Laredo and the borderlands are fertile ground for cultural expression and artistic growth. Among artists who have who have gone long and far in their practice are Amado Maurilio Peña Jr., César Martinez, Armando Hinojosa, Janet Krueger, Ethel Shipton, Christina Zorilla Speer, Mary Quiros, Miki Rodriguez, Eric Avery of San Ygnacio, and the late Michael Tracy who lived and worked in San Ygnacio for 46 years.
Other prominent contemporary visual artists from Laredo include Gil Rocha, Mauro C. Martinez, Juan de Dios Mora, Peter and Tommy Glassford, Hector Hernández, Jerry Cabrera, Ana Hernandez, and Angelica Raquel, to name a few.
Laredo College (LC) and Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) are major supporters of the visual arts. Both have fueled increases in art-based professions through comprehensive arts programing that has made higher education in art accessible.
LC and TAMIU alumni contribute to and benefit from the growing arts community as artists, middle and high school art educators, university professors, illustrators, and arts administrators.
LAREDO COLLEGE
LC offers an Associate of Arts Degree that allows transferable arts foundation courses.
According to LC visual arts faculty member Mary Provence, “The art program offers drawing, painting, ceramics, mixed media, 2D, and 3D design classes.” Lecture-based courses in art history and art appreciation are available to all students requiring Creative Arts CORE credit.
LC art students experience professional practice in exhibits of their work at the Martha Fenstermaker Memorial Visual Arts Gallery, which also sponsors professional art exhibits. The Fenstermaker gallery recently launched The Giving Gallery, which featured 75 student artworks for sale. From proceeds, each student was awarded $500 in art supplies.
In 2014, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) excluded studio courses from the Creative Arts CORE curriculum for all state higher education institutions, allowing only lecture-based art classes like art appreciation and art history. This resulted in a decline over the last decade in the number of LC studio art courses and the number of full-time arts faculty.
Before 2014, LC offered 25 studio art sections per semester, supported by seven to eight full-time visual arts faculty. Two full-time visual arts faculty remain to instruct in about six to eight studio sections and several lecture-based art courses.
TAMIU
TAMIU offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art, a BA in Art with All-Level Certification (for teaching), and minors in Studio Art and Art History.
The curriculum offers degrees for professional artists, art educators, and art administrators. Associate professor and printmaker Jesse Shaw credits TAMIU art faculty as “our greatest strength.” He said, “We work hard to bring meaningful opportunities to our students by facilitating visiting artists, organizing workshops, and giving students chances to learn directly from working artists.”
Among those workshops have been those organized by Professor Emily Bayless, a ceramicist who has hosted visiting artists like Adeline Rosales and Gabo Martinez to offer students exposure to professional ceramic practices.
According to Shaw, “TAMIU visual arts students gain skills and experiences that lead directly to meaningful contributions to Laredo’s growing creative community. These benefits are visible every day across the city.”
Juan de Dios Mora completed an Associate of Art degree at LC and continued at UTSA to earn a BFA, BA and an MFA. A full-time Printmaking Lecturer at UTSA, he has exhibited internationally and has several works housed in the Smithsonian collection.
Artist, arts administrator, curator and TAMIU graduate, Maritza Bautista, now the Education Director of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, played a key role as executive director of Daphne Art Foundation and was instrumental in the launch of Tragaluz.
Vanessa Filazzola, who completed post-secondary education in Laredo, serves as the Public Art Program Manager for the City of Laredo.
Noteworthy, too, are instructors of the arts at LISD’s Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications & Fine Arts, who provide a strong foundation in visual arts, music, dance, and theater for college-level art studies.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The City’s Public Art Program and the initiatives of the Laredo Arts Master Plan (LAMP) bear the potential to revitalize neighborhoods, enhance civic pride and quality of life, and support the local economy.
An estimated completion date of August 2026 for the reconfiguration of an old downtown bus station will become the new home of Daphne Art Foundation’s Cultivarte program.
LC faculty and supporters continue advocacy for art program expansion and faculty increases. According to art instructor Provence, “Long-term strategies for sustainability include developing a publicly articulated growth plan, increasing course offerings, expanding gallery space, and potentially creating artist-in-residence programs in partnership with local organizations.”
TAMIU’s Shaw cited the challenges ahead in art education. “Our biggest challenge is that we are growing fast. We have more students, more courses, and more faculty than ever before. Student interest has increased in digital art fields such as animation and 3D modeling — courses TAMIU doesn’t offer. This underscores the need to expand course offerings, degree pathways, additional classrooms, digital labs, and equipment to ensure students remain competitive in the fields they aspire to enter. Increased visibility and activity of the arts suggest that program expansion is not only likely, but necessary. Strengthening facilities and resources will help graduates continue as active contributors and leaders in the City’s creative landscape.”
The growth of the arts depends on strengthening funding to expand facilities and programs. Art nonprofits rely on private donations, fundraisers, and grants to maintain operational, staff, and programming expenses, as do higher education programs.
Continued collaboration between educational institutions, community organizations, and municipal leadership can develop an enduring creative economy that benefits current and future generations.
