New Landmark

Monumental 4,000-square-foot mural joins UT Austin's public art collection

A monumental new mural from critically acclaimed artist José Parlá will soon join the award-winning Landmarks collection at the University of Texas at Austin. Featuring his characteristic traces of collage and distinctive calligraphic marks, the mural will be the artist’s most ambitious project to date.

The colossal piece will occupy some 4000 square feet, covering a 25-foot-by-160-foot wall in the entrance to the Zlotnik Family Ballroom of Robert B. Rowling Hall. Rowling Hall is set to open in the spring of 2018 as the new graduate education building and architectural anchor for the McCombs School of Business' graduate program.

Parla’s sweeping mural will be a signature feature of the new space, evoking Austin’s natural environment and its urban cityscape. His work is the latest announcement from the Landmarks collection at UT, which has commissioned dozens of public installations from contemporary artists across UT’s 433-acre main campus. Open to all, the collection provides students and visitors with opportunities to engage with great art.

“The sheer scale of this undertaking is arresting,” says Landmarks’ founding director, Andrée Bober, in a statement, “and José Parlá is the perfect artist to tackle it ... Beyond the visual delight of his painting, I think people will connect with his evocation of history, memory, and the experience of life and the landscape of Austin.”

The unveiling will take place in January 2018, with an artist Q&A led by American culture critic and curator, Carlo McCormick.

The mural will be unveiled in 2018.

$Jos\u00e9 Parl\u00e1 mural$

Photo courtesy of the University of Texas at Austin

The mural will be unveiled in 2018.

New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

museums galleries history texas