Texas Heritage Museum showcases “An Out of the Way Place” watercolors exhibit by Steven Barker Nov. 4-Jan. 24, Opening Reception Nov. 21

  Robin DeMott
  Monday, November 4, 2019 12:00 PM
  Texas Heritage Museum

Hillsboro, TX

The Texas Heritage Museum opened a new exhibit in the Art Gallery space titled, “An Out of the Way Place,” watercolors by Steven Barker. The exhibit will be up from Nov. 4, 2019 through Jan. 24, 2020. The opening reception and artist talk will be held Thursday, Nov. 21 from 2-3 p.m. 

Over the last five years, Barker has focused his time in studio on creating drawings, most recently using watercolor. “There’s something deeply satisfying about the rendered image. Subject-wise, I tend to pull imagery that is very regional. I’ve been making art that captures the accent of east Texas with the use of wasp nests, venomous snakes, cicadas, regional trees and flowers, sometimes chosen from my back yard,” said Barker. 

Isolating the image on the white of the paper removes location, time and context, allowing the viewer to bring their own field of reference when interacting with the image. Often there is a duality between the large size and the intimate detail in these pieces. 

“I create a tension between the delicate process and certain subjects that makes the skin crawl or carry a visceral or tactile realness. Basically through visual metaphor, I’m creating a similar push/pull people have between what they see versus what they experience. The right metaphor tells its own story and the right imagery has its own language,” said Barker. 

Barker earned a bachelor's degree of fine arts from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a master’s degree of fine arts from Johnson State College in Vermont. After that, he lived in New York for ten years before moving back to Mount Pleasant, his hometown. 

The Texas Heritage Museum serves an active and successful role in the educational and service missions of Hill College; and brings increasing national and international prestige to Hill College. The Texas Heritage Museum is comprised of three divisions: Galleries & Collection, Historical Research Center, and the Hill College Press. Furthermore, on the front of the museum grounds is the Home of the Official Texas State Medal of Honor Memorial to Native-Born Texans. 

The Texas Heritage Museum's mission is "To explore Texas and Texans during wartime and how those experiences affect us today." This mission statement is divided into two parts. Part one of the mission states "To explore Texas and Texans during wartime…," and the Texas Heritage Museum showcases Texans in war. The second part of the mission states "…how those experiences affect us today," and the museum tries to concisely capture the visitors’ experiences with its exhibits and programs. 

The Museum’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m.-4 p.m.