Gerald Dolter, Tina Fuentes and James Watkins were inducted on October 3.

Three former Texas Tech University faculty members have been named to the West Texas Walk of Fame by Civic Lubbock Inc. The organization’s board has been adding to this list of local talent since 1979. 

The inductees affiliated with Texas Tech this year are Gerald Dolter, Tina Fuentes and James Watkins. 

Dolter joined the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts’ (TCVPA) School of Music as a faculty member in 1995. After former Texas Tech Opera Theatre Director John Gillas retired in 1998, Dolter was appointed director of the program. Dolter’s teaching has impacted countless students, catalyzing careers on stages across the world. Dolter also founded Moonlight Musicals, a program that provides family-friendly entertainment, musical theater education and professional development opportunities across the South Plains. Before coming to Lubbock, Dolter began his professional singing career in opera houses across the U.S. and Europe. During the late 1980s, Dolter was the leading baritone in Germany’s Bremen Opera. 

“I’ve pitched a lot of artistic ideas over the years to the leadership at Texas Tech, and I was never told ‘no,’” Dolter said. “Sometimes the idea didn’t work, but leadership always tried to support my ideas; that’s been so valuable to me. The one thing of even greater value, though, has been the growth of the students I’ve been entrusted with over the years.”

Concerning Moonlight Musicals, Dolter attributes its success to the community. 

“Lubbock should give itself a pat on the back,” he said. “The city has seen the importance of the performing arts and has come together to make it happen.” 

Dolter retired from Texas Tech this year but will remain involved with School of Music events and continue as the artistic director of Moonlight Musicals. 

Fuentes taught at Texas Tech’s School of Art, housed within TCVPA, from 1986 until 2019, when she retired as professor emerita. She was the school’s interim director twice and served as director from 2010 to 2013. Fuentes’ paintings, drawings and printmaking have been shown around the world from Texas to China, Mexico and Japan. In addition to teaching, Fuentes contributed to the research initiatives of the university in 2015 when she and Eric Bruning, professor of atmospheric science, secured a $733,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant was to further the research of combustions in cloud formations and express those movements in an artistic medium. Fuentes was awarded $70,000 of the grant allocation for her work alone, an amount few artists ever see, she said. 

“I’m a person who likes to share and help others, so what better position to be in than that of teaching,” Fuentes said. “I knew I wanted to teach at the university level, so once I got that opportunity, that was it.” 

Fuentes became, and still is, deeply involved in the Lubbock community and its many artistic endeavors. She’s been an active contributor to the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) for many years, helping with galleries and community events. She also was an integral part of getting the Buddy Holly Center open in 2002. 

“Lubbock has grown so much since I arrived here almost 40 years ago,” she said. “I have noticed tremendous growth in the arts. The involvement at all levels, from festivals to the First Friday Art Trail to live shows at the Buddy Holly Hall, is just amazing.” 

Fuentes continues to reside in Lubbock and runs her own studio. 

Watkins has ties to not only one college at Texas Tech but two. The Horn Distinguished Professor taught full-time at the Huckabee College of Architecture (HCOA) and taught ceramics for the School of Art in the summer at the Texas Tech Center at Junction. Watkins taught from 1983 until 2018. In 2006, he was named a Horn Distinguished Professor, the highest achievement a faculty member can earn at Texas Tech. In 2023, he received the Texas State Visual Artist 3D Award presented by the Texas Commission on the Arts. It is the highest honor the state awards visual artists.

Watkins taught architectural delineation, beginning design, watercolor and architecture ceramics for HCOA, while publishing multiple books and participating in artist-in-residence programs worldwide. In 2005, Watkins received a Fulbright Senior Fellowship to further his research in Vietnam. His work has appeared in the White House Collection of American Crafts and the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, just to name a few. 

“Texas Tech supported me when I was awarded three separate faculty development leaves to further my research,” Watkins said. “That kind of support was wonderful; it allowed me to get recognition and in turn, brought recognition to the university.

“Being named to the West Texas Walk of Fame is the icing on the cake. I could never imagine something like this happening, and I’m so glad my children and grandchildren can see this, as well as my mother, who is now 92 years old.”