Our Town: Celebrating American Art with a Texas Twist

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (FOX 44) – Tucked inside Texas A&M’s Memorial Student Center, the J. Wayne Stark Galleries celebrate American art with a proud Texas twist!

The galleries are named after J. Wayne Stark, who was A&M’s first Memorial Student Center director and also a passionate arts advocate. They opened in 1992 and were renovated in 2012.

The galleries showcase rotating exhibitions, educational programs, and a permanent collection focused on 19th and 20th century American art, with an emphasis on Texas artists.

When John Spriggins took over as director of the art galleries, he brought a strong interest in contemporary art and working closely with living artists.

“The idea there is that artists can come and engage with the community both on campus and off campus,” Spriggins explains. “So as far as the direction we’re going, [the] idea would be to build a collection that looks to the past, but also focuses on what’s happening now, currently.”

The galleries feature Texas art prominently in the collection thanks in part to the Texas Art Project – a gift from Bill and Linda Reaves which helped establish its foundation.