Recently, longtime Lubbock artists Lynwood Kreneck and Dirk Fowler were among this year’s inductees to the West Texas Walk of Fame, located at the Buddy Holly Statue in the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza in Lubbock’s Depot District.
Inductees are nominated if they have had a national influence in their field and also have significant connections to Lubbock and West Texas, specifically if they were “born or [spent] much of their creative years in Lubbock or the West Texas area.” Other 2023 inductees include singer and guitarist Junior Medlow and singer/songwriter Kimmie Rhodes.
Lynwood Kreneck
Lynwood Kreneck, creator of the ColorPrint USA exhibition series, taught printmaking at Texas Tech University (TTU) for nearly forty years. A surrealist and masterful screenprint artist, Mr. Kreneck is credited with inventing water-based screenprinting. He collaborated with Createx, a Connecticut-based company that produces water-based paints and coatings, to develop water-based screenprint inks and methods. Mr. Kreneck’s work is in collections around the globe, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Royal Museum of Art in Belgium.
Dirk Fowler
Dirk Fowler, best known for his clever mod-influenced letterpress posters, has created concert posters for Spoon, No Doubt, Wilco, Ray LaMontagne, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, and Duran Duran, to name a few musicians. Born and raised in the Panhandle, Mr. Fowler is currently is an associate professor of art and has taught graphic design at TTU for more than 20 years. His work has been featured in Texas Monthly, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion.
Once, in regards to his work, Mr. Fowler humbly quipped, “It’ll never get me recognized in the grocery store.” Being recognized for excellence in leagues with other West Texas legends like Waylon Jennings, Bob Wills, Mac Davis, and Tanya Tucker certainly counters that sentiment.
Learn more about the West Texas Walk of Fame via the Civic Lubbock website.
About the West Texas Walk of Fame: The West Texas Walk of Fame is a project of Civic Lubbock, Inc. The Buddy Holly Center, a historical site, has dual missions; preserving, collecting and promoting the legacy of Buddy Holly and the music of Lubbock and West Texas, as well as providing exhibits on Contemporary Visual Arts and Music, for the purpose of educating and entertaining the public.
