Lowell Collins (American, 1924-2003)

Lowell Collins was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1924. Raised in Houston, Collins began studying art from the staggeringly young age of fifteen months. Taking classes at the Houston Museum School, now the Glassell School of Art, Collins developed his interest in art through his childhood to his teen years. He studied under Otis Dozier, renowned Regionalist artist, at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and at the Art Students League in New York. He pursued his passion for art, earning a bachelor and master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Houston.

Collins returned to the Museum School where he spent his childhood in the mid 1940’s, eventually retiring as its dean in 1966. A few years later, he opened the private school and art gallery that bear his name. He featured the work of young regional artists but over time, his name and gallery became associated with pre-Columbian and tribal art.

Collins’ passion for the ancient art of Meso-America led to his appointment as honorary curator at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He donated many ancient artifacts, was an expert appraiser and lectured extensively on various subjects. Over time, he occasionally turned his gallery over to selected contemporary artists with the assistance of his son and business partner artist Michael Roque Collins.

Selected Biographical and Career Highlights

· 1924, Born in San Antonio, Texas

· B.F.A and M.L, University of Houston, Houston, Texas

· Studies at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado

· 1940’s, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· Studies at the Academie Grande Chaumiere, Paris, France

· Earns Texas Swedish Cultural Foundation Scholarship to study ceramics throughout Sweden

· Senior member, American Society of Appraisers; former President, Houston chapter, member of publications committee

· Member, International Society of Appraisers

· Tours and studies major archeological sites in Meso-America and Central America; leads tours for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and Houston Museum of Natural Science

· Illustrates books entitled: Houston, Land of the Big Rich and Houston, The Feast Years by George Fuerman; The Galveston Era and The Unhappy Medium by Earl Fornell

· Listed in Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in American South, and Southwest

· Member of the Ethnographic Art Society, Houston, Texas

· Member of the Oriental Ceramics Society, Houston, Texas

· Member of the Philosophical Society, Houston, Texas

· Member of the Society of Architectural Historians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

· Honorary member of Hanszen College, Rice University, Houston, Texas

· Member of National Honorary Fraternities: Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Delta Kappa

· Former instructor of art and architecture, University of Houston, Houston, Texas

· Former Dean, The Museum school of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

· Former instructor of Pre-Columbian Art, College of the Mainland, Texas City, Texas

· Former director, Lowell Collins School of Art; instructor of Pre-Columbian Art History and Fine Arts

· Former president, Lowell Collins Gallery, Houston, Texas

· Former honorary curator of Ethnic Art, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas

Lowell Collins

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