Art Thrives on the South Plains: A Survey of Lubbock’s Cultural Scene

Donna Tennant and Henry Hunt·
ArtMusicWest Texas
·

For years, Lubbock to us was Buddy Holly, Texas Tech, cotton fields, oil wells, and a handful of artists we knew from their visits to Houston. Our short time in Lubbock revealed a vital and varied cultural arts scene.

Lubbock is located in the Llano Estacado, just south of the Texas Panhandle, commonly known as the South Plains. Founded in 1876, it was in the heart of the Comanche Nation and has since been nourished by agriculture and energy into a thriving, regionally significant city.

It is eight hours by car from Houston, five hours from Dallas, or a short plane ride from the major cities in Texas. On our road trip to Santa Fe this summer, my partner, Henry Hunt, and I spent two days visiting artist studios, galleries, alternative spaces, and art centers.

Our first stop was the art-filled studio of longtime friend and painter James W. Johnson, who served as our tour guide. Johnson came to Texas Tech in 1978 for graduate school and never left. He has supported himself as a painter since then. His work blends technical mastery with arresting imagery. In June, Johnson received the Legacy Award at the 10th annual “Art on the Llano Estacado” from the Museum of Texas Tech University, which included an extensive exhibition of his work.

We drove to the nearby home and studio of Lahib Jaddo, an Iraqi-born artist who came to Lubbock to study architecture and fine art at Texas Tech. Her first reaction to Lubbock was that it reminded her of her childhood home of Baghdad because of the flat topography and arid climate. Her paintings are mythic narratives of Arab women, fauna, and flora that express a deep connection to nature and the spirit. Jaddo’s gardens are an oasis of bubbling fountains, flowering plants, and fig trees that inspire her work.

After an impromptu lunch at her home, we moved on to CO-OPt Research + Projects, an artist-run studio space and gallery founded in 2019. We met co-op member Cody Arnall and viewed the current exhibition. The storefront location includes a library and a workspace/theater where they host artist talks, performances, and experimental music. The co-op is a working studio for Arnall, J. Eric Simpson, and Aaron Hegert.

We drove north to the studio of Ericka Pochybova, better known as EBOVA. Born in Slovakia, she came to Lubbock to visit her sister and decided to stay. Her large, colorful, minutely detailed canvases range from portraits to mandalas to swirling abstractions.

At this point, James took us to two of the established galleries in town that show his work and many other artists—Broadway Contemporary Fine Art and Charles Adams Gallery. Broadway Contemporary is a sizeable multi-level gallery owned by Janelle Barrington Spivey, also an artist. Longtime gallerist and art pioneer Charles Adams retired in 2022, and Zach Morriss now runs Charles Adams Gallery, which represents more than 30 artists, including Jaddo, Shannon and Will Cannings, James Watkins, Sophia Villalobos, and the late Sara Waters.

Across the street from Charles Adams Gallery is the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, known as LHUCA. The nonprofit was founded in 1997 and moved into a vacant fire department administration building in 2000. With four galleries, a theater, a clay studio, a rehearsal hall, and event and classroom spaces, the campus serves some 75,000 people annually. LHUCA has been a driving force in making downtown Lubbock a hub for the arts.

LHUCA sponsors the First Friday Art Trail, which draws thousands of people to the Lubbock Cultural District. According to Glasstire, in July, the Lubbock City Council voted to cut the proposed $25,600 funding of the Friday Art Trail due to several programs that “promote[ed] the LGBT agenda.” At a contentious August meeting, the council decided to restore $5,000 for security so the event could continue

Later in the day, we visited the studio of Shannon Cannings, a painter who shows at Anya Tish Gallery in Houston and Chris Worley Fine Arts in Dallas. Last year, she and her husband, William Cannings, had a two-person show at Anya Tish covered by this magazine. William’s inflated steel sculptures and Shannon’s hyper-realistic toy guns and targets made for a provocative and compelling exhibition. They both teach at Texas Tech, where Will is an associate professor of art and Shannon is an assistant professor of practice.

The Museum of Texas Tech collection at the university consists of anthropology, textiles, natural history, and more, with nine permanent and ten rotating galleries. The museum includes the noted Artist Printmaker/Photographic Research Collection of 24,000 prints, proofs, sketchbooks, photographs, and drawings by artists who practiced in the western U.S. On exhibit at the College of Health and Human Services through the Fall 2024 semester is an installation by Houston artist Sarah Fisher and Texas Tech teacher Rachel Anderson. Another vital exhibition space is the Landmark Arts Gallery, part of the Texas Tech School of Art, under the direction of Joe Arredondo.

No discussion of the Lubbock art scene would be complete without mentioning Lubbock natives Bryan and Jeff Wheeler. They both collaborate as the Wheeler Brothers and are successful artists in their own right. Jeffrey currently lives in San Antonio and recently had a show of his paintings and sculptures at Cothren Contemporary in Houston. Bryan is a lecturer in art at Texas Tech, but while we were there, he was in Dallas installing an exhibition with Jeff at R02 Gallery titled Novel Toys, Tricks, and Games. Bryan is interested in creation myths, art history, and post-colonial Texas culture, while Jeff gathers objects and images to use in his work and augments them with references to advertising and pop culture.

Our final stop was the home and studio of painters Ghislaine & Lando Fremaux-Valdez, who were preparing for a significant show at the Pollock-Krasner House. Ghislaine is an associate professor of art and interim director of the School of Art at Texas Tech. Margaritas in hand, we experienced the couple’s large, powerful collaborative paintings, which explore the human body and its spiritual and ritualistic significance using art-historical references.

The Lubbock Entertainment/Performing Arts Association website offers information on other museums and performing arts organizations, including the American Theatre Guild and Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, home to Ballet Lubbock and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1946, the Lubbock Symphony includes the Lubbock Youth Orchestras and the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra. In 2021, they published a book celebrating the symphony’s 75th anniversary and past performances by Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Itzhak Perlman, Tony Bennett, and Renée Fleming.

We were encouraged to return to Lubbock during the First Friday Art Trail, and although we saw a great deal, there is much more to experience. Next time, we will visit the Buddy Holly Center, which includes Holly’s archives and the Texas Musician Hall of Fame. The center is located in the Depot District, an area dedicated to music and nightlife in the old railroad depot area with upscale restaurants, shops, a winery, and nightclubs. In October 2014, Paul McCartney played at the center. Other well-known musicians from Lubbock include Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Mac Davis, and the Flatlanders—Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and Joe Ely, all musicians in their own right.

Despite its remote location and flat topography, Lubbock’s visual arts environment is thriving. Texas Tech is a large educational institution with a history of faculty members who attract serious artists to its fine arts programs. A dynamic local economy and affordable studio space attract and retain artists. James Johnson observed, “When I was in school at Tech, most graduates disappeared the day after graduation. Now, talented artists stay in Lubbock, not only because it’s cheap to live and work here, but because they can be part of a vibrant art community.”

Lubbock has all the ingredients necessary to cross-pollinate and nurture an integrated art scene. We left with an understanding of why Lubbock is home to a flourishing art community and a desire to return.

—DONNA TENNANT AND HENRY HUNT