HISTORY EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW
America 250: Semiquincentennial
3rd floor History Galleries
January 17 – December 31, 2026
"The Pumphrey Brothers: Oh What a Time to Gather Together"
Opens February 7th and closes May 9th
Will Rothfuss’ Texas Church Project began in 2020 as an exhaustive survey of some 15,000 churches in Texas. At the heart of the project are the artist’s “photographs” that derive from screen saves of these structures from the Google Street View camera. Using the images as reference, Rothfuss creates large-scale paintings—making no attempts to hide the image menus, keys, maps, and watermarks captured during the original screen save.
Within the layers of his painted imagery, Rothfuss records a culture that is unique to the American experience. Rothfuss states, “Many of the buildings are dramatically altered or have disappeared altogether in the intervening years since the Google car last visited. But the images are more than the churches. They are often dominated by the landscape, and in particular, the skies, inviting the viewer to reflect on the relationship of nature to organized religion.”
In addition to the photographs and realistic paintings, the exhibition includes an installation of his scale models that derive from the same source material. These carefully crafted facsimiles project from the wall as sculptural reliefs. Yet, unlike the paintings, the surrounding landscapes and expansive skies are edited out, leaving intimate and concentrated “architectural” spaces to consider.
Originally trained as an actor and set designer, Rothfuss transitioned to fine art in his early 20s. From 1973-1974 he studied drawing and painting at the Art Students’ League in New York City where he was a Merit Scholar. Rothfuss received his BA from Cornell University in 1975. He currently makes art full time in his studio at his home near Delaware Water Gap, PA.
Dan Jian deftly employees painting, drawing, and animation in her work. In 2021, she moved away from figurative-abstract painting to focus exclusively on the medium of collage where every component of the image becomes part of a meditative, very detailed process. Inspired by the format of personal scroll paintings, where the movement of time is compressed without the feeling of an end, Jian’s works highlight ephemeralness.
Jian’s Cell Series installation includes elements of collage and various drawing techniques to depict seemingly unrelated images. At times the individual images engage with one another or float independently in a sea of translucence. Shunning the conventional means of presenting works on paper, the artist constructs presentation devices that engage the unique spaces and constantly transform the works as the light of the day shifts with time.
Originally from the mountain region of Hubei, China, Dan Jian came to the United States at the age of nineteen. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University and an MFA from The Ohio State University in 2016. Dan is an assistant professor of art at Texas Christian University while maintaining an ongoing studio practice in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Defining Texas: The Maps and Deeds that Shaped a Culture”
March 2 – August 9
Description: “This exhibit showcases the role that maps, surveys, land grants, deeds and titles have played in defining Texas both geographically and culturally. Visitors to the exhibit will also learn about the important role of the Texas General Land Office through a short documentary film.”
March 2, 2026, 6:00 P.M.
To celebrate Texas Independence Day on March 2, 2026, Frontier Texas will host a spring fundraiser and new exhibit opening, for the new exhibit, “Defining Texas: The Maps and Deeds that Shaped a Culture”.
“I am honored to have my first museum exhibition at The Grace Museum and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the people of Abilene. The themes of this exhibition are reflection, transformation and illumination which mirror Abilene’s own evolution and the collective energy that makes this West Texas community shine. Through these works, I hope to honor not only the spirit of Abilene, but also the creativity and compassion that connect us all.”
Artist reception July 31 at 6 p.m.
