Barrett Bingo, round 2: Blanton Museum gets 12 works in DMA lottery

UT’s Blanton Museum drew the short straw and won twelve works by celebrated Texas artists through a lottery organized by the Dallas Museum of art to distribute some of Richard and Nona Barrett’s extensive collection to museums across the state. In 2003, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston held a lottery to re-gift 229 of the 305 works the Barretts gave them; now the DMA is doing the same with their 2010 Barrett booty, including works by Melissa Miller, Jesse Amado, Dixie Friend Gay, and Luanne Stovall. Museums have always had to find clever ways of dealing with the ups and downs of the Barrett Collection (and the ups and downs of regional art!): a 2004 Barrett Collection show at the Meadows Museum drew the ire of several Texas artists when curator Ted Pillsbury didn’t hang their work though it was included on the show’s invitation, instead selecting a show that “albeit smaller than some would like, looks good in the Hamon galleries.”