Joe Villareal, an artist whose colorful and joyful work is featured throughout the University’ Senator Frank L. Madla Building, passed away from cancer recently at the age of 72. The San Antonio native leaves behind a notable legacy, as his paintings and sculptures are not only featured throughout the city, but also on the national stage.
Raised on the city’s West Side, Villarreal graduated from Louis W. Fox Technical High School in 1971. His art portfolio spans over 50 years, much of it depicting growing up Mexican American in the United States.
“La Familia,” for example, one of about a dozen of his oil on canvas paintings in Madla, showcases the joy and love of a multigenerational home at Christmas during the 1960s, complete with breakfast tacos and tamales.
There’s also the fanciful papier maché sculpture in Madla’s lobby, dubbed “El Icecrinero,” a colloquial term used in the artist’s West Side neighborhood meaning Ice Cream Man.
One of his more dramatic and powerful pieces was commissioned by A&M-San Antonio and shows a growling jaguar perched on a rock. In the background is a vast Texas sky and the “Torre de Esperanza,” or “Tower of Hope,” which marks the main entrance of the University.
Elsewhere in San Antonio, Villarreal’s work can be found outside the historic West Side restaurant Golden Star Cafe. The larger-than-life sculptures of a spinning top and kite are homage to the games he used to play as a child.
Villarreal’s art also caught the attention of Hollywood. His painting "Looking for a Game" was animated in the television show “King of the Hill” in 2000. More recently, in 2020, his painting "Las Canicas" was featured in the background of "Selena: The Series,” on Netflix.
Following Villarreal’s death, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg described him as “a visionary artist who found the beauty in the everyday life of San Antonio and elevated it for all the world to see.”