Rockport Cultural District Art – Legacy Artists

The Rockport Cultural Arts District (RCAD) celebrates its roots, the utter beginnings of the Art Colony started by Simon Michael in the late 1940s, through written and visual mediums, with “The Rockport-Fulton Art Colony” book authored by RCAD Advisory Board members Kay Betz and Vickie Merchant, and it’s partner children’s book, “The ABC’s of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony”.    Added to the chronical of our landmark artistic heritage is the visual short documentary, “The Rockport-Fulton Art Colony”, highlighting the history and influence of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony, produced by RCAD and talented Board member Carla Tank, based on Betz and Merchants’ book.

Referenced below is a short bio on some of our landmark artists that made Rockport famous as one of the top ten small art colonies in the US.

AL BARNES

Al Barnes was an internationally known nature and wildlife artist active in Rockport for many years.   His paintings of water and fishing scenes along the Gulf Coast, in Mexico and the Caribbean have been prized by many discerning collectors.  His work is held in many private, corporate and museum collections.  He was the “Waterfowl Artist of the Year for the National Ducks Unlimited organization and the Coastal Conservation Association Stamp Artist three times, in addition to other wildlife honors.   He, Jack Cowan and Herb Booth called themselves “The Rockport Gang,” working for conservation and environmental causes.   Barnes was the 1995 poster art for the art center’s art festival.

“Bahama Bones”  Numbered Print, Size 23″ x 30″

HERB BOOTH

Herb Booth was a skilled wildlife artist who merged his experience as a hunter, fisherman and naturalist to produce authentic sporting scenes in watercolor and prints.  He, Jack Cowan and Al Barnes called themselves “The Rockport Gang,’ spending time together, often with Kent Ullberg and Steve Russell, in the wild and encouraging each other as artists.   They also donated much of their art and time to raise money for environmental causes and organizations such as the Coastal Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited.  Booth was the poster artist for the Rockport Center for the Arts in 1996.   He and Russell both mentored Chance Yarbrough as the next generation of sporting and wildlife artists.

DINAH BOWMAN

My education in ecosystems began with following my father – traipsing through fields and woods of Tennessee hunting quail and squirrels, crabbing along the shores of Virginia and the Carolinas, fishing the bays and Gulf of Mexico off Florida. These early experiences led me to pursue a degree in marine biology. At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi major studies were of the beaches and bays in Texas and was the first female allowed to participate in coral reef ecology studies in Belize. This educational pursuit led me to be recognized as one of the Top Ten College Girls in America by Glamour magazine. Upon graduation I was contracted by the UT Marine Science Institute to conduct coastal zone management and assessment work. The defining of Texas coastal ecosystems into biotopes. During this time, the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology funded the first creel census to study the impact of fishermen economically and ecologically in the Coastal Bend – adopted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

As a free-lance illustrator, I illustrated Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico published by Texas A&M Press – now going into its third edition and the most reprinted book in the A&M system. This “spawned” a career change to biological illustration. Texas A&M-Kingsville facilitated the creation of a double major in art and terrestrial biology. Several of my Master’s degree projects were designing educational exhibits for the first visitor center at UTMSI and the Fisheries Lab in Rockport. I created the first illustrations of larval seatrout and redfish development ever published in a research paper for the Port Aransas hatchery.

In 1979 my gallery and frame shop opened in Portland, Texas. GYOTAKU, Japanese fish printing, a technique I brought from Japan to Texas in 1969 was a featured medium.

Local projects include:

• Texas State Aquarium – design team, species illustrations, and ecological signage
• Coastal Bend Bays Foundation – four posters
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
  • Ecological Zonation of Vera Cruz Coral Reef study mural
  • Creation of Artist in Residence Program for the Laguna Madre Field Station
• State of Bay Report – Corpus Christi
• Texas Wetlands – A Guide
• Corpus Christi Geological Society – prehistoric mural depicting species from Texas Coast 10,000 years ago
• Owen Hopkins Library (Corpus Christi) – 10’ birding mural
• TxDOT – art on ferries – 5 years
• TxDOT – ¼ mile of art on the Corpus Christi Crosstown Interchange
• Valley Growers Association
• TAMU-CC – taught biological illustration 14 years
• Coastal Bend Community College – adjunct professor
• Coastal Conservation Association
• Saltwater-Fisheries Enhancement Association
• Ducks Unlimited
• Galveston Bay Foundation – Trinity River educational CD
• Texas Museum-Austin
• Dallas Museum of Natural History
• Texas General Land Office – four education posters

