Artist Paul Valadez will be featured for a lecture and workshop at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas August 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Valadez will begin by sharing stories about his creative career and the challenges he faced in the art world. Following a break, he will lead a workshop in the art of collage.  

Valadez, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, grew up in Stockton, California. He attended San Joaquin Delta College before moving on to the San Francisco Art Institute where he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in Interdisciplinary Art in 1997.

Valadez’s artwork is inspired by his childhood and language. “I grew up in a bicultural family; Anglo/white on my mother’s side, and Mexican on my father’s side. I felt that I never fit in.” 

Valadez has found his fit in the art world. Selections from the Great Mexican-American Songbook is an artwork that has “little to do with music but it does have to do with images and language. I chose to do the work with/on sheet music and figured eventually I could do something with it.”

He presents workshops hoping to inspire others to do something with their gifts. In a 2017 interview with Whitmanwire.com, Valadez explained art’s ability to connect is something different than other forms of communication. “If I wanted to tell a story, I would write it down so there would be no mistaking,” Valadez said. “But instead, I don’t write it down. I want the mistakes. I want you to see it, think it, (and) respond to something.”

Recently Valadez donated 200 collage works on paper to the Wichita Falls Museum of Art. These pieces, along with art works created by participants in the August 17 workshop, will be presented at the WFMA in an exhibition titled Paul Valadez: Collage and Community, September 13 – November 2.

About the Museum

Founded in 1967, The Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas enriches life in the community and the university through new experiences in visual art for all ages. An extensive and growing permanent collection of American Art focused on works on paper, and a dynamic schedule of changing exhibitions and engagement programs, provide a first-class gallery experience. The WFMA supports the university’s liberal arts mission and is an educational resource offering varied programs and events for the North Texas region. The WFMA is located at 2 Eureka Circle and is open free of charge Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. Free parking is available.