Artist José Roger “Joe” Villarreal, noted for his popular depictions of life on the West Side of San Antonio, died Saturday, April 12 of complications from colon cancer at age 72.
Joe Villarreal, 2024. Image courtesy of City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture
In June 2024, Mr. Villarreal achieved a longstanding dream by completing two permanent public art commissions for the City of San Antonio. The pair of painted steel sculptures, titled El Papalote and El Trompo, are positioned at the intersection of North Frio and West Commerce Streets as an informal gateway to the West Side, referred to locally as “El Mero Weso,” the heart of the city’s Mexican American population.
Krystal Jones, Director of the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, said in an email to Glasstire, “Joe R. Villarreal’s work has always been a cherished part of our community, but with El Papalote and El Trompo, we’ve been able to bring his legacy into the public eye in a way that truly honors his impact. These vibrant sculptures, accessible to everyone, serve as a lasting tribute to his talent and passion. Their unveiling last June was a momentous occasion, and now, even more so, [they symbolize] the enduring joy and connection Joe’s art continues to inspire in San Antonio.”
Joe Villarreal at the ribbon cutting for his public art sculptures, 2024. Image courtesy of City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture
El Trompo is a 12-foot-high depiction of a child’s rainbow-colored spinning top, and El Papalote is a similarly large-scale representation of a kite made from a folded La Prensa newspaper, the San Antonio-based bilingual news outlet that first published in 1913. Family members and friends converged on the sculptures with flower bouquets and remembrances to commemorate the artist after hearing of his death.
Mr. Villarreal studied commercial art at Fox Tech High School, where he graduated in 1971, then learned from artist Warren Hunter at the Hunter School of Art in San Antonio. He worked as an illustrator, graphic designer and display designer at Southwest Research Institute for 22 years, continuing to illustrate by hand even as other illustrators were replaced by digital processes. Upon retiring at age 70, he dedicated himself full-time to artmaking, culminating in the two public sculptures.
Joe Villarreal, “Las Mañanitas de Mi Madre,” 2002, oil on canvas
Mr. Villarreal’s paintings of Mexican American working-class life, including mariachi serenades, children playing marbles in the yard, and an abuelas’ tamale-making party among other nostalgic subjects, were frequently made into popular prints that hang throughout the city’s West Side in private homes and such stalwart restaurants as Ray’s Drive Inn.
Tommy’s Restaurant posted on Facebook, “No one captured the soul of what growing up in San Antonio was like better than him.”
Joe Villarreal, “El Icecrinero,” papier maché, 56.125 x 28 x 41.5 inches
Over the years, Texas A&M University San Antonio has collected several of Mr. Villarreal artworks, including paintings and a papier maché sculpture, El Icecrinero, depicting a paleta man — a common sight on neighborhood streets. In 2019, after several health setbacks including a heart attack and a first bout with cancer, Mr. Villarreal finished a 13-foot-tall, 1-ton version of the sculpture in concrete and ceramic tile, intended as public art. When the City unveiled El Papalote and El Trompo in 2024, the artist expressed hope that one day El Icecrinero would find a public home beyond his backyard, where it remains perched on a trailer.
Joe Villarreal with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg
In June 2024, in an interview with the San Antonio Report, Mr. Villarreal explained his work was about his personal experiences and memories. He said, “As we age, some of these memories are gone, but not forgotten — at least not by me.”
A Facebook comment by friend Patricia Mota expresses admiration for Mr. Villarreal’s “ability to capture time and revive childhood memories. Forever to remind us of the life of strong family unity and neighbors who shared raising each other’s children.”
Mr. Villarreal’s art was recognized beyond San Antonio. According to La Prensa, his paintings were part of a 2000 PBS documentary, The Mexican Americans, and MySA reported in 2019 that a painting of his was to be used in an episode of the Selena drama series on Netflix. A painting by Mr. Villarreal of Dallas Cowboys players on horseback was converted into a cartoon image used on a King of the Hill episode titled Rodeo Days, also in 2000.
Mr. Villarreal was scheduled to be an honorary grand marshal for the City’s annual Fiesta Flambeau parade on Saturday, May 3, but realized in recent weeks that he wouldn’t be able to make it due to declining health. Among hundreds of condolences and appreciations flowing onto social media posts announcing Mr. Villarreal’s death, 11-year-old parade Grand Marshal Mateo Lopez, a local mariachi star, wrote, “I had the privilege to know you! You will live forever thru your art! Que en Paz decades maestro.”
Fiesta Flambeau Association President James Fenimore spoke to Glasstire about Mr. Villarreal. He said, “[Joe] was a very real figure on the West Side.” He added the artist’s name came up naturally in discussing potential grand marshals, as so many members of the Association have prints of his on their walls.
Mr. Villarreal’s son Jerry Villarreal said his father was “my hero,” “a kid at heart” and “your typical All-American Dad” who collected Dungeons and Dragons fantasy comics as a kid. Jerry described his father as modest, reserved, and generous in personality, having donated artwork and made T-shirts for his sons’ elementary school, and played guitar and sang for his class. Jerry said his dad was “a sculptor, an innovator, a fabricator, Illustrator, a mechanic, and he did body work on cars,” having painted lowriders including his own favorite ’55 Chevy Nomad and his grandma’s El Camino for a lowrider show.
“He did everything,” Jerry Villarreal said. Many of those skills came together in creating the El Icecrinero sculpture, having fabricated its welded steel armature as well as its multi-colored, multi-layered surfaces.
Mr. Villarreal’s wife Sylvia and sons Joe J. and Jerry were by his side when he died. “My brother said to hold his hand because he’s not responding, and see if he responds to you,” Jerry recalled. “He really hated when I cried,” Jerry said, recounting how his father gestured to Jerry’s favorite recent painting nearby to assuage his sadness. “He squeezed my hand and he kind of moved his arm, and he looked to his right, and on the right was that painting of La Virgencita … that’s when he stopped breathing.”
2025 City of San Antonio Fiesta Medal
In the immediate, Mr. Villarreal’s memory will live on in the Fiesta medal commissioned by the Department of Arts and Culture for this year’s annual citywide festival, a miniature version of the El Papalote kite, and his work, which is on view through April at Lee-Bunch Studio Gallery in Del Rio.
Last June, Mr. Villarreal expressed gratitude that El Papalote and El Trompo would continue representing his beloved West Side long after he was gone. He said he’d received many thanks from residents, who had told him, “Finally, something that we can see and recognize, something for us. … I was doing it all for them. You know, honestly, it’s for them, because, hey, I’m gonna be gone. I want them to enjoy it.”
