Locke Surls Center for Art and Nature @ Splendora Gardens
26041 Midline Rd, Cleveland, TX 77328
(832) 422-5090
James Surls, Oak Stump, 2022. Photo: Paul Hester.
James Surls is an internationally recognized Texan artist who graduated from Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1966 and from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1968. He taught at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX from 1968 to 1976. He then moved to Splendora, TX with his wife and artist Charmaine Locke. While living in Splendora he founded Lawndale Arts & Performance Space at the University of Houston in the late 70’s and was heavily involved in the arts scene in Houston. Today, his sculptures, drawings and prints, which reflect his unique sensibility to natural forms, are in major art museums and public and private collections throughout the world, including: the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; The country of Singapore; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Surls currently resides in Carbondale, CO.
Bower Sound by Richard (Dickie) Landry (sound)
Born in Cecilia, Louisiana in 1938, Richard “Dickie” Landry began his musical training at the age of six when he joined the St. Joseph Catholic Church Choir singing Gregorian Chant for six years seven days a week. Landry picked up the saxophone at age ten and continued the journey that would take him places far removed from the small town in St. Martin Parish where he was raised. In 1969 he was a founding member of the original group that formed the Philip Glass Ensemble and performed with the ensemble till 1981. Landry’s first concert of his own in New York was in 1972 at the Leo Castelli Gallery. That same year he began presenting his work in solo concerts on tenor saxophone, pioneering the use of a quadraphonic delay system that allowed him to form a live quintet of his own voicing (his original sound plus four timed delayed repeats). From there, Landry went on to work with artists such as David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Paul Simon, Robert Rauschenberg, Lawrence Weiner, Richard Serra, and more. After moving back to Louisiana in 1995, Landry, along with C.C. Adcock and Steve Riley, formed an all-star Swamp-Pop band, Lil’ Band o’ Gold, with legendary Swamp-Pop singer and drummer, Warren Storm. He continues to tour and contribute music to Robert Wilson productions.
Bower in progress
James Surls
A Gift From The Bower is presented by DiverseWorks and the Locke Surls Center for Art and Nature @ Splendora Gardens (LSCAN).
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James Surls, Oak Stump, 2022. Photo: Paul Hester.
Artist Statement by James Surls
James Surls is an internationally recognized Texan artist who graduated from Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1966 and from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1968. He taught at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX from 1968 to 1976. He then moved to Splendora, TX with his wife and artist Charmaine Locke. While living in Splendora he founded Lawndale Arts & Performance Space at the University of Houston in the late 70’s and was heavily involved in the arts scene in Houston. Today, his sculptures, drawings and prints, which reflect his unique sensibility to natural forms, are in major art museums and public and private collections throughout the world, including: the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; The country of Singapore; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Surls currently resides in Carbondale, CO.
Bower Sound by Richard (Dickie) Landry (sound)
Born in Cecilia, Louisiana in 1938, Richard “Dickie” Landry began his musical training at the age of six when he joined the St. Joseph Catholic Church Choir singing Gregorian Chant for six years seven days a week. Landry picked up the saxophone at age ten and continued the journey that would take him places far removed from the small town in St. Martin Parish where he was raised. In 1969 he was a founding member of the original group that formed the Philip Glass Ensemble and performed with the ensemble till 1981. Landry’s first concert of his own in New York was in 1972 at the Leo Castelli Gallery. That same year he began presenting his work in solo concerts on tenor saxophone, pioneering the use of a quadraphonic delay system that allowed him to form a live quintet of his own voicing (his original sound plus four timed delayed repeats). From there, Landry went on to work with artists such as David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Paul Simon, Robert Rauschenberg, Lawrence Weiner, Richard Serra, and more. After moving back to Louisiana in 1995, Landry, along with C.C. Adcock and Steve Riley, formed an all-star Swamp-Pop band, Lil’ Band o’ Gold, with legendary Swamp-Pop singer and drummer, Warren Storm. He continues to tour and contribute music to Robert Wilson productions.
Bower in progress
James Surls
A Gift From The Bower is presented by DiverseWorks and the Locke Surls Center for Art and Nature @ Splendora Gardens (LSCAN).
(832) 422-5090
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