February 27 - March 29, 2026
McKelvey Charitable Fund Gallery
Reception Saturday, March 14th | 5-7PM
RISING EYES OF TEXAS
Every year, Rockport Center for the Arts hosts a statewide, juried exhibition for undergraduate and graduate students emerging in the field of visual arts. Submission fees are just $5 for up to three artwork submissions. Each year a guest juror is chosen to award cash prizes for first, second and third place. Two additional awards include the Curator’s Choice Award, selected by RCA and the Giesey Family Award, selected by long time sponsors of the Rising Eyes of Texas exhibit.
This year’s guest juror is Rockport Center for the Arts’ 2026 Rockport Art Festival Master Artist and former curator of exhibitions, Elena Rodz. Born in Chalk Mountain, Texas, Elena Rodz spent her childhood among barn cats and open skies. Her early love of art was nurtured by visits to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum with her grandmother. After earning a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art, she established studios in Brooklyn before returning to Texas in 2013.
Rodz fell in love with the flat, vast landscape of the Gulf Coast and made Corpus Christi her permanent home. She served as curator for Rockport Center for the Arts for a decade, helping to connect a small town with the larger contemporary art world. Since 2023, she has taught at Del Mar College, mentoring the next generation of artists. Her home is lovingly shared with pets who outnumber the people two-to-one.
Past jurors: 2025 - Sara Morgan (Director, Art Museum of South Texas), 2024 - Tracy Saucier (director of the Beeville Art Museum), 2023 - Tanja Peterson (gallery director, Redbud Arts Center), 2022 - Joseph Cohen (artist, and founder of Davis Cohen Fine Art), 2021 - Rigoberta Luna (co-owner Presa House), 2020 - Rebecca Gomez (independent curator, former curator Mexic-arte Museum), 2019 - Hollis Hammonds (Professor of Art, St. Edwards University), 2018 - Rainey Knudson (founder of Glasstire).
2026 Rising Eyes of Texas Exhibition Dates: February 27 - March 29, 2026.