San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
 The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in 2007 | |
 | |
| Established | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Location | San Angelo, Texas, USA |
| Type | Art Museum |
| Website | San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts |
The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is an art museum serving 14 counties located in San Angelo, Texas. The museum features a growing permanent collection and is home to traveling exhibitions. In addition it features a research library, an education wing, a rooftop sculpture collection and community meeting space.
History
In July 1981, members of the community of San Angelo came together with the goal of creating a museum of fine arts and established a non-profit organization for this purpose. After sufficient funds were raised the museum opened in the renovated former Quartermaster Building at historic Fort Concho in San Angelo. The museum opened at Fort Concho in the spring of 1985 and was home to traveling exhibitions from the National Portrait Gallery, the Library of Congress and the Dallas Museum of Art. In 1994 the decision was made to build a new dedicated building for the museum. Over $7.2 was raised for its construction and the new facility opened on the banks of the Concho River in September, 1999. The museum has won many awards including the National Award for Museum Service from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2003. In 2005 museum gained accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum now averages approximately 90,000 visitors a year. The permanent collection holds 277 items focusing primarily on Texas artists.[1]
Facilities
The current home of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts was built in 1999. Built along the banks of the Concho River it is directly across from downtown San Angelo and adjacent to the cities River Front concert stage. A winding pedestrian bridge connects the museum to the other side of the river and the parks that run alongside it. The building was designed by the architecture firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. The controversial design features a curved roof designed to resemble a saddle or Conestoga wagon and uses an eclectic mix of local materials including local limestone and end grain Texas mesquite. The building features 30,000 square feet and two main gallery areas with 45 and 35 foot ceilings. It also includes two smaller galleries, a roof top terrace which serves as a sculpture garden overlooking the river and downtown San Angelo, a research library, education wing and office and support space. The museum has also purchased a block of once dilapidated buildings and renovated them into gallery space which it rents out to artists and a new Water Education Center which is operated jointly by the Museum and Upper Colorado River Authority.[2]
References
- ^ "History". Samfa.org. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "Building". Samfa.org. Retrieved 2012-01-08.