Glassell School of Art Dean to Present Personal Exhibition
Imagined Ancestors
August 15 through October 4, 2026
A collection of works by Patrick Palmer, dean of the Studio School, the exhibition Imagined Ancestors highlights the generations of people who shaped his life in both profound and small ways. The paintings and sculptures tackle the impossible idea that there could be a singular moment or expression that defines these individuals. Palmer investigates these quiet moments to better understand how the past and present are forever connected. His paintings primarily use portraiture and symbolism to build layered narratives about power, memory, identity, and human behavior. He sees himself first and foremost as a storyteller who paints. Patrick Palmer is a painter, educator, and visual storyteller who has spent over fifty years creating art and more than four decades teaching it. He currently serves as dean and faculty chair of the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where he has taught since 1991 and served as dean since 2011. Palmer earned a BA in drawing and printmaking from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1977, before completing an MFA at Arizona State University in 1979, where he studied drawing and lithography. Throughout his career, Palmer’s work has entered the collections of major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Denver Art Museum, along with numerous universities, corporate, public, and private collections. For images, please visit here. Interviews are available upon requests. Related Events Reception – Friday, August 28 at 6 p.m. Gallery Tour – Wednesday, September 16 at 12:30 p.m. Artist Talk – Saturday, September 19 at 11 a.m. Location The Glassell School of Art Levant Foundation Gallery 5101 Montrose Boulevard Admission Admission to this exhibition is free. Funding “Imagined Ancestors” is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The exhibition is supported by the Arthur Turner & Reavis Maggard Glassell Instructor Development Fund.
A collection of works by Patrick Palmer, dean of the Studio School, the exhibition Imagined Ancestors highlights the generations of people who shaped his life in both profound and small ways. Patrick Palmer is a painter, educator, and visual storyteller who has spent over fifty years creating art and more than four decades teaching it. He currently serves as dean and faculty chair of the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where he has taught since 1991 and served as dean since 2011.
Reception – Friday, August 28 at 6 p.m.
Gallery Tour – Wednesday, September 16 at 12:30 p.m.
Artist Talk – Saturday, September 19 at 11 a.m.
The Glassell School of Art
Levant Foundation Gallery
5101 Montrose Boulevard
Admission Admission to this exhibition is free.
Funding “Imagined Ancestors” is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The exhibition is
supported by the Arthur Turner & Reavis Maggard Glassell Instructor Development Fund.
mfah.org
