Pongos Helping Pongos Collaborative Artists

Transitioning from an award-winning executive chef to an artist was a natural choice for Bert Long. After initially exploring the colors and textures of flowers, mushrooms and vegetables in art, he then moved into painting other works and since 1979 has made his living as a fine artist. A Houston resident, his work has been recognized with the Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome 1990-1991, Texas Artist of the Year 1990, the NEA Visual Artist Grant 1987, and many other awards and prizes.


The impressive list of museums, galleries and universities exhibiting Bill Komodore’s work is extensive. He has shown collections all over Texas and throughout the United States, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and more recently, even in Peru. He has taught as a full professor of art at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and has written and lectured widely. He has also studied and collected nineteenth century pottery of the south since 1987.


From going to the Houston Zoo and sketching the animals, to enjoying other outdoor adventures, Glenn Ruthven developed an abiding love and respect for nature. It is out of this background that inspired him to study painting at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, receiving a degree in Fine Arts. It also led him to travel through Europe and Africa shooting documentaries for the Church of England, and he has also worked as an editor and animator. After moving to Austin he began to paint professionally, and created both murals and portraits. He has combined those two specialties into his current work with animals. While not painting he volunteers with a Search and Rescue team and still communes with nature with his family.


After graduating from the University of Houston with her BFA, Whitney Riley has shown her work in galleries and exhibition spaces throughout the city. She has supported and participated in the local art community by creating a critical reviewing group “Feedback”. She also was editor and contributor to a local, hand-produced magazine, and has sat as a juror for group shows. She has been guest lecturer at the University of Houston Honors College, and currently sits on the board at BOX 13 ArtSpace, as well as being one of the founding members and the Treasurer.

“Working with the orangutans was inspiring: watching the energy exchange between them as they created paintings was exciting. Our collaboration illustrates a correlation between the ways that this piece is stitched together and the fundamental way that nature is stitched together.”


Sheila Swift Hurst considers herself to be a “right-brained” person as she has been drawn to art in many forms over the years: singer-songwriter, performer, musician, designer, photographer and painter. She received her degree in Art and English at the Houston Baptist University, where she now serves as Assistant Gallery Director.  Her focus now is primarily music and fine art and balances her time between art, performing with her band and graphic design. Her most creative pieces to date are her 18-month old twins!  

“My collaboration with the Siamangs was a natural fit for my abilities due to their great musical capacity, harmonic singing and innate appeal.”

“Before 2002, I had not considered myself an “artist”.  My images were instead a unique moment in time captured so that I would not have to rely on my memory alone to tell the story. The thought of selling them or even showing them to the public as art was something that terrified me.  My life with Patrick changed that and I began to see that documenting the history of the world in which I live is not only a way to connect with it, but also a powerful way to create a voice for myself.”

From an early age, Patrick Medrano has been painting and sculpting, and his talents were recognized as early as in middle school. Largely self-taught, his work has been shown and sought after both nationally and internationally, by major collectors and museums. He recently won the “2009 Mastermind Award” and the “2009 Houston’s Best Artist Award”. His works often contain a mechanical element or frames that incorporate exaggerated puppets, electronic devices and lighting elements that are merged with human characteristics.

"The process for any of my works whether it is a painting, sculpture or even a puppet show is the same: “in the moment”.  Always like a little wave that’s born and breaks at its own will. The goal is to produce, inspire, promote and educate the creative spirit. "


Born in Hyderabad, India, Rahul Mitra is an artist, printmaker, writer, scientist and entrepreneur. Now living in Houston, his work has been exhibited by the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Lawndale Art Center, The Art League of Houston, The Slovakian Academy of Art, The Academy of Art in Serbia, and in several galleries in India. He is currently in collaborative projects with artists from the USA, India and Slovakia, and was instrumental in bringing the first contemporary Indian art exhibition to Houston, hosted by G Gallery. His stories have been published in literary journals from “Gowanus” in NYC to “Tell Tales” in the UK.

“My subjects of art are personal and socio-political, exploring poverty, ennui, custom, love, and strangeness captured as moments in life in urban spaces.”