Making History Through Art: Rita Reyes, First Museum Studies Graduate

Rita Reyes made Texas Southern University history in December 2023 when she became the first graduate of the Museum Studies minor. Her artistic journey started as a child attending a summer art program in Studewood Park through the City of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts. 

“I always take people to the park to show them the first mural I ever created,” Reyes says. 

That piece of community art was the spark that ignited a lifelong passion. Today, that passion has carried her to a Graduate fellowship with the Smithsonian.

Returning to the Classroom

Reyes’s journey to making history at Texas Southern was anything but straightforward. A first-generation college student, she initially pursued social work but left school after just one semester. She spent years in the workforce, primarily in hospitality, before realizing something was missing.

“Being at work every day and not doing what made me happy pushed me back to art,” Reyes recalled. “I knew art was always around me. I had been pursuing it on a personal and entrepreneurial level, but I thought school could connect me to the people I needed to meet in Houston.”

When she returned to campus a decade later unsure of where to begin, she met Dr. Alvia Wardlaw at an event for prospective students. That moment changed everything.

“She said, ‘Yes, we have an art program.’ I thought, wow, I’m going to have to pursue this,” Reyes said.

Building the Museum Studies Program

Not long after Reyes re-enrolled, Texas Southern launched its Museum Studies program, a perfect fit for her aspirations. She became the first student to declare the minor and later the first to graduate from it.

The experience gave her a degree. More importantly, it aligned her passion with a mission. For her capstone project, Reyes and her classmates raised funds to support the program, knowing their efforts would benefit generations of students after them. 

“Even if I didn’t continue at TSU, I would have left something for the students who came behind me,” she said.

For Reyes, the program was as much about access as it was about art history. Growing up, her family often took advantage of free museum days, but she never imagined being behind the scenes. That changed when a staff member at the Museum of Fine Arts took her into a restricted collections area as a child. 

“It wasn’t about the historical part,” she said. “It was about being able to access all of that. Coming from my background, I never knew those kinds of things even existed in museum spaces. I said, I want to be a part of this.”

Smithsonian Graduate Fellow

That dream became reality when Reyes was selected as a Smithsonian Graduate Fellow, an opportunity that even she initially struggled to grasp. 

“At first, I didn’t realize the magnitude,” she admitted. “But when people hear ‘Smithsonian,’ they’re amazed. They tell me, ‘It doesn’t get any bigger than that.’”

The fellowship involves conducting research on Texas Southern University’s permanent collection, including terracotta works, murals in Hannah Hall, and African art pieces. Reyes has focused her research on women artists, digging into archives like the university’s digitized yearbooks to uncover histories that had long been overlooked.

Advice for Future Tigers

Reyes often reflects on her 10-year gap away from school and what it taught her. 

“People always ask, do you take that step in your career or go back to school?” she said. “For me, it’s always 100-percent: go back. Education gives you the level of skill you’d otherwise spend years trying to reach.”

Now, with her name etched in Texas Southern history as the first Museum Studies graduate and her career elevated through the Smithsonian, Reyes embodies the importance of persistence, access, and representation. 

“I always feel like I came back at the perfect time,” she said.

As she continues her work, one thing is certain: from murals in a neighborhood park to the nation’s most prestigious museums, Rita Reyes is painting a path for others to follow.