National projects include:

• Smithsonian Institution – permanent collection
• American Museum of Natural History exhibition
• National Park Service – educational materials and Art in the Parks
• EPA
• National Association of Soil Conservation Districts – four educational posters
• International Ocean Drilling Program – JOIDES Resolution illustrator
• US Navy – four environmental posters on every ship of the fleet
• American Geophysical Association exhibition
• Gulf of Mexico Program – educational art

DON BREEDEN

Don Breeden is a celebrated wildlife artist chronicling South Texas subject matter for over 45 years.  He graduated with a fine arts degree at the University of Houston and owned and operated Breeden Gallery in Brownsville for over 30 years.  He has been a part of artists’ work with the Coastal Conservation Association and other groups and was the Ducks Unlimited Texas Sponsor Artist of the Year in 1999.  http://www.donbreedenart.com/

POPO COSBY

Popo Cosby was a popular Rockport artist for many years, chronicling historic and wildlife scenes in highly collectible prints seen throughout South Texas.   He and his daughter Melissa Cosby Pina operated Popo’s Gallery in the Downtown Cultural Arts District for many years.

JOHN P. “JACK” COWAN

John P. “Jack” Cowan was a long-time Rockport resident considered the “Grandfather” of the Texas Gulf Coast Sporting and Wildlife School of Art.   With Herb Booth and Al Barnes, “The Rockport Gang,” he supported many early environmental groups, including the Coastal Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited.   He and his son-in-law Joe Allen were instrumental in passing Texas legislation to protect redfish for future generations.  He was named Texas State Artist in 1978-1979.  His paintings are in many important art collections, including that of former President George W. Bush, with whom he fished and who he painted at San Jose Island.

His notes on “The Island” painting:

“I was pulled up on Mud Island one day, studying my navigation chart, when I noticed a group of Canada geese loafing along fairly low, making their way up San Jose Island against a light norther.  I looked at the chart, then the geese, then the chart, and an idea began to gel.  That chart indicated that Mud Island almost intersects the big island at about 45 degrees.  If I could get above Mud Island and look east into a nice sunrise, the smaller island would make a graceful lead-in element to the larger island, with its interesting ranch-house complex, runway, and harbor.  Even the gulf beyond would probably show.  The Canadas, always a graphic bird, could be the dominant element and symbolize the big island’s abundant wildlife….Ideas for paintings sometimes start in strange paces.”

ANGALEE DeFOREST

Angalee De Forest, the poster artist for the Rockport Center for the Arts in 2019, has been an artist for over 40 years, studying art formally at UT Austin and independently with many nationally-known teachers.  Her work is often influenced by living and traveling around the world. http://windwaygallery.com

JACKSON EHRLICH

Jackson Ehrlich is a former resident of Rockport whose paintings capture many significant historical buildings, coastal imagery, and evocative landscapes.  His rare print of the Fulton Mansion available in the auction is included in the Texas A&M University Press book, “The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony: How A Coastal Texas Town Became An Art Enclave.” https://www.jacksonehrlichart.com

CHRIS ELY

Chris Ely was a longtime Fulton artist, teacher and owner of the “Little Gallery.”   Her nostalgic scenes of the Fulton Harbor and local birdlife evoke an earlier time.

SHIRLEY FARLEY

Shirley Farley was a long-standing Rockport artist, moving to the area from Hollywood where she, a cousin of Marlon Brando, was an actress and screenwriter for shows like “Ford Television Theatre” and “The Twilight Zone.”  Along with Jan Wendell, she signed the original Articles of Incorporation for the Rockport Art Association.   She and her husband Dub, of the Farley boat-building family of Port Aransas, owned the Farley Gallery, downtown and later across from Little Bay, near the current site for Gabriela’s restaurant.

