The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University Celebrates fortieth Anniversary : Newsroom : Texas State University

The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University has opened The Spirit of The Wittliff in 40 Objects exhibition celebrating its fortieth anniversary. 

The new exhibit gathers 40 distinctive, fascinating objects from archives of the Southwest Writers Collection, Texas Music Collection, and Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection from 1986-2026. Together, these objects inform the story of The Wittliff’s mission and spirit of place. 

From the guitar decide utilized by Stevie Ray Vaughan at his final live performance to correspondence between author Elizabeth Crook and Jackie Onassis, her editor at Doubleday, the exhibit showcases the breadth and depth of The Wittliff Collections holdings of the Southwest’s most important artistic artists. Visitors may additionally sit on the desk the place creator Cormac McCarthy wrote his novels.

The Wittliff Collections was based in 1986 when screenwriter and photographer Bill Wittliff and his spouse, Sally, donated their rising archive of Southwestern literary manuscripts—beginning with the papers of Texas folklorist J. Frank Dobie—to the college’s library, creating what was then the Southwestern Writers Collection. 

Over the a long time, The Wittliff expanded to incorporate Southwestern & Mexican pictures and the Texas Music Collection. The famend analysis middle, archive and museum preserves and shares the cultural heritage and tales of Texas, the Southwest and Mexico via main supplies spanning writing, pictures, music and movie. Today, The Wittliff Collections is house to greater than 500 collections used worldwide by students, authors, documentary filmmakers, educators, college students and the general public for analysis and inspiration. 

Among the numerous holdings are the archives of main writers, musicians and photographers. They embody the journals, correspondence and the unpublished manuscripts of Cormac McCarthy, Sandra Cisneros and poet Benjamín Alire Sáenz. Music collections vary from the music style of Selena Quintanilla Perez to the journals and handwritten lyrics of Shawn Colvin, Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson. Bill Wittliff’s championed photographers and his ardour are mirrored within the preserved works of Graciela Iturbide, Keith Carter and Rodrigo Moya.

The Wittliff Collections will rejoice its fortieth anniversary all through 2026 with public occasions, exhibitions and bulletins of latest main acquisitions and future plans. 

About the Exhibit

For inquiries in regards to the fortieth anniversary exhibit and a curated tour of The Spirit of The Wittliff in 40 Objects, electronic mail literary curator Carrie Fountain at carriefountain@txstate.edu. For all different inquiries, contact advertising and marketing and promotions coordinator Mark Willenborg by way of electronic mail at markw@txstate.edu or telephone at (512) 245-1442.