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Blanton Museum of Art Near Completion

155,000-Square-Foot Complex to House Educational & Public Spaces

Stephen F. Milioti -- Interior Design, 5/12/2005 12:00:00 AM

Chalk one up for Texas: The Lone Star State’s about to claim a major design victory with its newly redesigned Blanton Museum of Art. This fine art museum, which is part of the University of Texas at Austin, was already one of the top university museums in the country, but now it’s going to the next level – courtesy of a redesign by Boston architectural firm Kallmann McKinnell & Wood.

Groundbreaking took place in October 2002 for the new, 155,000-square-foot museum. Museum officials are still working to fulfill the museum’s capital campaign to get it all done. It’s an $83.5 million project in total; to date, $73 million has been raised.

The museum will combine art display spaces with teaching/research areas, so that it can be appreciated by students and the public alike. To that end, the 105,000 square foot Gallery Building -- the larger of two buildings – will house exhibition galleries, the Print and Drawing Study Center, and all collection support areas. Temporary exhibitions will take place on the ground floor, and the second floor will display the Blanton’s permanent collection. The galleries will surround a skylit atrium with 40-foot ceilings, and there will also be two window-lined rotundas. This building will open in February 2006.

Across an open plaza that serves as a pedestrian entry to campus, the second structure – the 50,000 square foot Education, Visitor Services, and Administration Building -- will serve as the hub of educational and social activities, with a 299-seat auditorium, a sixty-seat lecture hall, and several classrooms. This building will also house a café and bookstore, in addition to staff offices, and it will open, according to the museum spokesperson, in late 2006/early 2007.