LARRY FELDER

Larry Felder was born in San Antonio, Texas. In 1974, he earned a BFA in Studio Painting from The University of Texas at Austin, learning many techniques from Texas “modernist” Michael Frary. His focus was studio painting, but his early training in Architecture and Graphic Design led him to a distinguished 30-year career in Advertising and Publishing. Since then he has devoted himself full-time to oil painting.  Larry and his wife Linda operated the Felder Gallery in the Kline’s Café Building in the Downtown Cultural Arts District, where they were active in the Downtown Heritage District Association.  Larry also worked as Art Director at the Rockport Center for the Arts.  In 2014 Felder moved to Bradenton, Florida where he maintains a studio in the historic Landmark Building on Old Main Street.  The Felder Gallery tradition continues in San Antonio with Robby Felder — www.feldergallery.com

ED FICKETT

Ed Fickett retired to Rockport after 25 years working in the aviation industry where he did innovative design work for companies including Boeing on the C5 and 747s.   He graduated from the American School of Commercial Art in Dallas and spent his retirement painting, teaching and managing the Downtown Potpourri Gallery with his wife Joyce.  He and his students created the WARTS, the Watercolor Artists of Rockport Texas, exhibiting their work around the area, including at the art center.  His iconic print in the auction captures the long-time legacy of the Sorenson Building and its use as the Estelle Stair Gallery, one of the first homes of the Rockport Art Association.

Estelle Stair was a longtime Rockport artist, teacher and gallery owner of the eponymous Estelle Stair Gallery, home to the Rockport Art Association for many years.   She was a tireless volunteer, advocate and symbol of the art colony, teaching thousands of students with her “paint-alongs” of classic coastal scenes like sand dunes.

CAROL FRAPPIER

Carol Frappier is a longtime artist and art teacher in Rockport.  She graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and has taught many local students at the art center and in other venues.  Her original painting of the Bruhl-O’Connor House, the longtime home of the Rockport Center for the Arts, destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, evokes many joyful memories of artists and art gathered in the building.

PAM FULCHER

Pam Fulcher, the 2014 poster artist for the Rockport Art Festival, is the only photographer ever chosen for this honor.  With an art degree from the State University of New York in Potsdam, she has taught high school art, worked at the Rockport Center for the Arts and taught classes as she continued her own learning and collaboration with others.  Growing up in Hawaii and living around the world, she is recognized for her bold landscapes and portraits.  Her photographs are included in the Texas A&M University Press book, “The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony:  How A Coastal Texas Town Became An Art Enclave. “  https://www.pamelafulcherphotography.com

LORRIE HARRINGTON

Lorrie Harrington, a native Texas, has been creating glass artwork for over 30 years.  She moved to Rockport in 1992, initially showing her work at the legendary Estelle Stair Gallery.  She and her husband Rex then opened a Downtown Cultural Arts District glass studio and gallery, The Niche, for 12 years.  She is a resident artist at Wind Way Gallery and executes many private commissions.  She has been instrumental in gaining recognition for stained glass as a fine art form.

http://windwaygallery.com

NARICE HOPP

Narice Hopp’s animated, almost whimsical colorful art, depicts real life characteristics.   A known artist in Rockport for decades, her work is desired by many.   Narice grew up in San Antonio, and studied at Kansas City Art Institute.

TERESA JUSTICE

Teresa Justice, a native of Corpus Christi, learned how to create her lyrical watercolors from many of Rockport’s most famous artist/teachers, including Steve Russell and Harold Phoenix.  She was the 2008 poster artist for the art center’s annual Rockport Art Festival.

RIP HARRISON

Rip Harrison was a native of Corpus Christi who graduated from the University of Houston and retired to Fulton after working for Southern Mineral Corporation for 31 years in marketing and transportation.  He was a favorite artist and teacher at the early Rockport Art Association in the Estelle Stair Gallery and at Rockport Art Festivals.   He thought the Rockport boat basin was the prettiest place in the US, saying “You could go to the turning basin and stay there the rest of your life and never paint the same thing.”

CAROL KOUTNIK

Carol Koutnik,  the 2005 poster artist for the Rockport Art Festival, creates work from her travels and observations in nature.  She currently has a one-person exhibit at the Nave Museum in Victoria, Texas.   www.carolkoutnik.com

JOHN MARTELL

John Martell is a Rockport-based photographer who maintains his Gallery in the heart of the Rockport Cultural Arts District.  His distinctive style of capturing local coastal images and ones from his frequent travels are extremely popular, as are his classes teaching others skills. https://www.johnmartellphotography.com/gallery

ELSA MATHEWS

Elsa Lopez Mathews, a native of San Antonio, moved to Rockport and became part of the artistic community, opening her studio for the annual Studio Tour.   She frequently evokes Hispanic and coastal imagery and is known for her portraits and figural work, often working in multimedia.   www.elsamathews.com.

