Texas Art Project

Caption reads: William and Linda Reaves, with planned gifts to the University Galleries: L) Paul Maxwell, Still Life with Fish, 1959 R)David Adickes, Still Life with Lime and Melon Slices, 1957. Color photograph. William "Bill" and Linda Reaves stand next to each other. He has on a blue button down shirt and blue jeans. She is wearing a light pink top and blue jeans. They are standing in front of two modern paintings they donated to the galleries. Both are still life paintings of tabletops and various items.

The Texas Art Project, which celebrates the state’s cultural and fine arts legacy through a series of art exhibitions and educational programming, is a partnership between the Texas A&M University Art Galleries and Texas art collectors and authors, Linda and William Reaves. The Texas Art Project was launched in July 2021.

“We launched our new Texas art venture in the hopes that it will provide meaningful new contributions in art scholarship and offer pleasant, informative fine art experiences for our patrons and students,” Catherine Hastedt, director of the Texas A&M University Art Galleries, said.

As avid, early collectors of Texas art, supporters Linda and William Reaves also assisted in the development of the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA) and later operated a prominent fine arts gallery in Houston for more than a decade. Currently, they engage as independent art researchers and curators and serve as co-editors of the Joe and Betty Moore Texas Art Series at the Texas A&M University Press.

“Linda and I are especially excited about helping to bring more exposure to Texas art to the Texas A&M community,” William Reaves said. “We think that learning and knowing more about our state’s rich visual arts legacies only adds additional joy and enrichment to the experience of being a Texan. We also feel that Texas A&M and the Stark Galleries present the perfect venues for showcasing this vital aspect of our state’s cultural history.”

To facilitate the Texas Art Project, the Reaves have placed their extensive collection of Texas art on long-term loan to the university for review and research. They donated operational funding and will serve as organizers and co-curators of the Texas Art Project exhibition series.

“We are so pleased to have this opportunity to work along with the talented team at the University Art Galleries to organize a thoughtful and engaging exhibition series that can help viewers better realize the robust range, depth, and quality of art produced in our state over the years,” Linda Reaves said. “It is our hope that the entire series will serve to enhance fine arts opportunities for both students and the public alike.”

Exhibitions associated with the Texas Art Project combine paintings and prints from the Reaves’ collection, works from other private and public collections, and examples from the university’s permanent collections.

“So many individuals and institutions have been both generous and eager to loan their works to the Texas Art Project, bringing numerous Texas masterpieces to campus to benefit students and complement the university’s own permanent collections,” William Reaves said. “We can already see this as a wonderful new value-added way to expand both the resources and visibility of the university’s fine art capacities.”