Edna Theatre , 2023

Oil on canvas; 48 x 24 inches
Gift of Linda and William Reaves, The Linda and William Reaves Collection of Texas Art

The artist Lee Jamison declares that his work is an historical exploration of South Texas. He is compelled to paint through finding connections between the history of a place and our modern issues. Known for specializing in landscape paintings of East and Central Texas, his images contain a poetic touch that sparkle with a quiet nostalgia for earlier times. Jamison’s landscapes, murals, and historical places help to illuminate the rich history of Texas. In the painting Edna Theatre (2023), Jamison highlights the neon tower of the art deco building by depicting a night-scene of Edna’s famous theater. The theater was built in 1950 and was the focal point of entertainment for Jackson County residents for nearly three decades, when “the  picture show” was the most popular gathering place in the community. Jamison represents the theater just as it would have looked in the days of its opening, with the popular 1950 movie Harvey, starring Hollywood actors James Steward and Josephine Hull, as the feature film on display. Back then, the Saturday matinee cost ten cents, included headline news clips, the latest adventures of a weekly serial hero, a cartoon, and one or two full length feature films. However, due to the popularity of television, the theater was forced to close its doors in 1978. Today, the old theater is undergoing an extensive renovation, as residents hope to return the building to its former place as the social center of the community. The Edna Theatre stands as a  spectacular example of the regional architecture of Southeast Texas.

The Lavaca County Courthouse, Hallettsville, Texas, 2023

Oil on canvas; 2023
Gift of Linda and William Reaves, The Linda and William Reaves Collection of Texas Art

No small town functions properly without its local places of community such as the central post office, grocery, church, and schoolhouse, that each work to connect individuals into a cohesive community. The impressionist painter Lee Jamison has lived in Southeast Texas for over twenty five years, documenting the area’s landscapes and historical buildings in his artworks. Jamison declares, “I really enjoyed staying in one place long enough to watch people grow up—watch trees grow up—and feel my connection to my surroundings.” He likes to celebrate the unofficial community headquarters found in every small town. He says these treasures are many times hidden behind the thick forest of the “pine curtain,” and they hold a plethora of views and landscapes in which he finds inspiration. Of these many places of community, Jamison declares the courthouse is the most important of all. Each small town contains a county courthouse that remains an important fixture of the architectural landscape. He proclaims, “Our courthouses should tie us together, and, at least in terms of architecture and pathways to elsewhere, they do.” Here, his painting, The Lavaca County Courthouse, Hallettsville, Texas (2023), illustrates the prominent building that has been central to the Hallettsville community since it was constructed in 1897. In the nineteenth century, Hallettsville was founded by German and Czech immigrants, many of whom have descendents in the area today. The courthouse has since been carefully restored and preserved and maintains a spot on the National Register of historical buildings. With a strong respect for the area’s history, the artist’s interests lie in the documentation and preservation of these structures.

The Macaroni Line, 2023

Oil on canvas; 19 x 72 inches
Gift of Linda and William Reaves, The Linda and William Reaves Collection of Texas Art

Essential infrastructures such as highways, bridges, and railways are networks that connect small town residents with larger metropolitan areas and onto the globalized world. In 1880, when the railway through Edna, Texas was being constructed, the city of Victoria was the established commercial hub before Houston was to command that designation. Known as “the Macaroni Line” due to its construction by the famed Italian railroad impresario Count Giuseppe Telfener, the railroad’s most important contribution is represented in the Italian families living in Victoria, Houston, Galveston and elsewhere who are descended from the Italian workmen who labored to build the structure. The realistic painter Lee Jamison maintains a strong interest in the East Texas landscape and its many historical shifts. The recent work, The Macaroni Line (2023), presents a contemporary view of the famed railway and its rail station. Cars parked outside of the train depot symbolize our current era’s dependence on the oil industry and stands as a stark contrast to the long track of railroad extending far off into the distance. A grassy tract of land to the left of the composition, perhaps an old farm road, lies in comparison to the metropolitan city of Houston looming far away in the misty background. It is this railroad that connects the country and the city, the local and the global.  

In the early 1880’s, Count Telfener paid passage for over a thousand northern Italian laborers to come work on the railway.  His hope was that each laborer would bring their families to Texas to settle permanently. Within six months difficult working conditions and sickness caused half of the Italian work force to quit and construction was halted in 1882 after the state repealed its promise of land grants to railroad builders. Regardless, the railways and its laborers boosted growth to the coastal Texas area. The town name of “Edna” honors the daughter of Count Telfener.