‘I Am WT’ Podcast Paints Portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe Through WT Expert

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s student-run podcast continues its second season Dec. 14 with an episode highlighting the surprising connection between the Canyon area and American art history.

 “I Am WT” hosts Myka Bailey, a junior PR/advertising/applied communication major from Abernathy, and Thomas Rodriguez, a junior digital media and communication major from Katy, are joined by Dr. Amy Von Lintel, WT professor of art history and director of gender studies in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.

The episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as at wtamu.edu/IAmWTPodcast.

O’Keeffe came to Amarillo in 1912 to teach for the new Amarillo City Public School system. She left to spend time in the East, then returned to the Panhandle to teach at the then-West Texas State Normal College from 1916 to 1918.

Von Lintel is a renowned expert in O’Keeffe’s time in Texas and published “Georgia O’Keeffe’s Wartime Texas Letters” in 2020 and “Georgia O’Keeffe: Watercolors, 1916-1918” in 2016.

She recently facilitated the donation of several unpublished letters by O’Keeffe to a Canyon friend with whom the artist remained in touch after leaving WT.

Von Lintel’s appreciation for O’Keeffe grew after she began teaching at WT.

“When I came here, I wasn’t working on things like regional art history, Georgia O’Keeffe. I was doing things to do with Europe,” Von Lintel said. “But I got lured into a really interesting regional history and art history in this area that surprised me.”

In addition to her books on O’Keeffe, Von Lintel co-authored “Three Women Artists: Expanding Abstract Expressionism in the American West” with Dr. Bonnie Roos, professor of English and head of WT’s Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages.

In the book, the professors argue that central figures in the abstract expressionism movement were women artists who had tight bonds with Amarillo.

Von Lintel also recently was featured speaking about O’Keeffe’s time in Canyon on “Around Texas with Chancellor John Sharp,” in which Sharp highlights The Texas A&M University System’s students, faculty and staff.

“The work that she does here, she kept in her private collection for her life because, I think, it was so foundational for the way she thought about art—not only for her Western aesthetic but also for her balance of nature, inspiration and abstraction,” Von Lintel said in the “Around Texas” segment. “She starts that here.”

The “I Am WT” podcast embodies WT’s commitment to people first, one of the key principles of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021— has raised more than $125 million and will continue through 2025.

In the biweekly episodes of “I Am WT,” student hosts interview WT faculty, staff, students and alumni about what WT means to them.

Audiences hear stories about how attending or working at WT changed the lives of the guests, and how they’re making a difference in their community.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—