The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art

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The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art is an arts venue located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA).

The collection is a permanent set of galleries dedicated to the arts and cultures of China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia set at the base of Trammell Crow's own namesake tower, the Trammell Crow Center ^[1].

This museum is a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Crow to the people and visitors of Dallas. Admission to the museum is free. When they decided to build the museum and share their collection with the public, they appointed their youngest son, Mr. Trammell S. Crow to be the president of the museum. Mr. Clarence Shangraw, a curator emeritus of the San Francisco Asian Arts Museum was the consultant who selected the initial items for display.

It opened to the public on December 5th, 1998. The emblem of the museum is the lotus.

The museum has three galleries. The first gallery is on the first floor. It is where Japanese art is normally shown, except the time when a travelling exhibit replaces the regular art work from the Crow Collection. This floor has the gift shop: The Lotus Shop. It also has a small Japanese garden.

The second gallery, with the mezzanine, is the Chinese gallery. The jade collection is one of the finest in the US, and is a pillar of the Crow Collection. Most of the items are from the 18th century, when the traditional Chinese jade industry (before the arrival of the industrial age) reached its zenith. There are thin wall jade vases and bowls that are incredibly beautiful and elegant.

So is the building itself. The glass walls and high glass ceilings gives a great sense of openness. The design is heavily influenced by traditional Chinese architecture, including the moon gate.

The sky bridge connects gallery two and gallery three and is arguably the most beautiful place in the whole museum. It is a glass structure, held up by slender steel beams. Looking towards the office building, one sees the fountain and the Ming bronze statue of a Daoist god. At night, this view is dramatic. At the eye level is the sculpture garden and the office tower. On the other side is Flora Street. Across the street is the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Gallery three is dominated by the Mugal wall, hung like a picture from the ceiling. This gallery has some items that are not immediately impressive to the eye, but are historically significant. There is a seventh century Vishnu from the Khmer Empire (present day Cambodia) and a combined Vishnu & Shiva.

The Crow Collection of Asian Arts is very active in bringing traveling exhibits to Dallas. The range of these exhibits is very wide, from samurai armor of the Edo Period, to contemporary Chinese wood carvings. Usually, these exhibits last a few months. Starting December 2006, the Crow Collection entered into a five year partnership with the Rubins Museum in New York. As a result of this partnership, the space behind the Mugal wall is dedicated to Himalayan art from Rubins.

This is one of the jewels of Dallas. It is small enough that one can enjoy the whole collection in an hour. Many pieces are outstanding enough that it takes an hour just to enjoy one.