Opening Reception: April 17, 5-7pm
Summit of Us: The Caffey Lens
Evynne Caffey and Joshua Caffey
April 3 - June 6
Alice and Bill Wright Photography Gallery
“The Last sermon” by Evynne caffey
“Nature’s Mirror” by Joshua Caffey
Third Floor History Platform
Third Floor History Galleries
Opening Reception: April 24, 6-8pm
Kari Perkins
April 23 - June 13
Jane Adams Breed Gallery
Opening Reception: April 24, 6-8pm
Dead Letter Office
Chris Ireland
April 23 - May 30
Gallery 4
Seen/Unseen: A Visual Journey of Motherhood, Loss, and Healing
Select CCA Artist Members + Perinatal CARE Foundation
April 23 - June 13
Gallery 3
Opening Reception: April 24, 6-8pm
Reception: June 5, 5-7pm
MOTHERBOARDs
Jonah Eli Garcia
June 5 - July 18
Gallery 4
JOnah eli garcia
2026 WTPS Annual Exhibit
June 12 - July 18
Alice and Bill Wright Photography Gallery
Birds Through the Glass
Sheri Zoch
June 19 - July 31
Gallery 3
Year of the Fire Horse
CCA Artist Member Group Exhibition
June 19 - July 31
Jane Adams Breed Gallery
Abilene Creative Arts Club annual membership show
Reception: Friday, March 6, 5-7pm
The Journey
Anthony Brown
March 6 - April 18
Jane Adams Breed Gallery
Amaryllis in Bloom, Mixed Media,, Anthony Brown (The Journey)
Papered
Peggy Shepherd and Elizabeth Bogard
March 6 - April 18
Gallery 3
Reception: Friday, March 6, 5-7pm
Refreshments will be catered by Food Theorie and all of our 2026 exhibitions are presented by 3rd Street Printing & Sign Co.!
2nd floor Galleries A, B, C
February 19 – March 21, 2026
Backyard
Juried by Judy Deaton
February 13 - March 28
Alice and Bill Wright Photography Gallery
Greenbelt after Snow, Photograph, Ashton Thornhill (Backyard exhibition)
The Department of Art at Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) is proud to announce the first exhibition of the Spring 2026 semester, a special group show titled "Adjunct Faculty Show."
Presented in the Ira M. Taylor Gallery inside the Frost Center for the Visual Arts, this exhibition is dedicated to showcasing the professional work of the Art Department’s dedicated adjunct faculty members. The exhibition serves as a vital celebration of the educators who bring diverse perspectives and contemporary professional experience into the classroom at HSU.
The exhibition will feature a compelling range of media and artistic approaches, reflecting the breadth of expertise found within the department. All are invited to attend the opening reception and artist talks.
Exhibition Title: Adjunct Faculty Show
Featured Artists: A select group of HSU Art Department Adjunct Faculty
Venue: Ira M. Taylor Gallery, Frost Center for the Visual Arts, Hardin-Simmons University
On View: Thursday, February 12, 2026 – Friday, March 6, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 12, 2026, from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00am – 4:00 PM
ISAC (Gallery 3 - Upstairs)
Casey La Rue Chavez (Gallery 4 - Small)
Artist Member Group Show (Breed Gallery - Main)
TPS International Show
Wright Photo Gallery
Denver Gravitt (Gallery 3 - Upstairs)
December 2-27, 2025
Third Floor History Galleries
WINGS, WATER, AND WONDER
Sarabeth Clevenger
November 20 through January 17
Breed Gallery
Opening Reception: November 21, 5-7PM
by Sarabeth Clevenger
“At this point in my life, I am continuing to explore my spiritual connections, by closely observing my environment, and combining images that move me: mountains, water, rocks and light, with images suggesting mystery and wonder: Angels and Cherubim, wings and bones, death and life, and the spaces between them. Many pieces in this show are retrospective, but they fit with newer pieces on the same themes.”
November 21 through January 17
Gallery 4
Opening Reception: November 21, 5-7PM
Artists Kathie Walker-Millar, Larry Millar, and Rebecca Boatman
We are thrilled to invite you to the Spring Senior Art Exhibition presented by the Hardin-Simmons University Art Department. This exhibition showcases the exceptional work of our graduating art major Deonna Reese and will be held at the Ira M. Taylor Gallery from November 20th to December 5th.
Exhibition Overview: The Senior Art Exhibition is the culmination of our students’ academic journey, featuring a diverse range of artworks that reflect her creativity, technical skills, and conceptual development. This year’s theme, “Ashes to Ascend,” explores inner growth and pathways. Visitors will experience an immersive variety of mediums, including paintings, sculpture, digital art, and mixed media.
Featured Artist: The exhibition will feature the works of our graduating senior:
· Deonna Reese: A mixed media artist who uses textures within her work. She enjoys storytelling, while having Biblical connections in her pieces.
