What Starts Here Changes the Art World

Blanton takes place among world's best art museums with latest acquisition

Blanton Museum of Art presents SoundSpace: Music of the 1990s

Austin's Blanton Museum of Art joins the ranks of the world's greatest art museums with latest acquisition.

Photo by Gabriel Cristóver Pérez

For years, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros has made headlines for giving portions of her massive Latin American art collection to museums around the world. On Wednesday, the influential Venezuelan art collector announced she would once again be donating more than 200 pieces to six renowned institutions, including the Blanton Museum of Art, part of The University of Texas at Austin.

Also receiving portions of the gift are The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York City; the Museo de Arte de Lima in Peru; Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires in Argentina; and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.

The Austin art museum will receive 45 of the 202 pieces, second only to the MoMA which will receive 88. For the Blanton, the acquisition bolsters the museum's Latin American art collection to rival that of the most prominent art institutions in the world.

“As leaders in the exhibition and study of art from Latin America, we look forward to being able to illuminate new connections in our collection and to offer opportunities for diverse audiences to learn about and appreciate Latin American art," said the Blanton's director, Simone Wicha.

In an interview with theNew York Times, Cisernos points out that this is more than just showcasing beautiful work, it's about creating dialogue. "Our mission has always been to build bridges of understanding between Latin America and the U.S. and the rest of the world, rather than to build walls,” she told the Times.

The pieces come from a collection that Cisneros has spent more than 40 years amassing. Her gift includes works from prominent Latin American artists including Mateo Manuare, Claudio Perna, Leda Catunda, Mariana Castillo Deball, and Mateo López. The donation also adds work from 20 new artists to the Blanton's permanent collection.

Wednesday's gift marks Cisernos' second major donation to the Blanton. In summer 2017, she gave a collection of colonial Latin American art to the museum.

“The Blanton is known for its longstanding and comprehensive collection of art from Latin America and for its dedication to furthering scholarship and interdisciplinary study in the field of Latin American art," Cisernos said in a release.

In keeping with that spirit of scholarship, the Blanton says Cisernos' gift will become a cornerstone of the museum's teaching collection, and will offer new possibilities for collaboration across educational disciplines.

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Get Mesmerized

Buzzy art collective Mesmerize opens new immersive space in Austin

A woman walks up the exhibit's rainbow stairway to the clouds.

Photo courtesy of Mesmerize.

Living Dream features over 14 interactive, psychedelic art installations, like this dreamlike stairway to the clouds.

On November 13, a new immersive art experience in South Austin officially opened its trippy, dream-like doors. It's by Mesmerize, the team that operated a similar and hugely popular exhibit from 2020-2021 at the now-closed Native Hostel on 5th Street.

Living Dream is a series of mazes and more than 14 installations created by local artists. Guests can move through, interact with, and of course, take psychedelic photos with the space. It's sort of like Meow Wolf, but smaller and with a different storyline and theme.

In Living Dream, the story is that this regular, rather plain-looking warehouse facility in South Austin has been fractured by a strange force of nature: the eight-foot-tall Colossal Crystal. Now lines between ordinary Austin life and fantasy are blurred, and Austinites are welcome to explore it.

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Aside from this crystal centerpiece, other art installations include a dreamy, rainbow mural that you can step inside by artist Inne Aguilar; a projection-mapped room featuring Bill Tavis's signature psychedelic painting style; a tufted hidden crawlspace by Hannah Buserkus; the nightmarish but whimsical "Mulligrub Meadow" by artist Liza Fishbone; and a rainbow stairway to the clouds.

Of course it wouldn't feel right to walk through such a dreamy space in utter silence, so the creators brought in musicians like Alex Scott, A.M. Architect, Austin Ray, Andrea Magee, and many more to create an original score for the experience.

Mesmerize Living Dream Mesmerize shared this photo thanking Inne Aguilar for her work.Mesmerize/Instagram

This multi-sensory and family-friendly adventure may be one of Mesmerize's most in-depth. It operated its Native Hostel exhibit, This Is Mesmerize, for nine months, and racked up countless Instagram posts. The exhibit closed in 2021, about two years before Native Hostel closed. Mesmerize has also collaborated with various artists and and collectives over the years to throw some of the trippiest art parties in town.

Living Dream by Mesmerize is located at 820 Shelby Ln., and is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 3 pm to 11 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 11 pm.

interactive exhibits immersive