Octavio Medellin papers
name: label: Creator
content: Medellin, Octavio, 1907 or 1908-1999
label: Names
content: Gonzalez, Xavier, 1898-1993
label: Names
content: Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Texas -- Dallas
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Texas -- Dallas
label: Topic
content: Painting, American
label: Topic
content: Public sculpture -- Texas -- Dallas
label: Topic
content: Latino and Latin American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated from 1981 to 1983 by Octavio Medellin.
creator: label: Creator
content: Medellin, Octavio, 1907 or 1908-1999
setName: label: See more items in
content: Octavio Medellin papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Mexican born painter, sculptor, and educator Octavio Medellin measure 3.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to circa 1979. The collection is comprised of correspondence with Carlos Mérida, Stanley Marcus, Lucy Maverick, Bess Hubbard, Xavier Gonzalez, and others; commission files for projects in Texas; professional files that include notes, biographical essays, and material for the Medellin School of Sculpture, Mendocino Art Center, International Institute of Arts and Letters, and the San Antonio Religious Show; printed and documentary materials consisting of an art reproduction, booklets, exhibition catalogs, magazines and yearbooks, and video recordings of Swank in the Arts; and photographic materials of Medellin, his studio, family and friends, travel in Mexico, his students, and works of art.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Octavio Medellin (1907-1999) was a painter, sculptor, and educator in Dallas, Texas. Medellin was born in Matehuala, Mexico to parents of Otomi heritage. His family moved to San Antonio, Texas when he was eight years old and he became a citizen of the U.S. in 1939. Medellin attended the San Antonio Art School with classmate Xavier Gonzalez and studied with José Arpa. He also studied at the Chicago Art Institute for a short time. Medellin returned to Mexico in order to study the arts, culture, and history of the country and was greatly influenced by the Mayan and Toltec ruins and artifacts he saw there. He returned to San Antonio in 1931 where he taught at the Witte Museum. Under the sponsorship of Lucy Maverick, an artist he met at La Villita Art Gallery who was involved in the historic preservation of San Antonio, Medellin returned to Mexico a few years later to visit the Yucatan region of the country. In 1966, Medellin opened the Medellin School of Sculpture that is now the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. He also taught at North Texas State University and the Dallas Museum of Art. He completed numerous commissions in the state of Texas including a monument at Calvary Hill Cemetery, a sculpture for the Houston Police Administration, mosaics and carvings for St. Andrew's Catholic Church and St. Bernard Catholic Church, and decorations for the sanctuary in Temple Emanu-el. 

Medellin retired from teaching in 1979 and moved with his wife Consuelo to Bandera, Texas. He and his wife had two children, Patsy and Sergio. Medellin died in Dallas in 1999. He was buried in Calvary Hill Cemetery near his commissioned monument, The Garden of the Glorious Mysteries.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1935-circa 1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.medeocta
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Videorecordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1978 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Commission Files, 1950-1973 (Box 1, OV 6; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Professional Files, circa 1950-circa 1979 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed and Documentary Materials, 1936-1979 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1935-circa 1979 (Boxes 2-4, OV 5; 1.8 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2018.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: A portion of the collection is available on microfilm reels 2246-2247 that were produced as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. The microfilm is only available for interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in this finding aid does not reflect the order of the material on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Videorecordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Mexican born painter, sculptor, and educator Octavio Medellin measure 3.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to circa 1979. The collection is comprised of correspondence with Carlos Mérida, Stanley Marcus, Lucy Maverick, Bess Hubbard, Xavier Gonzalez, and others; commission files for projects in Texas; professional files that include notes, biographical essays, and material for the Medellin School of Sculpture, Mendocino Art Center, International Institute of Arts and Letters, and the San Antonio Religious Show; printed and documentary materials consisting of an art reproduction, booklets, exhibition catalogs, magazines and yearbooks, and video recordings of Swank in the Arts; and photographic materials of Medellin, his studio, family and friends, travel in Mexico, his students, and works of art.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Additional Octavio Medellin papers are at Syracuse University, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse, New York, and the Southern Methodist University Bywaters Special Collections at the Hamon Arts Library,  Dallas, Texas.