TAMIU Annual Report 2021

ART MAJORS THRIVE AT TAMIU THANKS TO WATSON ART SCHOLARSHIP Art majors at TAMIU are growing, in part thanks to the provision of scholarship support from the Trustees of the Dolly Richter Watson Memorial Foundation of Laredo. The Watson Memorial Scholarship expands on the Trustees’ history of giving at TAMIU, which includes the creation of the Helen Richter Watson Gallery in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, dedicated in 2011. The Gallery is home to the works and collection of Laredo’s most heralded ceramic artist and educator. 2020-21 Dolly Richter Watson Memorial Scholarship recipients include: Alyna Robles, Jennifer Ramos, Jacqueline Rodríguez, Lauretta Martínez, Kassandra Romero, Isai Olivas and Alejandra García. James K. Jones, Jr. said the Foundation is proud to extend Dolly Richter Watson’s legacy through the Gallery and Scholarship. “Our previous gift to the University provided a home for the broad spectrum of art by Dolly’s daughter, Helen Richter Watson. With this Foundation Scholarship, we can help ensure that TAMIU Art majors can complete their degrees and share their Art gift and career with others,” Jones said. Elizabeth Rubio Jones, a niece of Helen Richter Watson and granddaughter of Dolly Richter Watson, met with the students this Fall in the Watson Gallery and encouraged their artistic pursuits. “It gives me great pleasure to meet all of you and I know that my Aunt and Grandmother would also be pleased that you are pursuing the arts. I hope you will all also develop and maintain the friendships you share as a group as you progress through your Art program here,” she said. Affectionately known to family and friends as “Whitie,” Watson was the daughter of Helen Richter and Horace Watson. The Richter family was prolific in Laredo’s business and artistic heritage. Horace Watson, her father, was from New York and a Calvary officer stationed at Fort Macintosh when he and Helen Richter met. Young Helen was fond of harvesting mud from the banks of the Rio Grande, footsteps from her home, to create clay pots of transitory beauty. This link with nature would only be strengthened with her art education and teaching career. She earned her BA at California’s Scripps College and her MFA at Claremont Graduate School. In addition to serving on the faculty at Chaffey College and Mount San Antonio College, she was Chair of the Ceramics Department at the famed Otis Art Institute from 1958-1979. Watson became one of the nation’s most heralded ceramics artists and educators. She firmly believed that with determination, all students wishing to pursue a career in the arts could accomplish their dreams and make a contribution to the art world. For more information on the Dolly Richter Watson Memorial Foundation Scholarship, contact the Office for Institutional Advancement at 956.326.2177, email Palacios at rosanne.palacios@tamiu.edu or click on https://www.tamiu.edu/vpia Visit the Helen Richter Watson Gallery online at https://www.tamiu.edu/watsongallery/ First row, left to right:  Alyna Robles, Jennifer Ramos, Jacqueline Rodríguez, Lauretta Martínez, Scholarship family representative Elizabeth Jones Rubio. Back row, left to right: Kassandra Romero, Isai Olivas and Alejandra García. DONORS 12