The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art is the art museum and research center of the University of Texas at Austin. Formerly under the College of Fine Arts, the museum director now reports to the University's Executive Vice-President and Provost. The museum is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, housing some 18,000 works from Europe, the United States and Latin America.[1][2]
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The Blanton was established in 1963 as the University Art Museum. The museum's collections were originally displayed and stored in the Art Building, until 1972 when the permanent collection moved to gallery spaces in the Harry Ransom Center (then called the Humanities Research Center). In 1980, the museum was renamed the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery.[3]
On April 30, 2006, the museum opened a new 155,000 square foot (14,000 m²) facility on the University's campus, renamed the Blanton Museum of Art, after receiving a $12 million donation from Houston Endowment Inc. in honor of its former chairman, Jack S. Blanton.[4] The new complex was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects.
Although the Museum was built as designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects, they were not the first architectural firm hired for the project.[3] The notable Swiss-based architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron had originally been commissioned for the project, but resigned the commission in 1999 due to differences in their design and the wishes of the Board of Regents regarding the university's Campus Master Plan. Lawrence Speck, disappointed in the series of events that led to Herzog & de Meuron's resignation, resigned as dean of the School of Architecture, although he remains a faculty member.[5]