About the Collections

Permanent Collection

The WFMA Permanent Collection, a major element in exhibition and educational programming for the WFMA, offers audiences opportunities to explore timely themes, engage in visual literacy, and experience American art history.

Consisting primarily of works on paper by American artists, the Permanent Collection holds over 1600 fine art pieces, ranging from 1677 to the present. The Collection also includes paintings, sculptures, and historical photographs. The museum acquired much of its collection from 1967 to 2005, prior to its merger of the museum with Midwestern State University in 2005. Since 2010, the museum has made purchases to expand depth and diversity in the collection, made possible by donations from community members of the WFMA Collectors Circle.

Charles A. Fuhs Collection

The photographs comprising this collection capture a small chapter in a full life lived by Charles Fuhs Sr., a traveling photographer who settled in Wichita Falls and documented the lives of its residents in the 1920's. Fuhs captured the growth of the city and surrounding communities in time‐lapse sequence, ranging from the forest of oil derricks in Burkburnett to a transforming downtown full of parades. He photographed businesses and baptisms, boarding houses and back alleys. While Fuhs helped document the events of his time, the soul of his photographs are in the many faces of the rich and poor he captured with equal respect and dignity.

Collectors Circle Collection

The Collectors Circle, formed by dedicated community members in 2010, creates a vehicle for the Museum to collect in support of its focus of American art on paper. Members experience first-hand what is available in the art market, how selected works enhance the museum's collection, and what goes into the care, conservation, and presentation of art. Members know their impact by seeing acquisitions curated into exhibitions that serve the cultural life of the region and reflect the human experience for generations to come.

Caldecott Collection

This collection of Caldecott book illustrations includes original illustrations from Caldecott Medal recipients and from “runner-up” Honor books, as well as other illustrations by award-winning artists. Since 1938, the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, has recognized the significant impact of art on early reading experiences, awarding the Caldecott Medal for excellence in this area. These illustrations are widely recognized not only as artistic classics in children’s literature, but also as the source of countless beloved memories for the young and young at heart.

Historic Photography Collection

Through the combined collecting of historian Lester Jones and other local advocates of history, the WFMA collection includes a unique cross-section of regional Texas photography documenting local people, places, and industry.