FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2018
Media contact: Lydia Saldaña
817.851.5729
lsaldana@tpwf.org
Art Series Celebrates Texas Conservation Projects: Billy Hassell Lithograph Series for TPWF Featured at Houston Art Gallery through Dec. 22
A series of five lithographs celebrating the wild things and wild places of Texas has been completed and is now available in select art galleries in Texas. The “Keeping it Wild” lithograph series is currently being featured through Dec. 22 at a gallery show at William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, in Houston. Artist Billy Hassell will be at the gallery on Tuesday, Dec. 4 for a reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) commissioned the series as part of its $100 million “Keeping it Wild” fundraising campaign, the largest in TPWF history. The successfully completed campaign is funding transformational conservation projects across the state, from Powderhorn Ranch on the Texas coast to pronghorn restoration in West Texas.
The lithographs celebrate and promote awareness for wildlife habitat conservation statewide. The series includes a set of five editions of 30 prints each, as well as a boxed set of all five lithographs. The first lithograph, “Powderhorn Ranch,” celebrates TPWF’s landmark acquisition of a storied ranch along the coast near Port O’Connor, which is home to a great variety of birds and native grasses and is one of the last remaining tracts of unspoiled coastal prairie left in Texas. The second in the series, “Blue Water Reef,” commemorates the largest artificial reef yet to be placed in Texas coastal waters. The third piece, “Llano River, Texas Hill Country,” commemorates the work being done to conserve Texas rivers. The fourth lithograph, Pronghorn, West Texas,” features the Trans-Pecos landscape and pronghorn restoration work being done there. The final lithograph, “Wild Turkey, East Texas,” celebrates the successful efforts to conserve wild turkey and other wildlife species in East Texas.
“Nature has fed my soul for my entire life,” said Hassell. “I appreciate what Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is doing to protect Texas landscapes and wildlife, and it’s an honor and a great opportunity to have these works directly connected to a conservation cause and to raise awareness of these resources.”
Powderhorn Ranch
Blue Water Reef
Llano River, Texas Hill Country
Pronghorn, West Texas
Wild Turkey, East Texas
For more information about the art series, please visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation website at https://www.tpwf.org/billy-hassell/
Galleries that carry the Keeping it Wild lithographs include:
| Conduit Gallery, Dallas | Davis Gallery in Austin | |
| conduitgallery.com | davisgalleryaustin.com | |
| William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth | William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art in Houston | |
| williamcampbellcontemporaryart.com | reavesart.com | |
Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation raises private funds to advance Texas’ proud outdoor traditions and conserve our state’s wildlife, habitat, recreational areas, and natural resources. Since 1991, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has raised more than $170 million in private philanthropy to ensure that all Texans, today and in the future, can enjoy the wild things and wild places of Texas.
###
