image: A roundup crew pushing cattle approach range pens in Jeff Davis County, Texas, in 2016. (Photo by Joe Vitone)
SaddleUP, a photography and film exhibition documenting a contemporary story of Texas ranchers, will open to the public Friday, January 14 at the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
“Forty photographs provide examples of today’s Texas ranchers, cowboys and their families in contrasting geographical areas of the Lone Star state,” explained Dr. Scott White, NRHC Helen DeVitt Jones Endowed Director of Collections, Exhibits and Research.
“Ranching today is big business, yet the modern rancher in some ways is not so different from earlier cowboys who gathered wild cattle and trailed them to railheads,” White said. “The majority of America’s land is still dedicated to ranching or farming, and one thing that never changes is the fact that cows eat grass. Taking care of the land that produces that grass makes ranchers the original environmentalists.”
Supported by a grant from The State Affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, SaddleUP features the works of photographer Joe Vitone and documentarian Lori Najvar.
The traveling exhibit opened in the Texas state capitol in 2018 and is made available to museums throughout the state by PolkaWorks, a multi-media non-profit dedicated to unique aspects of cultural traditions. In addition to photographs, the exhibition also includes documentary short film interviews with Texas ranchers regarding their lifestyles and their place in American ranch practices.
Admission to NRHC is free and the historical park is wheelchair and stroller accessible.
