhibitions: 30 Solo and Two Women Exhibits. Awards: received in nearly 20 cities; Florida to California. Collections: President Lyndon B. Johnson, Mr. John Connally, Ambassador Edward Clark, Winthrop Rockefeller, Clint Murchison, Lew Moorman Jr., O'Neil Ford, Arthur Seeligson, Charles Urschel, Rice University, San Antonio Country Club, Trinity University Parker Memorial Chapel, (U.S.I.A. Building). |
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Eloise Yantis Stoker
Potter, Sculptor, Printer, Educator 'Hill Country Waterhole' Education: University of Texas, Austin, B.A.; New Mexico Highlands University, M.A., 1962; Post Graduate Studies – Pennsylvania State University, 1963-65. Educator: Art Professor, University of the Incarnate Word, 1970-85; Chair, Division of Humanities and Fine Arts, UIW, 1979-85; developed the multidisciplinary Native American Studies at UIW; Southwest School of Arts and Crafts; Hot Wells Middle School, SAISD, 1957-58. Exhibitions: 20 solo exhibitions – Semmes Gallery, UIW 1005-1009; Southwest Craft Center, 1979, 1981, 1983; Ventana Gallery, 2001, 2002, 2003. 56 invitational group exhibitions: Mexico City, Siqueios Exhibition Center, 1982; McNay Art Museum, 1981; Texas Crafts Exhibition toured 7 cities, 1978-79. Commissions: 2010 Courthouse Acequia from Bexar County– large project, symbolized historic Acequia principle Irrigation Environment Syste: clay tiles installation, southwest corner of S. Flores & Nueva. Lectures: 21 including – Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., 2005; McNay Art Museum, America Indian Artists, 1990. Collections: Roswell Art Museum, Rosell, N.M.; University of Texas. |