Becky Duval Reese

Becky is LLL-smtx's resident art historian. Since moving to San Marcos in 2014, she has presented 18 courses from how to view art to the beginnings of modern art.

Becky’s museum career began at New Mexico State University where she was founding director/curator of the University Art Gallery. Becky worked for over a decade at UT-Austin's Blanton Museum of Art before moving in 1991 to El Paso. During her 15-year tenure as Director of the El Paso Museum of Art, she oversaw the design and completion of a new 104,000 sq. ft. building in downtown El Paso, created exhibitions and

educational programs that better reflected the community, and grew the museum’s collections by more than 1,000 objects. As a city-funded museum, Becky fought to ensure that admission remains free. Becky’s leadership resulted in a world-class art experience nationally recognized for the strength of its acquisitions and dynamic public programing.

As a result of her curatorial and publication focus, Becky is a leading authority on the art and artists of Texas. In June 2023, Becky spoke at the grand opening of the Emmett and Miriam McCoy Building at the Museum of the Big Bend. The new gallery space featured rarely exhibited paintings by the late El Paso artist Tom Lea and Becky’s

presentation focused on her extensive knowledge of Tom as an artist and man. Her recent book showcases the work of Austin artist David Everett, whose art is displayed throughout the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University and is held in many public and private collections. The Art of David Everett: Another World—edited by Becky—is one of the Austin American-Statesman’s top ten gift books for people who love Texas culture. Most recently, Becky co-curated Finding the Light, showcasing the photographs of her long-time friend Jim Bones, whose images of Texas and New Mexico reveal his deep understanding and love of the geology of the land. The exhibition is open through July 14 at the Witliff Collections at Texas State University.

Becky was a board member for UT-El Paso’s Lifelong Learning Institute and now serves as LifeLong Learning-San Marcos’s Associate Director. Since 2017, Becky has served on the Wittliff Collections’ Advisory Council.