HAL McCASKILL

Hal McCaskill was a homebuilder, businessman and master woodworker who could handcraft anything from furniture to musical instruments. His greatest passion was painting.  He was a well-respected self-taught watercolor artist who loved capturing the Texas Gulf Coast.  Hal’s paintings won numerous awards and he was the Rockport Center for the Arts, Art Festival Poster Artist in 2006.

JEFFREY NEEL McDANIEL

Jeffrey Neel McDaniel’s art is inspired by the natural beauty of the South Texas Coast and Texas Hill Country, especially around the Laguna Madre and the Frio River.  He is a long time native of Corpus Christi and Steve Russell became Jeffrey’s mentor in 1989.   He has been recognized over the past decade with many Best of Show, Merit Award, Juried Artist, and 1st Place Honors in watercolor, acrylic,and sculpture.   This artwork has been included in the Texas A&M University Press book, “The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony:  How A Coastal Texas Town Became An Art Enclave,” to be released June 2021. www.jneelart.com

JESUS MOROLES

Jesus Moroles was the Texas State Artist in 2011 Jesús Bautista Moroles (1950-2015) was a renowned American sculptor, particularly known for his large-scale abstract works in granite. He was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and his work is displayed in numerous museums and public spaces worldwide.  Early Life and Education:  Moroles was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and grew up in Rockport. He earned a BFA from the University of North Texas in 1978. He apprenticed under Luis Jiménez for a year and then spent a year working with stone in Pietrasanta, Italy.    In 1981, he purchased his first large diamond saw and later established his studio in Rockport, Texas, where he worked with family members.   Moroles’s work includes the Houston Police Officer’s Memorial, a ziggurat-style monument. His piece “Lapstrake” (1987) is a prominent sculpture across from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.   Moroles received the National Medal of Arts in 2008 and the Texas Medal of the Arts Award for Visual Arts in 2007.  He created over 2,000 sculptures, many of which are found in public spaces and museums around the world. His work is also part of the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the White House.  Moroles died in a traffic accident in 2015 at the age of 64.

MARIA NESBIT

Maria Nesbit is a Rockport-based artist who began her Fulton Gallery and Studio after retiring from teaching high school.  She is a master of many forms of photography, ranging from portraiture to coastal scenery.   Her photographs of selected artwork, as well as her own studio artwork, are included in the Texas A&M University Press book, “The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony:  How a Coastal Texas Town Became an Art Enclave.”

https://www.marianesbitphotography.com

FLINT REED

Flint Reed, the 2002 poster artist for the Rockport Art Festival, lives in Port Aransas Texas and owns the Mustang Art Gallery.  After time as a Navy Pilot, Reed studied in Europe, attending the School of Fine Arts in Madrid.   After 11 years in Europe and the West Indies, he returned to the US.

http://www.mustangislandartgallery.com/artists/Flint-Reed/Flint-Reed-coastal-paintings.html

STEVE RUSSELL

Steve Russell has been called “the quintessential Rockport artist” for his mastery of historical, landscape and wildlife subject matter.   One of his paintings was chosen as the cover for the Texas A&M University Press book, “The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony:  How A Coastal Texas Town Became An Art Enclave,“ representing the best of the Texas Gulf Coast Aesthetic and Rockport School of Landscape Painting.  His role in helping start the Rockport Art Association and the Rockport Art Festival, as well as mentoring generations of new artists, is featured throughout the book.  He was the 1994 poster artists for the Rockport Center for the Arts Art Festival.   http://www.steverussellart.com/

E.M. “BUCK” SCHIWETZ

E.M. “Buck” Schiwetz was an important Texas artist, named State Artist in 1977-1978.  His drawings and watercolors received critical acclaim when they were featured in “The Humble Way” magazine in 1945 to promote the areas of Texas where Humble Oil and Refining Company operated.   Their popularity prompted the company to publish the first “Texas Sketchbook” in 1952 as a compilation of Schiwetz drawings of Texas, later adding other editions.  He often visited and drew in Rockport and was included in a 1979 Texas A&M University Press book, “The Texas Gulf Coast:  Interpretations by Nine Artists.”  The book also included work by Al Barnes, Herb Booth, John P. Cowan, Michael Frary and Harold Phenix.  Several of his works are also included in the A&M Press book on the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony to be released in June 2021.

https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/a-z/schiwetz.html

JERRY SEAGLE

Jerry Seagle was a Corpus Christi watercolor artist who became an influential teacher in the early development of the art colony, teaching at Estelle Stair Gallery and at the Art Center.   He graduated with a BFA from UT Austin and received a graduate fellowship to the University of the Americas in Mexico City.   He taught throughout Texas and New Mexico and received many awards in national and regional exhibitions.

