Panhandle Plains Historic Museum Provides OLLI at TTU, Lubbock a History of Georgia O'Keeffe

By Daniel Johnson, Section Manager

There were nothing but smiles as OLLI at TTU, Lubbock members stepped off the charter bus emblazoned with a large Masked Rider logo on the side. The bus had just traveled a little over 100 miles from the Texas Tech University Plaza that houses the OLLI offices to the front steps of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum (PPHM). Nearly 50 OLLI members descended the steps of the scarlet and black bus to hear more about American Modernism artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her time spent teaching in Canyon.

O'Keeffe worked at West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, between 1916 and 1918. During this time, she made several watercolors, mostly of nearby Palo Duro Canyon. She would often take walks through the canyon and created paintings based on the vibrant colors of its landscape and dazzling sunrises and sunsets. The years she spent in Texas turned out to be a period of rapid growth and change for her work. The landscape of West Texas changed her art and her life as she grew and matured as a person and an artist.

The course started as soon as members loaded the bus in Lubbock, where instructor Jack Becker gave a small presentation about the artist. Once inside the museum, the group was met by Amy Von Lintel, West Texas A&M associate professor of art history. Von Lintel authored Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors, a catalogue of 50 watercolors created by O'Keeffe during her time in Canyon. Von Lintel is also working on a second book titled A Voice from the West: Georgia O'Keeffe's Texas Letters. When it comes to O'Keeffe's time in Texas, Von Lintel is the go-to historian.

Von Lintel gave a presentation while standing in front of the O'Keeffe exhibit at the PPHM. This exhibit houses one of four early oil paintings done during her time in Canyon titled Red Landscape. She also showcased a 3-D interactive replica of the painting that allows visitors and those with visual impairments the opportunity to feel every nook and cranny of the painting without ruining the piece of art. In the corner of the exhibit is one of O'Keeffe's travel wardrobe trunks that she left behind while hurriedly leaving Texas. Von Lintel then took the time to answer questions about O'Keeffe and allowed the OLLI members to continue viewing the exhibit or explore the rest of the museum.

"The Georgia O'Keeffe OLLI class was so much more than I expected," said OLLI at TTU, Lubbock coordinator Tina Crowson. "The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum is a hidden treasure in West Texas, so to be able to meander through all the artwork there, then have an expert talk about the O'Keeffe exhibit was an opportunity I am glad I did not miss."

The class made a quick lunch stop at the popular Canyon restaurant, Green Chile Willies, for a mouth-watering chicken fried steak meal before their final destination to Palo Duro Canyon. As the OLLI members stepped off the bus once again, they were met by a park ranger that finished off the remainder of the class. He shared facts about Palo Duro Canyon and some of the things that make it such a special place in Texas. The group spent some time at the scenic overlook taking in the scenery and imagining if this could have been one of the places that O'Keeffe walked to get inspiration for her work.

As the group loaded the bus one final time, it was easy to see how O'Keeffe was inspired by the beauty of the canyon and plains of the area. In a letter written by O'Keeffe, she states, "I lived on the plains of North Texas for four years, it is the only place I have ever felt that I really belonged--that I really felt at home." ... "But I belonged," O'Keeffe told a friend. "That was my country--terrible winds and a wonderful emptiness."