Alkek
Library 7th Floor | Texas State University-San
Marcos | (512) 245-2313 | www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 9,
2008
Treasures from The Wittliff Collections
Evoke the ÒSpirit of PlaceÓ at the Austin Airport
Exhibit on view AT ABIA through October 1, 2008
Travelers passing through the
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) now have another chance to view
the cultural treasures housed at The Wittliff Collections, the distinguished
literary and photographic archives founded by Austin screenwriter and
photographer Bill Wittliff and his wife Sally at Texas State University-San
Marcos.
Newly
installed, Treasures from The Wittliff
Collections is the fourth Texas State exhibit featured at the ABIA,
offering airline customers an interesting way to fill their time before or
between flights. The pylon
display cases are located on the concourse between gates 7 and 12, an area past
security checkpoints only accessible to ticketed passengers, an audience of thousands
per day. Treasures
from The Wittliff Collections will be on
display through October 1, 2008.
Nine of the ten cases focus
on a writer or major archive from The WittliffÕs holdings, which speak to the
Òspirit of placeÓ evoked by the Southwest and Mexico: çlvar Nœ–ez Cabeza de Vaca, Austin City Limits, the Molly Ivins Library, King of the Hill, Russell Lee, Cormac McCarthy, Willie Nelson, Texas Monthly, and the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove. The tenth case highlights
The WittliffÕs two award-winning book series—from the Southwestern
Writers Collection and the Southwestern & Mexican Photography
Collection—published primarily by AustinÕs University of Texas Press.
TREASURES ON DISPLAY INCLUDE McCARTHYÕS
MANUSCRIPT PAGES
The WittliffÕs Southwestern
Writers Collection recently acquired the major literary papers of author Cormac
McCarthy, and this ABIA exhibit features never-before-seen manuscript pages
from McCarthyÕs 2005 novel, No Country
for Old Men, which was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie by Joel and
Ethan Coen, and from his 2006 novel, The
Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize and is now being filmed with Viggo Mortensen
in the lead role.
Among the other exhibit
highlights is a look inside The Wittliff CollectionsÕ rare 1555 edition of
Cabeza de VacaÕs La relaci—n y
comentarios, the first written account of travels in the region that is now
Texas and northern Mexico. Behind-the-scenes photos at Austin City Limits and other materials from creator Bill ArhosÕs
archives offer an inside look at the ground-breaking PBS concert program. Books
with inscriptions from Molly IvinsÕs personal library show the mark the Austin
columnist made in culture and politics. Drawings and script pages from Fox
TelevisionÕs King of the Hill
archives illuminate the making of this animated series with Texas roots.
Also on view: a vintage
camera used by Great Depression documentarian Russell Lee; pages from a
songbook made by Willie Nelson when he was eleven years old; special-edition
materials from Texas MonthlyÕs major
production archives; and Lonesome Dove
set designs, memorabilia, and the shooting script signed by all principal cast
and crew from the Emmy Award-winning miniseries based on the novel by Larry
McMurtry.
Accompanying the exhibit
displays are posters of images by some of The WittliffÕs most accomplished
photographers: Willie Nelson by Annie
Leibovitz; Coal MinerÕs Child by
Russell Lee; Deets (played by Danny
Glover) taken on the set of Lonesome Dove
by Bill Wittliff; and Levitation by
Keith Carter, from the cover of CarterÕs upcoming book, A Certain Alchemy, due out this October in the Southwestern &
Mexican Photography Collection series. Graciela Iturbide and Mariana Yampolsky
are also represented, from The WittliffÕs world-class holdings of modern and
contemporary Mexican photography, the largest such collection in the United
States.
PAST ABIA EXHIBITS FROM THE COLLECTIONS
In the summer of 2005, Gringos in Mexico focused on ten American authors and
photographers from The Wittliff Collections who journeyed
south of the border in search of insight and inspiration. The line-up of
Pulitzer Prize winners and stellar notables emphasized
Texans, who share a common history and border with Mexico: Keith Carter,
J. Frank Dobie, John Graves, Elithe Hamilton Kirkland, Cormac McCarthy, Katherine
Anne Porter, Dick J. Reavis, Sam Shepard, Bud Shrake, and Bill Wittliff.
In the spring of 2004, The WittliffÕs
Southwestern Writers Collection presented Texas
Music Archives, a variety of displays that included Jerry Jeff WalkerÕs
cowboy boots, a fiddle played by Bob Wills, a Light Crust Doughboys performance
shirt, materials from the archives of Rolling
Stone music critic Grover Lewis, and items related to Stevie Ray Vaughan
and Selena.
In the fall of 2001,
travelers enjoyed a special show of costumes, props, set designs, and
photographs from the making of Lonesome
Dove, courtesy of The Wittliff CollectionsÕ major production archives of
the CBS miniseries. Most of these materials are now on permanent display at The
Wittliff, on the seventh floor of Texas StateÕs Alkek Library.
LITTLE
HEROES: PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN ALSO ON
VIEW
An
exhibition of photographs drawn from last yearÕs popular Southwestern & Mexican
Photography Collection exhibit, Little
Heroes: Photographs of Children, will be on view in the ABIAÕs 40-foot
window gallery July 30 through October 20, 2008. This show features
work from The WittliffÕs permanent collection by such world-renowned
photographers as L‡zaro Blanco, Keith Carter, James Evans, HŽctor Garc’a,
Graciela Iturbide, Robb Kendrick, Russell Lee, and Mariana Yampolsky. The original
exhibition is online: http://alkek.library.txstate.edu/swwc/wg/heroes/index.html.
The Treasures from The Wittliff Collections
exhibit was created by Wittliff staff members Steve Davis, Carla Ellard, Mary
Garc’a, Michele Miller, Joel Minor, Connie Todd, and Katie Salzmann, with the
support of Matt
Coldwell, City of Austin Arts Coordinator for the Aviation Department.
The Wittliff
Collections are undergoing construction to expand their public spaces this July
through October. For updates,
and more about the archives, photographs, exhibits, and events at The Wittliff
Collections, call 512-245-2313, or visit www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu.
INSTRUCTING | ILLUMINATING | INSPIRING
THE
WITTLIFF COLLECTIONS offer a dynamic archival, exhibition, programming, and
research environment designed to further the cultural legacy of the regionÕs
literary and photographic arts, and foster Òthe spirit of placeÓ in the wider
world. The Southwestern Writers
Collection preserves and exhibits the literary papers and artifacts of
principal writers, filmmakers, and musicians, including the major archives of
Cormac McCarthy, Sam Shepard, and John Graves, as well as the production
archives of Texas Monthly magazine,
FoxÕs animated series King of the Hill,
and the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove.
The Southwestern & Mexican
Photography Collection includes the major holdings of work by such
renowned artists as Kate Breakey, Keith Carter, and Graciela Iturbide, and
houses the largest archive of modern and contemporary Mexican photography in
the United States. Connie Todd, Curator.
Texas State University-San Marcos, founded 1899,
is a member of The Texas State University System
[ÒTexas StateÓ is the preferred second
reference for Texas State University-San Marcos (not ÒTSU,Ó which begs
confusion with
Texas Southern University and Tarleton State University), or, if an abbreviation
is absolutely necessary, ÒTxStÓ is acceptable.]
Contact:
MICHELE M. MILLER
Medial Relations & Publications
THE WITTLIFF COLLECTIONS at the Alkek
Library
Texas State University-San Marcos
(512) 245-2313 | m.miller@txstate.edu
DIGITAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST