Vintage Art Show
September 25, 2026
The Museum Directors had a great idea: jump in with TerraTx and host a Vintage Art Show! The idea turned into an awesome event all the way around. We got to work with Leah and the folks at TerraTx, the artists, and all the people who showed up to view the murals and various art displays from Leakey to Concan!! Our thanks to TerraTx for allowing us to be part of their event! Our museum was open on that Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm, and during that time we had about 150 guests stroll through our doors to enjoy the art!Our Vintage Art Show consisted of various media, including paintings, pen/pencil, welding, sculpture, and rock. All items had to be pre-1960! The total count of displayed pieces was over 75
In reality, the Lewis Ranch Rock (permanent display) was by far the oldest art at approximately 7,000 BCE. We are very proud of it! Zoom in to view the ancient art petroglyphs.
The Oldest Framed Art was a pastel done by Annie Tom Godbold when she was 17 years old. She was the daughter of John Files and Nancy Tom. The family moved to Leakey in the 1880s. Annie was an amazing woman. Not only was she a great self-taught artist, but she was a teacher, mother, cook, seamstress, and her most amazing accomplishment was that she managed all of this with just one arm. This painting dates to around the 1890s, and only four paintings are known to have survived.
Voted The Most Popular was a West Texas Landscape painted by Arthur McCall. McCall became a Texas Game Warden, and his first assignment was Real County. He met Kenny and Nita Shackelford and Bella and Betsy Rubio, and thanks to them, we were able to display two of his great works of art, with the landscape being the most popular of all the displays. 
Freddie Franks was a very gifted person in the community. He is remembered by the locals as a genius. He blacksmithed, created metal sculptures, artistic yard art, and played a big part in inventing the hummingbird feeders that so many have around today. We had 3 pieces of his metal sculptures on display. This one depicts Luther Bushong at a July 4th Parade! 
Another popular piece was a Cowboy Watching His Herd by La Verna Auld Taylor. 
The Candy Apple Red 1966 Dodge Charger owned by Julie Becker was a fun, welcoming sight at the event.
Then we had our Vintage directors dressed in 1960s hippie attire. Connie and Julie are always going to have fun. 
Directors Nita, Connie, and Martha posing in front of the popcorn machine that so many of us remember at the Canyon Theatre.
Director Kathy telling her great stories to a group in our Annex.
We were so excited to add Leanne to our event. Leanne is a storyteller. She had a display table and told stories of her family and their connection to early Frio Canyon history and the Angora goat. The mural in the Annex (Permanent display) is an early depiction of her family’s ranch painted by Emily Hall. 
Speaking of murals! Did we ever hit the jackpot? We were gifted two murals, and a big special thanks to the donors!! The first was a bird. We chose a hummingbird. Ryan Henry painted a cute little hummingbird on our wall that we named Henry, after him! 
The second mural is on the north wall of our main building. The artist, J. Muzac, painted a beautiful mural of Plez Jones and George Tampke. We are so honored to have this piece that depicts Plez and his ever-present harmonica and George intently listening. We have a domino table set up in the museum honoring them, as most afternoons they could be found playing dominoes on the front porch of Plez’s home! 
We were honored to have the Bracketville High School Art Class visit our Vintage Art show. Great group of students! 
We also had a table of Vintage Cookies!! Made from vintage family recipes, and we included copies of the recipes! 
Another bit of artistry was our program of the art and artists, which also got a lot of attention. The programs were created by Martha.
And at the end of the day…Connie and what is left of our President, Mary Jane. After the show ended, we realized that the Lewis Ranch Rock and the Man from the Nueces (permanent museum displays) were also art that needed to be considered!! You can see these two pieces anytime at the museum. We also want to thank our amazing Board of Directors, the muralists, artists, and those of you who came to the show for all of your support!! We could not have had the success that we did without you!
All Real County Museum Directors participated in this event one way or the other. We were not able to get photos of everyone, but we want to recognize them
- Susan, we are always asking her something!! She was not well, and we sure missed her.
- Jim is always somewhere helping.
- Tracye didn’t have a picture of her either because she is never still enough!
- Mary had to work but contributed cookies and behind-the-scenes work before the show.
- Jackson, our number one go-to fixer-upper, bring this, do that director, was at the Art Show at the Beard House with his display of native American art featuring pottery and knapped points. He also helped with the repair of several easels and other behind-the-scenes jobs. Linda was also at the Beard House with her art.
- And last but not least, Bill Sames for the photography of the art!