Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.
For last week’s picks, please go here.
“What drawing can be: four responses.” The four responders (Clockwise from upper left): Jillian Conrad, Tony Lewis, Teresita Fernández, and Constantin Luser
1. What drawing can be: four responses
From Menil Drawing Institute:
“The Menil Drawing Institute has invited four artists to stretch the boundaries of drawing and offer new characterizations of what drawing can be. This exhibition features site-specific installations by Jillian Conrad, Teresita Fernández, Tony Lewis, and Constantin Luser. Each artist will have an individual gallery space to explore the experimental potential of the medium, its boundaries, and its connections with other arts, such as sculpture and architecture.
Drawings that expand beyond a sheet of paper have a rich history within the 20th century. Examples include Alexander Calder and his wire sculptures from the 1930s and artists of the 1960s, like Dorothea Rockburne and Sol LeWitt, who pushed the parameters of the medium to include text, folded papers, and wall drawings. Eluding labels and limitations, whether they be in terms of material, scale, or ephemerality, the artists in this exhibition will reveal the continuing relevance, agility, and vitality of drawing and how it remains a rich and generative area of investigation.”
Marianna Olague, “Mirror Charms”(detail), 2024, oil on canvas
2. ¡Es Hora! / It’s Time!: Mexican American Art in El Paso 1960 – Now
Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) – (El Paso)
March 22 – June 29, 2025
From the MACC:
“The inaugural exhibition in the MACC Main Gallery showcases and celebrates Mexican-American Artists from El Paso. ¡Es Hora! / ¡It’s Time!: Mexican American Art in El Paso 1960 – Now is an introductory survey that will allow visitors to learn more about artists who have made an impact in our region and will include 18 artists from the past and the present. Past artists such as Luis Jimenez, Manuel Acosta, and Mago Gandara, as well as present artists like Adrian Esparza, Marianna Olague, and Troy Montes Michie.”
Jorge Villarreal, “Untitled Walls.” Courtesy of the artist (CAM Perennial)
3. 2025 CAM Perennial: The Inbetweenness at UTSA Southwest gallery
Russell Hill Rogers Galleries at UTSA Southwest (San Antonio)
March 22 – April 12, 2025
From Contemporary Art Month:
“Contemporary Art Month (CAM) is excited to announce our 2025 perennial exhibition, The Inbetweenness, curated by Marisa Sage. In partnership with UTSA Arts the 2025 perennial will feature artists Huakai Chen, Brittany Ham, Gabi Magaly, Bella Martinez, Josie Norris and Jorge Villarreal, and will be on view in the Russell Hill Rogers Galleries in the Santikos building on the UTSA Southwest Campus, from March 22–April 12, 2025. Opening reception March 22, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
In her curatorial statement, Sage told CAM, “In an ever-evolving world where boundaries—be they linguistic, cultural, material, or conceptual—are increasingly fluid, artists working with translations and transformations within their practice embody a spirit of inquiry and alchemy. Translation is not merely the conversion of one language into another, but a process of negotiation, rupture, and reinvention. Likewise, transformation speaks to a metamorphosis: the reconfiguring of form, personhood, meaning, and perception.
The artists featured in this exhibition engage with these concepts as both method and metaphor. Through scale and process experiments they grapple with the movement of ideas across mediums, histories, and identities. Some address translation as a mode of cultural dialogue, exploring themes of displacement, migration, and hybridity. Others see transformation as a visceral act, turning materials—be they physical or conceptual—into sites of possibility and renewal.”
4. From Afar, With Love: Immigrant Voices in Art
Bolm Arts Gallery (Austin)
March 14 – April 5, 2025
From Bolm Arts Gallery:
“From Afar with love is an exhibition that celebrates the profound contributions of immigrants to America’s cultural landscape, highlighting not only their resilience but the deep love they carry for their home countries. This show invites viewers to explore the beauty that immigrants bring to this country, both as creators and as individuals whose stories of migration are rooted in hope, connection, and the dream of a brighter future — for both themselves and the people they leave behind.
Rather than focusing solely on the struggles of immigration, From Afar, with love shifts the lens to the creativity, innovation, and cultural wealth immigrants contribute to American society. The exhibition showcases a diverse range of artistic expressions that reflect the journeys of those who have crossed borders — not simply for personal gain, but often to create opportunities that will support families, communities, and the places they call home. Through their art, these immigrant artists reveal a richness of heritage and a dedication to both preserving and enriching their cultural roots, all while weaving new threads into the vibrant fabric of American culture. The works on display reflect the beauty, complexity, and strength of these lived experiences, celebrating the intersection of past and present, home and abroad.”
A work by Deanna Pickett Frye
5. Deanna Pickett Frye: Creatures of Habit
Tyler Junior College–Jenkins Hall (Tyler)
February 24 – March 27, 2025
From Tyler Junior College:
“I make art because I like the creating process and ultimately the fulfillment of completion. I’ve always been drawn to environments that are enticing and bold, often relating to mid-century design and or forms found in nature. I often bounce back and forth from painting intuitive abstracted compositions to realism.
My art often focuses on patterns and repetition as related to paths followed through life, which mimics repetitions and cycles found in the blooms of a flower. I hope to paint works whose shapes, colors, and textures attract from afar then drawing the viewer near for a richer experience with intricate details.”
