An El Paso native, Lester Hughes was a self-taught artist who painted imaginative landscapes of the Southwest, often with horseback-riding cowboys intent on their duties. In 1969, Lester Hughes quit his job as a business supply salesman to become a full-time artist. His work was presented to President-elect Ronald Reagan during a 1976 campaign stop in El Paso. President Ronald Reagan purchased over a dozen paintings by Hughes, and some of them hung in the White House during Reagan's tenure. Reagan honored Hughes in Time Magazine in 1981. Members of Congress and Senators, as well as numerous other celebrities such as actress Betty White, golfer Lee Trevino, and ex-Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford, are among the collectors of his work. The 70s was the height of the artist's career.

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