The public is invited to attend the upcoming inductions into the West Texas Walk of Fame for 2024. The honorees are: Gerald Dolter, Tina Fuentes, Steve Meador, and James Watkins. There will also be a special remembrance of Don Caldwell. The induction ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 7:00pm in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Theatre located at 1501 Mac Davis Lane. Doors will open to the public at 6:30pm.
Gerald Dolter: Singer, Educator and Producer
Gerald Dolter began singing at an early age and went on to obtain degrees in Voice and Arts Administration at Indiana University’s School of Music. In 1995 Gerald joined the Texas Tech School of Music before becoming the Director of TTU Opera Theatre in 1998. During this time, Gerald sought to program a wide variety of operatic works to expand both student and public interest in his field. His production of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Into The Woods’ was staged not in a theatre, but in a hotel atrium, making use of trees, pools and shrubs to bring his vision to life. However, nothing represented Gerald’s visionary thinking more than when he created the musical theatre company Lubbock Moonlight Musicals in 2006. The company opened the then named Wells Fargo Amphitheatre with a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! Moonlight Musicals has since gone on to become a staple of West Texas performing over 50 musicals since 2006. Gerald’s vision not only included performances, but also a way to support students throughout the community. This has resulted in Moonlight Musicals being able to pay out more than $1 million in student stipends. As a performer, Gerald has been recognized nationally and internationally winning several major awards, including the National Winner in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1984, the Premio Galeffi at Italy’s Concorso International per Voci Verdiane in 1984, and collecting first place in the International Vocal completion in Ghent, Belgium in 1986. Gerald was the leading baritone with Germany’s Bremen Opera from 1985 to 1991 where he performed many diverse roles, and has amassed 96 operatic characterizations to date. Gerald continues his work with Moonlight Musicals to this day as the Artistic Director and his contribution to the performing arts is felt far and wide.
Tina Fuentes: Painter
Born in San Angelo in 1949, and raised in Odessa, Texas, Tina Fuentes began her artistic journey when she studied art at Odessa College before earning her Bachelors & Master in Fine Arts at North Texas State University. Tina established herself as a professional artist through her numerous one-woman, group, museum and gallery exhibitions in the United States, working predominantly in painting, drawing and printmaking. Tina’s reputation has led her to receive numerous grants throughout her career, most notable when in 2014 The National Science Foundation sponsored two large exhibitions as part of a collaborative federal initiative on art and atmospheric science. Tina’s work has been showcased in dozens of exhibitions, ranging from the permanent collection at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming. When she isn’t exhibiting her work across the country, Tina regularly serves as an exhibition juror and board member on groups such as the Albuquerque Arts Board and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Tina joined Texas Tech University as a Professor in the School of Art in 1986, later becoming a department Director in 2004 before her retirement in 2019. Upon her retirement, she was given the honorary title of Emerita Professor. Tina continues her work at her studio in Lubbock, taking inspiration from her West Texas roots and applying it to her art for everyone to enjoy.
Steve Meador: Stage and Studio Musician
Born in Slaton, Texas in 1952 and raised on a cotton farm in Lynn County, Steve Meador became a percussionist in High School before attending the University of Texas where he majored in music theory and composition. While there, Steve co-founded seminal Austin jazz band Passenger who were awarded the Best Jazz performing band prize at the 1981-82 and 1982-83 Austin Music Awards. Steve continued his musical rise as he joined national and international tours, performing with musicians such as Leonard Cohen, Joe Ely, and Carole King. Performing was not just limited to tours, Steve also played many times on television on Austin City Limits, and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has graced the stage at some of the world’s most famous venues, including Carnegie Hall, New York, the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK, and the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. Despite his success on the international stage, Steve continued to grow his strong connection with Lubbock and West Texas as the original drummer for the Lubbock Rhythm Machine, the first band of the Cactus Theatre, where he also went on to play J.I. Allison in a production of The Buddy Holly Story. Steve lives with his wife Kathy in Marble Falls and continues to perform with fellow Walk of Fame inductee Jay Boy Adams. Steve’s story proves that no matter how far your talent takes you, West Texas will always bring you home.
James Watkins: Ceramic Artist
James Watkins was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1951 and graduated from Kansas City Art Institute with a Fine Arts degree, and Indiana University with his Master of Fine Arts. Early in his career, James moved to Lubbock where he spent 35 years teaching in the College of Architecture, focusing on ceramics and architectural delineation. From his base in Lubbock, James went on to garner both national and international recognition for his work, when in 1993 his work was included in the White House Collection of American Crafts at the Clinton Library. His work is held in 27 permanent collections throughout the US, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York and internationally at the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies in Shigaraki, Japan. James is a Texas Tech University, Horn Distinguished Professor Emeritus. The Horn Professorship is the highest honor Texas Tech may bestow on faculty members and is awarded only to those professors who have achieved a national and international recognition for their creative achievements. In 2023 the State of Texas recognized James’ importance and standing by making him the 2023 Texas State Visual Artist in 3D. James continues to work from his home studio in Lubbock, where he experiments with new techniques and materials, and is reminded daily of the most important lesson he says that he has learned in his career, that “fire has the potential to do the unexpected.”
