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Tom Lea Institute

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El Paso, TX
Tom Lea Institute

Dedicated since 2009 to enrich the lives of others through the life of El Paso's native son,Tom Lea to Dallas, Texas, and are arguably the finest of the period.

Tom Lea’s murals of the 1930’s express the history and character of the Southwest on walls of public buildings from Washington, D.C. As an eye-witness artist correspondent for Life Magazine during World War II, Tom Lea traveled over 100,000 miles to record U.S. and Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen and their machines waging war worldwide. He wrote and illustrated bestselling novels—The Brave Bul

ls and The Wonderful Country—that were adapted into Hollywood movies, and a dozen other books about subjects as diverse as mountaineering in Wyoming, horse training in 16th century New Spain, and the history of the mammoth King Ranch. His paintings depict remote and exotic places from Equador to China, but primarily capture subjects found near his home on the border between Mexico and Texas. Despite his accomplishments, Tom Lea was largely unknown outside Texas when he died on January 29, 2001. His work had taken him to every continent, but he always returned home to El Paso—to paint and to write near Mount Franklin—far from current fashions and art world trends. Tom Lea never sought the approval of a critic or the favor of a museum director, placing the majority of his paintings after World War II in the private collections of his personal friends. Those friends have generously responded to efforts to preserve Tom Lea’s work, establishing repositories at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at El Paso and the El Paso Museum of Art. Friends have now established the Tom Lea Institute, a not-for-profit corporation, to perpetuate his legacy through collaboration and education.

09/04/2026

🎉 It's back, better than ever!

🎉 We're bringing the fun once more as our annual Tom Lea Celebration, featuring free events, exhibits, and tours. It all starts in two weeks!

👀 Save this post and stay tuned!

This year, our main theme is Mexico, a country Tom Lea loved and captured its essence in several of his works over the years.

"Mexico and Mexicans, the flavor of the Spanish language, the manners and customs and attitudes of the people, the particular character and color and vitality that distinguishes their land, seem to be a daily constant and natural and enlivening part of my life.” – Tom Lea, A Picture Gallery

"Mexico and Mexicans, the flavor of the Spanish language, the manners and customs and attitudes of the people, the particular character and color and vitality that distinguishes their land, seem to be a daily constant and natural and enlivening part of my life.” – Tom Lea, A Picture Gallery

"Mexico and Mexicans, the flavor of the Spanish language, the manners and customs and attitudes of the people, the particular character and color and vitality that distinguishes their land, seem to be a daily constant and natural and enlivening part of my life.” – Tom Lea, A Picture Gallery

08/21/2026

👀 An exciting Discovery!

🖼Recently, we were informed about 5 Tom Lea never-before-seen murals!

🎨 The murals were done in 1935, a tough time in Tom's life, the year before Nancy died.

🎨 He and Nancy had just returned to El Paso due to Nancy's illness, and it is speculated that the original owner of the home where this murals were found must have known of Tom's struggle and offered to pay for Tom to paint the basement.

🖼 Only one mural is signed, and they all remain in good condition, except for small amounts of water damage.

07/21/2026

🎥 We're headed to the Plaza Classic Film Festival!

🎞 Join us and Ben Friberg (Creative Content Producer) at the Plaza Film Festival for this hour-long highlight reel featuring the episodes most closely connected to Tom Lea's El Paso and the borderlands.

🇲🇽🇺🇸 Alongside, it will present the Borderlands region, featuring the artwork of Tom Lea, and will include Cabeza de Vaca, railroads, the U.S. Army, and Mexican President Francisco I. Madero.

🎟 Tickets are $5. Link in bio!

07/20/2026

🫵 You've been chosen!

❕️ Decide which artwork you like and comment below "11 or "12 ". Thank you!

🖼️We need your input! As we prepare for our 26-27 Tom Lea Celebration, we are seeking your expertise to help us curate a very special exhibit.

🎉This will be a weekly series, and participating takes less than 30 seconds.

07/13/2026

🫵 You've been chosen!

❕️ Decide which artwork you like and comment below "9" or "10 ". Thank you!

🖼️We need your input! As we prepare for our 26-27 Tom Lea Celebration, we are seeking your expertise to help us curate a very special exhibit.

🎉This will be a weekly series, and participating takes less than 30 seconds.

07/12/2026

🎂Today is a special day!

🎂 Today we celebrate Tom Lea's birthday, who was born on July 11, 1907, at 4:44 a.m.

🛬 Ready to explore the southwest? Visit our Tom Lea Trail mobile site to experience little-known places in Texas. To date it connects the regional histories of 13 Texas cities through Tom Lea’s art.

07/10/2026

🎥 The Tom Lea Institute at the Plaza Classic Film Festival!

🎞 Join us and Don Frazier on July 26 at 1:00 pm at the Plaza Theater (inside the Philanthropy Theater) as we experience an hour-long highlight reel featuring the episode's most closely connected to Tom Lea's El Paso and the Borderlands.

🇲🇽🇺🇸 Alongside, it will present the Borderlands region, featuring the artwork of Tom Lea, and will include Cabeza de Vaca, railroads, the U.S. Army, and Mexican President Francisco I. Madero.

🎟 Tickets are $5. Link in bio!

07/06/2026

🫵 You've been chosen!

❕️ Decide which artwork you like and comment below "7" or "8 ". Thank you!

🖼️We need your input! As we prepare for our 26-27 Tom Lea Celebration, we are seeking your expertise to help us curate a very special exhibit.

🎉This will be a weekly series, and participating takes less than 30 seconds.

07/04/2026

🇺🇸 Happy 250th Birthday to the U.S.A!

🖼 Slide to the left to celebrate the 4th of July and take a look at Tom Lea's art, deeply rooted in American history, capturing events from WWII, the American Southwest, and more!

07/02/2026

🛩 Summer took off, and fun landed with us!

🎉 In partnership with the , , and the , we hosted our annual artmaker camps for children in our community, designed to help them interact with the outside world, develop spatial awareness and more!

✈️ Children got to experience real aircraft up close, most for the first time.

Activities included:

🚀Creating and launching a Styrofoam missile

🕹An aviation simulation using drones to experience flight;

🛬 An air traffic controller activity that tested coordination and reaction time;

🎨Drawing and painting activities with artist in which kids created their own aircraft on paper, among other things.

These artmaker camps are funded by donations from our community and our sponsors: , , , and the .

Address

El Paso, TX

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19155330048

Website

https://beacons.ai/thetomleainstitute, https://www.tomlea.com/, https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-US/guide/theTomL

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