Opening Reception: Join us for the opening reception on November 20th from 5-7pm at the Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery located in the Frost Center for Visual Arts. This event is free and open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the artist, here about their work, enjoy refreshments, and celebrate achievements.
Social: Visit the HSUTX.ART to learn more about the artist and her work, and posts leading up to the show.
Additional Information: The exhibition will be open to the public from November 20th to December 5th, with regular gallery hours from 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. Admission is free. For more information, please contact the Gallery Director, Caleb Dulock, at caleb.dulock@hsutx.edu or 325-670-1941.
November 1-29, 2025
Third Floor History Galleries
This exhibition features a diverse collection of work from talented HSU graduates, celebrating their achievements and the lasting impact of their artistic education. It’s a wonderful opportunity for everyone—from students seeking inspiration to art lovers in Abilene—to see the breadth of creativity within our alumni community.
Exhibition Details
Dates: October 23 – November 4
Location: The Ira M. Taylor Gallery in the Frost Center for Visual Arts (Hardin-Simmons University campus)
Opening Reception & Artist Panel
Join us for the official opening night to meet the artists, enjoy refreshments, and hear directly from our alumni about their current work, creative process, and career paths.
Date: Monday, October 23
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Event: Opening Reception and Artist Panel
All events are free and open to the public. We specifically invite our HSU family, local high school art students, and all Abilene residents to join us for this special celebration of the arts.
The Grace Museum’s photography collection has grown exponentially since it began in 2008 with a major gift from Alice and Bill Wright of over 400 photographs from their personal collection of works by important photographers and associates throughout Bill’s fifty-year career as a documentary and fine art photographer and author. Due to the Wright’s stewardship, the collection continues to grow through gifts and a grant from the David H. Gibson Foundation supporting new acquisitions and an upcoming publication on Texas Photographers in The Grace Museum Photography Collection. Major gifts have come from photographers who wish to honor their relationship with the Wrights. The focus of this exhibition features new acquisitions as well as selections from the existing collection.
The Grace Museum is committed to the exhibition, documentation, preservation, research, and interpretation of photography. The Grace curates and exhibits three photography exhibitions annually from the Wright Collection and loans from other artists, museums and galleries.
Second Floor Galleries A & B
First Floor Atrium & Main Gallery
Artist Reception | Friday, November 14, 2025 | 6 pm
Gail Norfleet’s new work on layers of transparent Lucite can be viewed as a natural progression after years spent as a printmaker creating monoprints. When making her early monoprints, she would often use clear plastic plates through which she could see the images before transferring them onto paper with a printing press. The new works of art on view in this exhibition reveal how Norfleet has mastered the technique of painting on transparent surfaces. Now using multiple Lucite panels, she works on both sides to create up to four different surfaces on which she can layer paintings, drawings, cut paper collages, and photographs to create her signature style of multi-dimensional artwork.
Norfleet explains that her surroundings have always inspired her subject matter. Even today, she continues to share her unique, dream-like personal dialogue by creating nuanced memories through multi-dimensional paintings of her recent travels to Morocco and New Mexico.
Second Floor Galleries B & C
The magical moment when Cindi Holt became an artist is not what you might expect. Self-taught and inspired by the colorful world of her imagination, memories, and her immediate environment, interiors and landscapes are presented as a rich colorful visual experience that is captivating and enchanting. Holt’s intuitive approach to painting creates carefully delineated and curiously compressed scenes into a rhythmic and idealized painting. Her recent landscapes celebrate a place without shadows, reminiscent of a “peaceable kingdom.” Included are Texas-inspired subjects, from wildlife and wildflowers to notable interiors like her “Texas Governor’s Mansion” series, which was exhibited at The Grace Museum in 2002.
Exhibit Title: Guardians of the Frontier, U.S. Army in Texas 1845 - 1895
Dates on Display: October 9, 2025 – February 8, 2026
The Jerri and Jim Alexander Exhibit Gallery
Description: “Guardians of the Frontier, tells the powerful story of how soldiers protected the Texas frontier and forged a path westward from 1845 to 1895.”
