Art Museum and Fort Concho to Hold Lecture on Genre Paintings

The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and Fort Concho are pleased to welcome Henry B. Crawford, Curator of History at the Museum of Texas Tech University. Mr. Crawford will present a lecture entitled: Documentation and Inspiration: Using Genre Paintings as Living History Resources through Texas, American and World Perspectives on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort Concho Commissary (at the intersection of Burgess Street and East Avenue C). There is no charge and the public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served. 

Mr. Crawford’s talk will be somewhat out of the usual strain, as he will discuss Texas history and culture as it is discovered in genre paintings (depictions of everyday life) created over the years by various artists. Genre paintings tell stories of ordinary people doing everyday things. They also serve to document the existence of certain goods and pinpoint the usage of technology or materials at a finite time in history. They show the relationships of objects to each other and to the people who owned and used them. Such paintings may also demonstrate social customs, show tradesmen busily at work, or commemorate events that were important on a national or local scale. Those produced in Texas are no exception. They are important records of daily life in Texas and are part of the documentary fabric of our state and national history. 

As a Living History professional, Henry Crawford uses genre paintings to augment his material culture research. They also provide inspiration for his living history impressions and scenarios. In his Living History presentations, Mr. Crawford enhances stories of the past by taking cues from the original event, the place, or the people seen in such artwork. In this illustrated lecture, he will explore how Texas and American genre paintings and drawings document and inform us of our collective past, its objects, and its ways of life. 

Mr. Crawford holds an M.A. in American History/Museum Studies from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and also holds museum training certificates from the Smithsonian Institution and the Texas Historical Commission Winedale program. A museum professional for over three decades, he currently serves on the councils of the Texas Association of Museums and 

the Mountain-Plains Museums Association, and has also served on several national and international museum committees and boards. 

His research fields include American military history, western frontier transportation, frontier trade and American material culture. As a scholar of western history he has published many articles and book reviews, and has given numerous lectures on a variety of frontier topics for museums and historic sites. 

Mr. Crawford has been a consultant for several museums and agencies and has also consulted on and appeared in various television and video productions for the History Channel, Discovery Channel, McGraw-Hill, Montana Public Television, the National Park Service, Rusty Spur Productions, the PBS reality series "Texas Ranch House," and "Latino Americans" on which he served as the Texas Living History Coordinator. His most recent appearance is in “Protecting the Plains: The Story of Fort Griffin” being shown at the Fort Griffin State Historic Site visitor center. 

Mr. Crawford has been active in living history for over 30 years, and shares his expertise through lectures on living history philosophy, techniques, practices and research at museums, schools and historic sites nationwide. He has coordinated several living history events. His favorite reenacting topics are the American Revolution, American Fur Trade, Texas Revolution and Republic (1836-45), Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers and the post-Civil War frontier military, buffalo hunting, frontier civilian life, and the European Theater of WWII, among others. He is also proficient in historic firearms and horsemanship. 

Mr. Crawford’s lecture is hosted by the SAMFA Collector’s Society, a group within the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts’ membership, that each year presents a series of discussions and talks on a broad range of issues. This year’s lecture series is sponsored by a grant from the FMH Foundation in Midland, which has allowed SAMFA to bring important speakers such as Mr. Crawford to our community. All are encouraged to attend. For more information please call the museum at 653-3333 or Fort Concho at 481-2730.