Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art Receives Luce Foundation Grant (original) (raw)

Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art

University of Texas at Austin, TX

512-471-7324

http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/hag

Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art Receives Luce Foundation Grant

Under the auspices of the American Collections Enhancement Initiative, the Henry Luce Foundation has generously awarded the Blanton a grant of $125,000 to fund New Perspectives an American Art, a multi-disciplinary program designed to expand awareness and use of the Museum's holdings of twentieth-century American art, particularly the Mari and James A. Michener Collection. One of the most comprehensive university collections of twentieth-century American painting, the Michener Collection includes more than 300 paintings from 1900 to the present and represents nearly all major American art movements of this century, including exceptional works by Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Evergood, Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb, Marsden Hartley, Robert Henri, Hans Hofmann, Brice Marden, and Joan Mitchell.

Extending from Fall 1999 through Spring 2002, New Perspectives will bring a diverse group of visiting scholars to the Blanton in order to research, lecture, and write about works in the Museum's collection using recent critical and historical methodologies. "The opportunity to involve critics, artists, and art historians - each celebrated for their independence of viewpoint, breadth of cultural knowledge, and the curiosity with which they seek out new research topics - in a new investigation of the Blanton's twentieth-century American works is timely as we prepare to reinstall the collection in our new facility, scheduled to open in 2003," remarked Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, Curator of American and Contemporary Art and Director of the New Perspectives program.

The findings and results of New Perspectives will be made available to scholars and the general public through a printed collection of essays, a web page, public lectures by visiting scholars, and gallery talks. In addition, new research on the Michener Collection will be included in a forthcoming catalogue on the Blanton's American holdings. "The Luce Foundation is pleased to sponsor this innovative program, which will not only foster understanding of the Michener Collection as an important cultural resource, but also make a substantial contribution to American art scholarship," stated Ellen Holtzman, Program Director for the Arts at the Luce Foundation.

Read more about the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art in Resource Library Magazine

Search for more articles and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artistsfor biographical information on historic artists.

This page was originally published in 1999 in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information.