THE KEYSTONE SOUTHWESTERN WRITERS COLLECTION | WITTLIFF GALLERY OF SOUTHWESTERN & MEXICAN PHOTOGRAPHY SPRING 2007 | SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AT THE ALKEK LIBRARY | WWW. LIBRARY. TXSTATE. EDU/ SPEC- COLL UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS A member of The Texas State University System from the CURATOR ON THE COVER ¡Saludos! display our treasures. writing about place and personal history, entitled “A Land BILL WITTLIFF Perfección / In 2006 the Southwestern As fine as its surroundings and contents are, it is the Full of Stories,” which is being held by the Story Circle HONORED Perfection, 1968, Lázaro Blanco Writers Collection and staff of the SWWC and WG that comprise its most valu- WHAT Network. The program includes a free public reception on On April 3, William D. Wittliff—founding (right) Junior, 1992, Wittliff Gallery hosted, able asset. Professional and welcoming, we are the faces of June 8 and a keynote address by Kathleen Dean Moore, Keith Carter sponsored or produced the collections and we want to share them with our visi- Professor of Philosophy and founding director of the donor (with wife, Sally) 88 special events: exhibi- tors, both virtual and actual, and will go the extra mile to WILDNESS Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written of the Southwestern tion openings, readings, do so. Word at Oregon State University, who wrote the introduc- Writers Collection and Wittliff Gallery of ARCHIVES FAIR lectures, panel disus- I don’t have enough space to describe the many ways tion to What Wildness Is This. The conference offers a vari- A SUCCESS Southwestern & sions, receptions, con- that the seventh floor staffers exceed their normal job IS THIS ety of workshops and panel discussions focused on writ- Mexican Photography Last October 20, certs, conferences, class duties; but I can say that Amy Cockreham, Steve Davis, ing about place. Further details about the Story Circle —received the 2007 the Special Carla Ellard, Mary Garcia, Beverly Fondren, Michele sessions, seminars, group THE SOUTHWESTERN WRITERS COLLECTION cele- Network conference, including registration fees, are Texas Medal of Arts Collections staff meetings, and tours. Miller, Joel Minor, Katie Salzmann, Karen Sigler, and Joe brates another new title in its book series with a summer available online at http://www.storycircle.org/ Multimedia Award hosted a Central Sometimes we generated these activities, sometimes Sumbera all understand exactly how our department func- exhibit and conference. WomenWrite/landstories. Texas Archives Fair. from the Texas Cultural we simply shared our public rooms with others. People on tions within the university community and cheerfully What Wildness is This is an anthology of writings by Over 50 individuals Trust. TOMMY LEE work to further its mission, generally through the excel- from various area and off campus think of us when they want to come women about their experiences in the southwestern envi- JONES, a former medal archives gathered at together in an inviting and attractive place, surrounded by lent performance of their professional duties, but some- ronment. The book is published by the University of Texas recipient, presented the the Southwestern the cultural riches of the region. The archives, books, times in unexpected ways, simply because they see a tem- Press and is a project of the Story Circle Network, a non- award to Bill for his Writers Collection and photographs, sculpture, and music that fill our galleries porary gap and—unbidden—move to fill it so the life of profit organization dedicated to helping women share the accomplishments as a Wittliff Gallery to and adjoining spaces create an environment that folks the collections proceeds smoothly. I see that attitude and stories of their lives. publisher, photogra- pher, screenwriter, film socialize and introduce want to experience. The walls and floors are natural mate- ability and willingness every day on the part of the people producer, and director. themselves and their rials, the light is warm, the scale is human. I work with—and it never fails to move and inspire me. The bi-annual TMA repositories. The event We are pleased to share our space with the public—it’s Don’t be a stranger—visit us often, meet us, see us in was also open to stu- Awards recognize citi- part of our mission—and we hope very soon to have even action. # —Connie Todd anthology, exhibit, dents and the general zens who have excelled more to share, an expanded and enhanced space equally public so that they through their creative as warm and welcoming, with more room to house and & conference explore might learn more talents as well as those about area archives. whose philanthropic This event was part of women writing about generosity has opened an annual October cel- doors to artistic oppor- ebration of archives the southwest tunity for Texans of all