The Tyler Museum of Art will present a gallery talk by Michael Grauer on Thursday, November 13th at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Museum’s 2003 Fall Lecture Series. The gallery talk is in conjunction with the exhibition Neighbors: Texas Artists in New Mexico on display at TMA through January 18, 2004.

For over a century and a half, artists have captured the stunning beauty of New Mexico and its people. Artists accompanied United States military surveyors as they mapped the region in the mid-1800s and reproductions of their paintings were featured in the government’s published reports of these expeditions. In the late 1800s, artists from outside New Mexico began making pilgrimages all over the state, inspired by the splendor of the rugged landscapes. Artists from Texas, in particular, were drawn to their neighboring state because of similarities in terrain and cultures. Perhaps because Texans have always felt more of a Southwestern than Southern identity, Texas artists have had a long and rich history of association with our neighbor to the west. In all, some 58 works by 38 artists are on display in this exhibition.

Michael Grauer holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a double major in painting and art history from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts degree in art history from Southern Methodist University. He worked at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, the Meadows Museum at SMU, and the Dallas Museum of Art before becoming curator of art at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in 1987. He has curated numerous exhibitions on Southwestern art, including Neighbors: Texas Artists in New Mexico; a year-long series on the Taos Art Colony in 1998; Women Artists of Texas 1850-1950 in 1993, and the nationally-touring W. Herbert Dunton: A Retrospective. He has lectured and published nationally on historic Southwestern art with an emphasis on Texas and New Mexico.

The lecture and gallery talk is free and open to the public. There will be a reception following the presentation. Please call 903-595-1001 for reservations. Seating is limited.