Felipe Reyes

Felipe Reyes is a Chicano artist and educator who graduated from Trinity University with a B.A. in Art in 1973. Reyes was one of the founding members of what would be known as Con Safo, participating in the group from 1968 to 1973. 

Reyes attended Lanier High School in San Antonio, TX eventually dropping out to take care of his father. During this time, Reyes also worked and took classes at the now defunct San Antonio Art Institute located behind the McNay Art Museum. In 1963, Reyes enlisted in the Army and served until 1967. After his service he returned to San Antonio, took his GED, and enrolled in San Antonio College (SAC). Reyes spent two years at SAC before transferring to Trinity University. During his time at both SAC and Trinity, Reyes exhibited extensively with members of Con Safo in San Antonio and Texas including the Farm Workers’ Exhibition hosted in the Laurie Auditorium in November of 1972. 

After his graduation from Trinity, Reyes relocated to Michicigan and pursued a Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan. After he graduated, Reyes taught at the University of Michigan and eventually returned to San Antonio in the late 1970s. In San Antonio, Reyes taught at the University of Texas at San Antonio and San Antonio College During this time Felipe stayed active in the San Antonio art community including exhibiting his work in January 1977 along with Gerry Frost and David Storey at the San Antonio Museum of Modern Art (SAMOMA). 

Reyes taught and retired as an art educator at Harlandale High School in San Antonio. In the 2000s and early 2010s, Reyes maintained an active gallery and studio practice out of Blue Star Arts Complex and later opened his own gallery along with his wife Aanna Reyes. Since 2020 the gallery has transitioned into Reyes’ personal studio.