One of the nation’s foremost university art museums and the leading art museum serving the city of Austin and Central Texas, the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art houses a permanent collection that spans the history of Western civilization. From Old Master paintings, drawings, and prints to cutting-edge sculptures and multi-media installations, the Blanton’s collection serves as the foundation for the wide range of special exhibitions and educational programs that it offers.

The Blanton houses European paintings, prints, and drawings; American and contemporary art; and Latin American art. Old Master paintings are strongly represented, with a special emphasis on Italian painting from the late Renaissance through the Baroque. The prints and drawings collection features significant examples of all periods, schools, and major masters, from Dürer and Rembrandt to Picasso and Johns. The history of American art is represented by the American and contemporary collection, featuring the Mari and James A. Michener Collection, with its excellent examples of regionalism, modernism, postwar abstraction, and minimalism, as well as dynamic contemporary works by established and emerging artists. Significantly, the Blanton has the leading collection of modern and contemporary Latin American art in the United States, with works representing artists from Mexico, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Currently under construction is a new museum complex that will provide much-needed space for the Blanton’s rapidly growing collection and allow the museum to serve the community better. The new Blanton will open its doors in late 2005 on the southern edge of The University of Texas at Austin campus, near the heart of downtown Austin. With impressive views of the Texas State Capitol and sparkling city skyline, the museum will be one of the crown jewels in the emerging museum district that includes the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, the Harry Ransom Center, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, and the Texas Memorial Museum, and it will serve as a cultural gateway between the Central Texas community and the university. When the facility is complete, the Blanton will be the largest university art museum in the country and the third-largest art museum in the state of Texas.

A work of art in itself, the museum complex will be designed by Kallmann, McKinnell, and Wood, Inc., internationally renowned architects, and will complement the Spanish-Colonial Revival architecture style seen throughout the university campus, with multiple varieties of limestone, Texas granite, Venetian plaster, and Spanish red tile. Uniting the museum complex will be a pedestrian plaza and garden—a village green—designed by Peter Walker of Peter Walker Partners, one of the designers for the World Trade Center Memorial, in collaboration with Mel Chin, who is recognized for his innovative and multi-disciplinary works of art.

Selections from the Blanton collection are currently displayed in our present location in the Art Building on the university campus. There are three exhibitions on view from August 2004 to May 2005—Twister: Moving through Color, 1965–75; The Blanton Builds: A Look at Your New Museum; and 500 Years of Prints and Drawings.

The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 9–5, Thursday 9–9, and Saturday and Sunday 1–5. Admission is free. The museum is located at 23rd and San Jacinto St., on the UT campus. For further information please call 512-471-7324 or visit www.blantonmuseum.org.

Thanks to the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art and Sheree Scarborough for the article and photos.