Robbie Barber - CCAN Juror
October 2 through November 15
Gallery 4
October 3: VIP Reception from 5-7pm
October 4: Public Reception from 2pm - 4pm
Hammers, Robbie Barber
Don’t miss the 9th annual CCAN exhibit!
October 2-November 15
CCAN is an annual national juried art competition hosted by the Center for Contemporary Arts in Downtown Abilene. We are thrilled to share that this year we received over 325 entries for this exhibit. 145 works have been selected for exhibition in the Center’s Jane Adams Breed Gallery and Gallery 3 by juror, Robbie Barber.
We hope you will join us for the public CCAN reception taking place from 2PM-4PM on Saturday, October 4th, during ARToberfest!
Refreshments by Food Theorie. Awards will be announced at 3PM.
September 27, 2025 – January 10, 2026
Texas-based artist Timothy Harding makes sculptural paintings and installations that meld traditional painting and drawing practices with technology. Harding’s artistic practice begins on the computer creating individual lines, squiggles, and shapes. Using these digitally created forms, he creates vinyl stencils that are strategically transferred onto a canvas and utilized to create layers and layers of paint until a fully realized pattern emerges.
Harding’s works merge the gestural nature of Abstract Expressionism with the flatness of Minimalist painting to explore how a traditionally two-dimensional object can visually and physically occupy a three-dimensional space. He purposefully stretches his finished paintings across ill-fitting supports or builds a substructure under the canvas to make the surface fold, buckle, or protrude, “sculpting” the painting into a unique shape. Harding disrupts our understanding of painting—as he makes the once two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional object. In this way, Harding creates a new type of medium, as he combines sculpture with painting.
The Cell Series is generously supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, McGinnis Family Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, Kathy Webster in memory of Charles H. Webster, with additional support from Jay & Barbra Clack, Joe & Susie Clack, Jenny & Rob Dupree, and Dr. Larry Wolz.
On loan from the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, the OJAC presents a series of short films by multi-media artists Lenka Clayton and Liliana Porter. Though their approaches to making films are far from similar, both utilize what’s at hand to make truly curious works that incite a gamut of emotions for viewers—ranging from angst to joy.
Argentinian artist Liliana Porter creates simple short films using live and stop action images along with a cast of characters comprised of inanimate objects accompanied by curious soundtracks. The simple approach of using figurines, knick-knacks, and vintage toys as characters results in humorous, absurd, and sometimes poignant narratives.
British-American artist Lenka Clayton attempts to objectively measure the furthest distance she could be from her toddler son in three environments: a city park, the alley behind their Pittsburgh home, and the aisles of a local supermarket. The trio of videos underlines the challenging judgment calls that parents make about how much autonomy to give their children. Each scenario shifts one’s emotions from curious cheerfulness to sudden anxiety in just a few frames.
Curious is supported by OJAC Members.
September 27, 2025 - January 10, 2026
The Old Jail Art Center resumes its Texas Moderns series, highlighting creative mid-twentieth-century visual artists whose works were often inventive or experimental, yet not fully accepted by the general population in Texas more accustomed to traditional forms or styles of art. For this iteration, the OJAC presents over 75 works by Fort Worth Circle artist Dickson Reeder (1912-1970). The exhibition provides an extensive overview of Reeder’s versatility, demonstrating his artistic skill and passion for creating emotive portraits, dynamic abstractions, and experimental prints.
Co-curated by Shannon Steel
Generously supported by The Charles E. Jacobs Foundation, Doris Miller & Don Fitzgibbons, Scott Chase & Debra Witter, John & Ginger Dudley, and Margaret & Jim Dudley.
Address:
T&P Depot, 1101 North 1st Street
Abilene, Texas 79601
Our office is located on the corner of North 1st and Cypress Street, south of The Grace Museum.
Phone: (325) 677 – 1161
Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. weekdays
The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council is an affiliate of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce. Our mission is to promote, encourage and support the arts for Abilene; to marshal and adapt the community's resources to the needs of artists of the community; to work and advise with officials, organizations, schools, and committees in supporting activities; and it shall seek to encourage the establishment of new art forms, develop publicity and educational programs to encourage existing programs and organizations and promote tourism, and will carry out those other functions necessary to enhance the image of Abilene as a center for the arts.
