Event and Exhibit Calendar
Texas Trails and Tales
Through Aug. 1; Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Texas Contemporary Artists Series: Leigh Anne Lester
July 18 - Oct. 25

Museum News 
The 2009 Texas Folklife Festival Celebrated Everything Texas!
This year's Texas Folklife Festival showcased more than 40 cultural groups that make Texas great. Tens of thousands of visitors descended on the UTSA HemisFair Park Campus June 12-14 to taste the unique foods, listen to the out-of-this-world entertainment, and check out the new trends in Texas crafts. Official photos are available on the museum's Facebook page and fan photos of the event can be viewed on Flickr so you can relive the fun! Next year's Texas Folklife Festival is June 11-13, 2010. 

 

Texas Trails and Tales - Do You Have What it Takes to be a Texas Pioneer?
The Institute of Texan Cultures is hosting Texas Trails and Tales this summer through Aug. 1. Texas Trails and Tales is a hands-on learning experience in a historical Texas setting. Activities include using homemade soap to wash clothes on an old-fashioned washboard and making rag dolls from scratch. Guests can attend class in the one-room schoolhouse, try their hand at roping, and enlist in the Cavalry! Texas Trails and Tales is featured on the Back 40 Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and is included in the cost of museum admission.


Texas Contemporary Artists Series: Leigh Anne Lester
The second installment of the Texas Contemporary Artists Series at the Institute of Texan Cultures features the work of Leigh Anne Lester. Lester's drawings are composed of multiple layers of semi-transparent Mylar with a historical botanical drawn or cut on each layer. Sculpturally, Lester presents Johnson Grass created from hand-sewn clear plastic vinyl. Displayed in three islands, the arrangement implies the propagation of an invasive species.

Originally from Shreveport, La., Lester moved to San Antonio in 1989 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from University of Texas at San Antonio in 1993. The Texas Contemporary Artists Series is curated by Arturo Almeida.


ITC Welcomes New Director of Advancement
The Institute of Texan Cultures welcomes Craig Stinson as the museum's director of advancement. He assumed his new responsibilities June 22 and oversees the museum's fundraising efforts and membership services.

Stinson comes to the Institute of Texan Cultures after two years at the Alamo, where he was the marketing and development manager. He also has ties to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, on which the Texas Folklife Festival was modeled. He served in various capacities with the festival between 1990 and 1996. From 1999 to 2006, he was the director of folklife, traditional arts, and diversity issues at the South Carolina Arts Commission. 

Stinson's work with various museums and cultural entities made him a strong candidate for this position. His background includes grant writing, fundraising, marketing, volunteer management and museum membership services. In his civic involvements, Stinson currently sits on the Board of Directors for the San Antonio Public Library Foundation.

"Texas has great pride in its cultural identity," said Stinson. "It's an honor to be affiliated with an institution that tells the story of who we are and where we came from. I'm thrilled to continue this mission. The institute has a distinguished history and a great potential for growth."

Did You Know?
Internship Program at ITC
The Institute of Texas Cultures invites university students to inquire about internships at the museum. The museum is seeking interns in the areas of marketing, outreach, research, curatorial services, event management, library services, oral histories, artifact collections and exhibit planning. The internship program provides work experience that will prepare students for professional positions after graduation. 

For more information on the ITC Intern Program, contact Shirley Mock at (210) 458-2361, or Shirley.Mock@utsa.edu.

Expanding Web Presence
The Institute of Texan Cultures is expanding its social network with Facebook and Twitter. Next month, content will be established on YouTube and Flickr. The museum has also updated its online press room with current press releases.

Texas History Moment
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Born blind in the 1890s to sharecroppers on a farm in Couchman, Texas, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson began playing blues guitar at an early age. As a young teen he was playing street corners and small juke joints in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas where he often partnered with Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter.

Jefferson was discovered by a scout for Paramount Records in 1925 and soon began making records in Chicago. From 1926-1929 Jefferson recorded over 100 sides and became the first country blues singer to gain a national audience. He even recorded a few spiritual songs under the pseudonym "Deacon L. J. Bates." Among his biggest hits were "That Black Snake Moan," "See That my Grave is Kept Clean," "Matchbox Blues," and "'Lectric Chair Blues."

Sadly, Jefferson's young career ended when he was found frozen to death in a Chicago snow bank in December 1929. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Wortham Negro Cemetery (now renamed the Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery), in Wortham, Texas. In 1967 the state of Texas erected an historical marker at his gravesite along with a granite headstone.

Blind Lemon Jefferson is credited with influencing blues, jazz, and rock musicians for generations. Such greats as Sam "Lightning" Hopkins, Louis Armstrong, Jefferson Airplane, and the Beatles all acknowledge Jefferson's genius in their music. Listen to Jefferson's famous Matchbox Blues on YouTube.

Sources: Uzzel, Robert L. Blind Lemon Jefferson: His Life, His Death, and His Legacy, Texas State Handbook, Rolling Stone