Top Five: December 4, 2025

Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.

For last week’s picks, please go here.

Tom Birkner, “Trouble With Paradise,” 2016 (retouched 2025) Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for Visual Arts (El Paso)

September 4 – December 11, 2025

From the University of Texas at El Paso:

“Held every two years, the UTEP Department of Art Faculty Biennial exhibition highlights the work of faculty members across a wide range of media, including ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation. The exhibition offers students a chance to engage with their instructors’ work beyond the classroom, and invites the El Paso community to connect with artists who live, teach, and create in the region. This year’s exhibition is curated by Marina Monsisvais, longtime host of State of the Arts on KTEP, and includes written contributions by UTEP undergraduate art history students Guadalupe Lucero, Eloisa Quevedo and Alexandra Urbina, who researched and wrote texts and artist bios under the guidance of Dr. Melissa Warak.”

A work by Mary Mattingly on view in “Laguna Madre: Holding Water” Art Center of Corpus Christi

November 7 – December 27, 2025

From the Art Center of Corpus Christi:

“Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist passionate about water and the power of public art. She founded Swale , an edible landscape on a public barge in New York City, and states: ‘I create sculptural ecosystems that prioritize food, shelter, and clean water, resulting in participatory projects around the world.’ Her work has been featured in international biennials and major institutions including Storm King, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Palais de Tokyo. Through Laguna Madre: Holding Water , Mattingly explores the interconnectedness of art, ecology, and community, highlighting the importance of preserving fragile ecosystems.”

Left: Eleanor Anderson, “Hello Yellow” (detail), photo: Tim Thayer. Right: Justin Korver, “Seek & Hide” UTSA Russell Hill Rogers Gallery (San Antonio)

November 14 – December 16, 2025

From the University of Texas at San Antonio:

“ Seek & Hide: Works by Eleanor Anderson and Justin Korver includes a collaborative piece with community students from a summer Debbie McMahon Fibers Symposium. Eleanor Anderson’s practice seeks to alleviate daily doldrums and spiritless ways of living, instead transforming objects and spaces into paratelic experiences. Justin Korver is an artist and educator who lives and works in Kansas City. He is originally from a small town in the northwest corner of Iowa and the plains of home taught him to understand minimalism. The Debbie McMahon Fibers Symposium is a conversation with contemporary weavers, both coming from traditional methods and influences based on their cultural heritage. Though coming from different cultures located thousands of miles apart, commonalities built on traditions exist in their current practices.”

Ramona resident artist Madison Hendry Throughline (Houston)

December 5 – December 20, 2025

From Ramona Residency:

“Ramona Residency is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition, Ramona: Supporting Artist Mothers , featuring works by former, current, and future artist mothers-in-residence, including Cassie Arnold, Megan Harrison, Beatriz Bellorin, Monka Meler, Speideh T. Dashti, Tamar Ettun, Molly Burke, Adrian Rhodes, Madison Hendry, Cristina Velasquez, and Raisa Nosova. The exhibition will also feature the work of Houston-based artist mothers, including Tara Conley, Carolina Otero, and others. Founded in 2024, Ramona Residency is a Houston-based nonprofit and the first artist-mother residency in Texas. Our mission is to enrich the city’s arts landscape by creating opportunities for artist mothers to connect with the community and amplify their creative voices.”

Akio Takamori, “Sleeping Woman in Striped Dress,” 2013, stoneware with underglazes James Harris Gallery (Dallas)

November 7 – December 19, 2025

From James Harris Gallery:

“James Harris Gallery is pleased to present our seventh solo exhibition with Akio Takamori entitled Soul Image . The exhibition features ceramic sculptures as well as prints. A seminal figure in the ceramic arts for more than forty years, Takamori explores themes of cultural identity by engaging the history of Eastern and Western aesthetics. Bold form and color define this group of works, which are highly expressive of human emotion and sensuality. The figurative works on view share through their gesture and nuance a distinct emotive persona imbued by Takamori’s deft handling of glaze and form. Each work acts a ‘soul image’ or spirit of the artist’s constant investigation of the embodiment of compassion.”

Top Five: December 4, 2025

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