Come tour the historic Byrne-Reed House, learn about Humanities Texas public programs, and view our traveling exhibition, Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy, created by the Wittliff Collections at the Alkek Library, Texas State University.
About the exhibition:
In the early 1970s, noted Texas historian Joe Frantz offered Bill Wittliff a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—to visit a ranch in northern Mexico where the vaqueros still worked cattle in traditional ways. Wittliff photographed the vaqueros as they went about daily chores that had changed little since the first Mexican cowherders learned to work cattle from a horse's back. Wittliff captured a way of life that now exists only in memory and in the photographs included in this exhibition.
Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy features photographs with bilingual narrative text that reveal the muscle, sweat, and drama that went into roping a calf in thick brush or breaking a wild horse in the saddle.
About Austin Museum Day:
Humanities Texas is only one of many Austin-area museums and cultural sites participating in Museum Day. Organized by the Austin Museum Partnership, Museum Day happens once a year and features free exhibitions and activities at participating sites around the city.
View a full schedule of the day's events or navigate participating organizations using the Austin Museum Day map!