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The Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University is the principal institution dedicated to collecting and exhibiting works of art in the North Texas and Southern Oklahoma region. Selections from the museum's permanent collection of American works of art on paper are regularly exhibited, along with temporary presentations of interdisciplinary and multi-cultural programs of international and national importance. Thanks to the generous support of the museum's members, there are no admission fees to visit the museum and enjoy the exhibitions. Situated next to Sikes Lake, the museum is a favorite destination for individual activities and community gatherings.

Exhibits

The Madonna as Muse:
The Paintings of René Alvarado
The Madonna as Muse features San Angelo artist René Alvarado with work spanning from 2003 to 2008. The exhibit was curated by Jim Edwards, one of the nation’s leading curators of contemporary art. Edwards chose 25 paintings, Alvarado’s most mature paintings to date, that use the mystical image of the Madonna to express the artist’s inner feelings as well as honor many of the influential women in the artist’s life --his mother, grandmothers, sisters, and Eva Tucker, his San Angelo patron.

Born in 1972 in the small village of El Manantial in northern Mexico, René came to San Angelo at the age of 10 with his parents, five sisters and two bothers. He had an early interest in art, which his family encouraged, and which enabled him to adapt to his new life in Texas without losing sight of his early upbringing in Mexico. “I have come to realize that my work is defined by my familial roots in northern Mexico and by the subtle, challenging, and mystical environment of my adopted home in West Texas. My creative process is immersed in this dual identity; I paint what I feel, that which is me, and my surroundings,” writes the artist.

René graduated from Central High School, went on to study art in San Antonio and returning to San Angelo, maintained a studio at the Old Chicken Farm Art Center for many years. Today he has a successful career as an artist with gallery representation and exhibits across the country. Several years ago he purchased a former neo-gothic Lutheran church in San Angelo which he transformed into a beautiful artist studio and residence. This white-washed sanctuary studio only heightens one’s sense that as an artist, René is in the throngs of a spiritual quest that he will pursue for many generations.

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