throughout the coun- restoring the LEGACY ages. This year’s recipi- try. We hope to make ents are Sissy Spacek, our Archives Fair a Walter Cronkite, Alvin JOIN US in saving a Texas treasure. Originally part of a We want to bring this mural back to life and back into Through prose, poetry, creative nonfiction, and mem- yearly event—look for Ailey American Dance larger work, this 1951 painting in three 6' by 28' panels, public view. Restoration costs for the three panels are esti- oir, the women in this anthology explore both the outer an invitation to the Theater, Paul Baker, depicts the story of cattle ranching in the Southwest, from mated between $200,000 and $250,000. Thanks to a landscape of the Southwest and their own inner land- next one in the Fall Sandra Brown, Ornette scapes as women living on the land. The editors have issue of The Keystone. the days of the open range to the arrival of the railroad. number of generous donors, we’ve raised $35,000 to-date, Coleman, Judith Ivey, Created by Texas artist James Buchanan “Buck” Winn, the but have a long way to go. Once restored, the mural will selected nearly 100 pieces, presenting works by emerging Bill Wittliff, Jesús oil-on-canvas painting celebrates the state’s great mural be displayed on the main floor of the Alkek Library for the writers as well as established voices such as Joy Harjo, Moroles, Bill and Diana tradition exemplified by the works of Tom Lea, Jerry enjoyment and cultural education of Texas State students Denise Chávez, Diane Ackerman, Naomi Shihab Nye, Hobby, Neiman Marcos, Bywaters, and others. and the public at large. Leslie Marmon Silko, Gloria Anzaldúa, Terry Tempest and the Sid W. Richard- The mural hung in the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio Please join us in preserving a significant work of art Williams, and Barbara Kingsolver. son Foundation. This (above right) 1951 Buck until the early 1970s when it was removed from the walls, and an irreplaceable Texas treasure that captures the spir- A literary exhibit on What Wildness Is This opens at the Two of the four co-editors for What Wildness Is This April Bill also received Winn mural, detail of cut into various-sized panels, and stashed in a closet—for- it of the Southwest and our legacy in the wider world. Use Southwestern Writers Collection June 1, 2007, and will share connections to Texas State University-San Marcos. the Texas Institute of right-hand panel Letters Lon Tinkle gotten for more than 25 years. Hanging the mural again, the enclosed envelope, and make your gift today, or con- remain on view until July 31. The Story Circle Network is Dr. SUSAN WITTIG ALBERT is the founder of the Story (below) portions of the Award for Excellence without significant conservation work, would cause fur- tact Beverly Fondren at [email protected] or (512) 245- donating archives from the book to the SWWC, and the Circle Network and a former Professor of English and far left-hand and middle Sustained Throughout panels # artifacts on display will include manuscripts, photographs, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Texas State. She is ther damage and threaten the integrity of the piece. 9058. Thank you for your support! a Career. Wittliff was excerpts from the anthology, biographies of selected writ- the author of the acclaimed “China Bayles” mystery elected to the TIL at ers, and numerous books that showcase women’s writing series. Another co-editor is SUSAN HANSON, who teach- age 29, served as presi- in the Southwest. Also on view will be materials docu- es in the English Department at Texas State and is the dent during 1974-78, menting the ten-year history of the Story Circle Network. author of Icons of Loss and Grace: Moments from the and sat on the Natural World. Literary archives of both Witttig Albert Executive Council until ON JUNE 8 AND 9, the Southwestern Writers Collection and Hanson are housed at the Southwestern Writers 1990. He was elected serves as the host site for a conference and celebration of Collection. # 3 Fellow in 1993. lessly fascinating little figures. Children are our barome- ters—our fragile extensions into the real world—and we never tire of looking at them and trying to stop time and cap- ture them with the camera. GEOFF WINNINGHAM, as a documentary photogra- 21,554 pher in the 70s, created stunningly insightful series of famil- is the number of iar Texas phenomena: high school football, Houston visitors the South- wrestling, and state fat stock shows. Kids abound—we see western Writers JOIN US IN EVERY CHILD who is born, no matter what circumstances, ourselves in Geoff’s photographs, and we also see small Collection and the SATURDAY and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human moments that reveal large truths about who we are as a Wittliff Gallery have APRIL 21, 7:00 PM LITTLEHEROES race is born again and in her, too, once more, and each of us, human community.