tional work at the College at no additional cost .
At the end of the session a certificate was awarded to each student who completed the course which was signed by Gonzalez and Sul Ross President Horace W . Morelock . By June 13 the art students in both the regular Drawing Art classes and in the Art Colony staged an exhibit at Kokernot Lodge . The student newspaper , Skyline , headlined this story with “ Summer Work Under Gonzalez And Woeltz Shown .”
By the second summer session , Rather was hired to conduct the Art Colony while Gonzalez travelled to Paris to conduct research for Tulane University . Woeltz continued teaching the regular Drawing Art courses .
By the fall of 1932 , it was announced that Julius Woeltz was hired to head the Art Department and thus began the solidification of the Art Colony at Sul Ross . The first summer session of the 1933 Art Colony was led by the New Orleans artist Paul Ninas and the second by Gonzalez . Ninas was an interesting choice to conduct the Art Colony , as he had never been to the area and apparently was influenced to take the position by Gonzalez due to Gonzalez ’ s reports of the beautiful
Stream with Bridge , Oil on Paper , 1927 , 9 X 11.5 , Xavier Gonzalez , Holly T . and Sanford C . Cox , Jr .
Ranch Country , Oil on Masonite , 1948 , 20 X 30 , Otis Dozier , Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum , Canyon , Texas , Gift of the Dozier Foundation
scenery , wonderful climate and fine Western hospitality . During the summer , Woeltz taught the regular Drawing Courses and executed a mural of Santa Elena Canyon for the school ’ s cafeteria .
From 1934 to 1936 , Gonzalez and Woeltz were each conducting one summer session of the Art Colony . Both men executed a number of large murals individually and along with their students which were sent to the Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas .
By 1936 Woeltz resigned as head of the Art Department and
Ms . Milita Hill was hired to head the Art Department . She remained as the Department head until her retirement in 1961 . Hill continued Sul Ross ’ relationship with Gonzalez as he continued to lead the Art Colony through 1939 . It was in 1939 that the Rio Grande Artists Group was formed , which included Art Colony students . This informal group painted that summer in the Davis Mountains and surrounding areas .
From 1939 to 1950 other influential Texas artists would conduct the Art Colony . Texas artists include Harry Anthony De Young , 1940-1941 , Otis Dozier , 1947 , and William Lester , 1949-1950 and out-of-state instructors , Beatrice Cuming , 1942 , and John Bernhardt , 1948 .
Even though the Art Colony ceased to exist in 1950 , the ramifications were enormous for Sul Ross . It helped to establish Sul Ross ’ reputation as an excellent institution to attend , to work with and to learn from some of the best artists in Texas , which continues to this day . f
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