Alkek Library 7th Floor | Texas State
University-San Marcos | 512.245.2313 |
www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu
February 4, 2008
Rivers of Texas
A Texas State Common
Experience Exhibition
at the Southwestern Writers Collection
On view February 1 –
July 21, 2008
(Pictured: John Graves
setting off down the Brazos, photographed by his wife, Jane Graves, November
1957. From the John Graves Papers, gift of Bill and Sally Wittliff to the
Southwestern Writers Collection.)
SAN MARCOS, Texas
— Texas Rivers are environmental wonderlands, sustaining life and
nourishing the human spirit on their journeys to the Gulf of Mexico. From the
sheer canyons of the Big Bend to the fecund swamplands of the Big Thicket,
Texas rivers are as diverse as the state itself. Generations of writers and
photographers have chronicled the stateÕs waterways, most notably John Graves
in his Goodbye to a River, perhaps the most beloved book ever published
on Texas. Goodbye to a River is the text for this yearÕs Common Experience
at Texas State University-San Marcos, and GravesÕs work is central to the
newest display at The Wittliff Collections: the Southwestern Writers Collection
exhibition, Rivers of Texas.
The exhibit space on the
seventh floor of the Alkek Library has been transformed into Texas landscape.
Each case, filled with a full-color backdrop photograph, is a window onto a
specific river. Books, manuscripts, and artifacts highlight writersÕ varied
responses to the waterways and the lands they run through. Viewers will learn
which is considered Òthe meanest river,Ó and which is considered Òthe perfect
river.Ó Among the items on view is the canoe paddle Graves used on his 1957
trip down the Brazos River, GravesÕs original snapshots from his journey, and a
limited-edition broadside by Barbara Mathews Whitehead commemorating Goodbye
to a River.
Rivers of Texas also features Pulitzer
Prize-winning writer Cormac McCarthy, marking the first public viewing from his
archives, recently acquired by the Southwestern Writers Collection. McCarthyÕs
2005 novel, No Country for Old Men, is set in part along the Rio Grande, and a
page from one of McCarthyÕs original manuscripts is on display.
Additional archives
highlight Texas rivers through the eyes of writers Gary Cartwright, Elizabeth Crook, Robert
Flynn, Stephen Harrigan, Joe R. Lansdale, Beverly Lowry, Joe Nick Patoski, Jan
Reid, and Edwin ÒBudÓ Shrake. The rivers covered by the exhibit include the Rio
Grande, Pecos, Nueces, Devils, Guadalupe, San Marcos, Colorado, Brazos, Trinity,
Red, Neches, and Sabine. Playing continuously throughout the exhibit is the
public television documentary, ÒThe River of Innocence,Ó about the San Marcos
River.
Fine-art prints from the
Wittliff Collection of Southwestern & Mexican Photography complement the
author materials, with river shots by Keith Carter, James Evans, Dennis Fagan,
Rocky Schenck, and Will van Overbeek.
A Rivers of Texas reading guide accompanies the exhibit, listing over 60 books and articles for anyone
interested in continuing their explorations. Available as a take-away for
visitors, the reading guide is also online.
For more on the Texas
State Common Experience and the 2008 theme, ÒThe Water Planet: A River Runs Through
Us,Ó visit www.txstate.edu/commonexperience.
Rivers of Texas, which opened February
1, will be on view through July 21, 2008. The exhibit was curated by Assistant
Curator Steve Davis, with assistance from other staff at The Wittliff Collections.
For additional information, contact The Wittliff Collections at (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,
the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove. The
Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection includes the major
holdings of 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
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
HIGH-RES DIGITAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST