About The Rizo Collection
Preserving American Art. Sharing It With West Virginia.
Founder & Curator
Jose L. Rizo
Jose L. Rizo is the founder of The Rizo Collection, a southern West Virginia-based art collection of more than 2,000 works focused on early 20th-century American art, Depression Era painting, American realism, and the Ashcan School.
Born in Mexico and raised between Southern California and West Virginia, Jose has called southern West Virginia home since 1993. Alongside his family, he owns El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant in Beaver, WV, and Tazewell, VA.
What began as a lifelong love of drawing, comics, and illustration has grown into a public mission: preserving overlooked artists, curating exhibitions, and making art more accessible through gallery shows, publishing, documentary film, digital storytelling, and the ArtFinder app.
The Collection
American Realism, Appalachian Access
The Rizo Collection is rooted in Jose’s deep interest in early 20th-century American art, especially the realist movements that turned attention toward everyday life. Ashcan School artists, Depression Era painters, American Scene artists, regional realists, and working artists all share a common thread: they captured people, streets, labor, neighborhoods, landscapes, and ordinary moments with honesty and force.
That same spirit guides the collection today. Jose is drawn to artists who documented the world around them, whether in New York streets, small-town America, Appalachian communities, or quiet interior scenes. Many of these artists were highly skilled but under-recognized, remembered only through scattered auction records, family archives, or private collections.
The Rizo Collection exists to bring those works - and those stories - back into view.
Happening Now
Exhibitions, Events, and Public Projects
The Rizo Collection regularly presents exhibitions, pop-up shows, artist features, and community arts events throughout West Virginia and beyond. These projects often pair works from Jose’s private collection with contemporary regional artists, creating a bridge between historic American art and the creative voices working today.
Jose has curated and supported more than a dozen exhibitions across Beckley, Princeton, and Parkersburg, helping share historic works, regional artists, and private collections with broader audiences.