Blanton Museum, Art museum at University of Texas campus, Austin, United States.
The Blanton Museum of Art sits on the University of Texas campus and houses thousands of artworks spanning European, American, and Latin American collections. The modern building features spacious galleries designed to display paintings, prints, and drawings from different time periods and regions.
In 1927 Archer M. Huntington donated about 4,300 acres in Galveston County to the University of Texas; the resulting fund bought over 1,400 works. The museum opened in 1963 as the University Art Museum, with Donald Goodall as first director. Renamed the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery in 1979, it became the Blanton Museum of Art after a $12 million Houston Endowment gift in 1997. The Michener Gallery Building opened in 2006.
The museum's name honors Jack S. Blanton, a Houston Endowment chairman whose 1997 gift of $12 million launched the building campaign. Outside, Carmen Herrera's site-specific mural Verde, que te quiero verde runs the length of the Michener Gallery Building's loggia, and twelve three-story petals shade the Moody Patio.
The museum stands at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue on the UT Austin campus. The Moody Patio, shaded by twelve three-story petals, forms the entrance plaza off the paved area, with lawns and seating on either side. The Michener Gallery Building and the Smith Building hold the galleries; the Ellsworth Kelly building, Austin, stands separately on the grounds.
The museum houses a special artwork by renowned artist Ellsworth Kelly that serves as his final completed work and exists only at this location. The piece merges architecture with art installation using colored glass windows and marble elements to create a singular visual experience.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,783 contributors worldwide.