JAMIE SPECK

Jamie Speck is a Rockport-based mixed media artist, whose inspiration is as varied as her materials — it is found in her everyday experiences, routines, and environment. She has won local, state, and national awards for her exhibited artwork, which often incorporates domestic elements and techniques, such as hand-stitching. Jamie completed her undergraduate work at Texas State University, where she majored in Studio Art and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in 1999. In December of 2002, she received her master’s degree in painting and drawing from Stephen F. Austin State University. She has been a part-time online instructor for Blinn College since the Fall semester of 2002. Jamie is currently completing her post-master’s study at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, toward the terminal M.F.A. degree. She resides in Rockport, Texas, with her husband John and three children.   Jamie and John maintain a studio in the Rockport Cultural Arts District. www.jamiespeck.com

JOHN SPECK

John Speck is an artist and teacher in Rockport, having worked as the Director of Visual Arts at the Rockport Center for the Arts and currently as an elementary administrator for the Aransas County Independent School District and part-time instructor for Blinn College.  He holds a BA in Art and Philosophy from Texas State University, a Master of Education in Secondary Education with a Specialization in Art from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University.  He and his wife Jamie, also an artist, maintain studio space in the Downtown Cultural Arts District.

http://johnaustinspeck.blogspot.com/p/printmaking.html

ESTELLE STAIR

Estelle Stair was a longtime Rockport artist, teacher and gallery owner of the eponymous Estelle Stair Gallery, home to the Rockport Art Association for many years.   She was a tireless volunteer, advocate and symbol of the art colony, teaching thousands of students with her “paint-alongs” of classic coastal scenes like sand dunes.

JUDY TIPTON

Judy Tipton is a Rockport artist who was a longtime student and colleague of the founder of the art colony, Simon Michael.   She and other artists paint together weekly at the Fulton Firehouse

JANE TURNER

Jane Turner was a retired engineer who helped oversee the interior remodeling of the historic Bruhl-O’Connor house into the first permanent home for the Rockport Art Association.  An avid birder and painter, she also completed a master’s degree in botany.  She taught classes at the Estelle Stair Gallery and established the Kirkpatrick-Stair Scholarship Fund that helped more than 70 local students pursue their education.

DALHART WINDBERG

Dalhart Windberg, Texas State Artist in 1979-1980, is the most famous and successful student of Simon Michael, the founder of the Rockport-Fulton art colony.  A native of Goliad, he began to attract national attention in the 1960s with his romantic still lifes and landscapes of Texas, popularized through prints.  His coastal scenes of lighthouses, fishing vessels, fishing shacks and other subjects remain some of his most collected.  “The Paths of the Masters” and “Dalhart Windberg – Artist of Texas,” published by UT Press, document his life and influence.  http://windbergartcenter.com/

CATHY VRBA

Cathy Vrba earned a B.A. in Psychology and spent 25 years working as a civil litigation paralegal.  Primarily self-taught, she paints in oil and soft pastels.  Two of her paintings were juried into the annual “Best of the Best” show at the New Braunfels Art League in 2018. She and her husband moved to Rockport after Hurricane Harvey.  She was chosen as one of the 2020 Merit Artists at the Rockport Center for the Arts by Dr. Laura Petican, Associate Professor of Art History and Director of University Galleries at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.

CHANCE YARBROUGH

Chance Yarbrough is a wildlife and sporting artist continuing the tradition of artists like Jack Cowan and Herb Booth, who mentored him along with Steve Russell.  The 2015 poster artist for the Rockport Art Festival, he was also named brand ambassador for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.  An avid outdoorsman, fishing and hunting give his work an authenticity that many collectors treasure.   www. chance-yarbrough.com