Discover the Life and Work of Mel Casas

Melesio “Mel” Casas (1929–2014) was an artist, an educator, and a self-described “cultural adjuster.” Born and raised in El Paso, TX, Casas was drafted into the Korean War, which subsequently allowed him to attend Texas Western College on the G.I. Bill. After earning his BA, he attended the University of the Americas (Mexico City), where he earned his MFA. As an artist, he is perhaps best known for his monumental “Humanscapes” and their cultural commentary; as an educator, he taught and influenced a whole generation of artists while serving as professor and chair at San Antonio College; as a cultural adjuster, he served as the president of the San Antonio art group Con Safo, writing its influential “Brown Paper Report.” His art has been shown locally, nationally, and internationally, and is held in numerous collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, and the San Antonio Museum of Art, among others.

Stefan Greenfield-Casas, PhD