Texas Artist of the Year Revealed In a Rollicking Houston Art Night With 400 A-Listers, Collectors and a Hometown Star
Predicting the Art Stars of the Future
By Caitlin Hsu //
Like the true art lovers they are, Art League Houston’s Re/Mix Gala attendees put their most cutting-edge selves forward to celebrate the top movers and shakers in the Texas art world and reveal the Texas Artist of the Year. The sold-out evening, co-chaired by Daisy Perez and Sarah Beth Wilson, welcomed 400 from the A-List (as in Art) — artists, curators, collectors and gallerists — to Houston’s Thompson Hotel.
For the uninitiated, the Texas Artist of the Year honors date back to 1983 and function as a cross between the Oscars or Grammys of the Lone Star State art world and an art state of the union address. The awards are also considered a barometer of talent and serve as a prediction of career accomplishments to come.
Recent examples include Vincent Valdez, the Texas Artist of the Year in 2023. Valdez recently received a MacArthur Fellow for 2026. Similarly, Project Row Houses co-founder Rick Lowe won Texas Artist of the Year in 2020, and now is represented by the powerhouse Gagosian Gallery.
The 2026 Re/Mix gala celebrated four honorees who are influential and accomplished in the art world, whether as artists, collectors, or curators.
Jamal Cyrus took 2026 Texas Artist of the Year honors receiving a metal-and-wood sculpture inscribed with his name by Patrick Renner. Cyrus’ deeply layered work employs techniques such as collage and assemblage, with materials including seashells, denim and elements of musical instruments, to explore Black histories and African diaspora.
César A. Martínez was presented with the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award in the Visual Arts. Vincent Valdez created the black-and-white drawing awarded to Martínez. As a seminal figure in the Chicano art movement of the 1970s and 1980s, Martínez’s works are iconic and powerful, addressing the Mexican-American experience and rooted in his South Texan heritage.
The 2026 Patron of the Year Award went to San Antonio-based collector Joe Diaz, who was given a vibrantly colorful assemblage from Arizona-based artist Alfred J. Quiroz. Diaz emphasizes stewardship within his collecting practice, especially when it comes to preserving Chicano art, ensuring its creators are celebrated by a wider public audience.
Finally, Surpik Angelini was awarded the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award in Arts Leadership, receiving an abstract geometric sculpture from Luisa Duarte. Angelini is best known for her acclaimed Transart Foundation, a Museum District nonprofit that examines the intersection of art and anthropology.
The Singer and the Scene
The gala space was transformed, with florals by Thomas McCool’s In Bloom and groovy graphics by Field of Study.
Equally unforgettable were the attendees, decked out in patterns, textures and colors that winked at vintage style — leopard print, polka dots, florals, paisleys and more — in honor of the “Re/Mix” dress code.
Grammy Award-winning singer and local Houston treasure Kam Franklin served as emcee, and also delivered an intimate live concert towards the end of the evening.
Contributing to the bottom line was an auction of works by prominent artists from Texas and beyond, as well as pieces from Art League’s Healing Arts program participants. Some buzzy high-bid highlights: A work by Vincent Valdez was purchased by Mark Miller, a piece by honoree Jamal Cyrus sold to Scott Shine, and Houston’s own Paola Creixell of PAC Art took home a creation by 2017 Texas Artist of the Year Trenton Doyle Hancock. Gala co-chair Sarah Beth Wilson nabbed the tapestry by Angelica Raquel.
The night headed towards nearly $300,000 for Art League Houston’s mission of interweaving art and community. Funds specifically go towards ALH’s nearly 80-year legacy of championing and exhibiting artists, as well as its art education classes and free public programs that spark curiosity and creativity.
PC Seen: Art League Houston’s Jennie Ash, Maureen Lax, Karolina Cantu, Alberto Careaga, Mehek Ahmed, and new curator and exhibitions manager Veronica Myers, in from Dallas, who officially begins her new post and moves to Houston this November; Art League Houston vice president Mitra Murthy and Chet Murthy; MFAH Wortham Curator of Latin American art Mari Carmen Ramírez and Héctor Olea; gallerists including Kerry Inman and Betty Moody; Georgina Morgan-Diaz; past Texas Artists of the Year including Earlie Hudnall Jr. and Terrell James; Kelley Devine; Leslie Hewitt; Lisa Rich and John McLaughlin; Amarie Gipson; Seth Rogers; EJ Farhood; Sixto Wagen; Mary Ellen Carroll; Erin and Scott Podsednik; Zhaira Costiniano; and Adriana Corral.
Gallery, Houston, TX, Photo by Thomas R. DuBrock)
You can catch exhibitions for honorees Jamal Cyrus and César Martínez at Art League Houston through Sunday, December 20. Learn more here.
Additional reporting for this story came from Catherine D. Anspon.
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