Last week, the Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Museum received the 10th Bernardo de Gálvez Award from the Fundación Consejo España – Estados Unidos, a private nonprofit Spanish organization that seeks to strengthen relationships between Spain and the United States.
Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU was established in 1997 and its board consists of Spanish corporations, cultural and academic institutions, and members of the nation’s public administration. Created in 2007, the award is named after politician and soldier Bernardo de Gálvez, who was the one-time governor of Louisiana (1777) and viceroy of New Spain (1985-1986), and who commissioned a survey of Texas’ Gulf Coast, ultimately leading to the charting of what is now called Galveston Bay. Past recipients of the award include the Library of Congress, historian Stanley G. Payne, 2016 United States Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine, and the Ford Motor Company.
According to a press release, the award recognizes the Meadows, a museum that exclusively focuses on Spanish art, as a “permanent cultural embassy of Spain in the United States.” Additionally, Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU pointed to the Meadows’ work, over the last few decades, to cultivate relationships with important Spanish art and cultural institutions, including the Museo Nacional del Prado, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Museo Reina Sofía, the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid, Fundación MAPFRE, Fundación Juan March, and Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí.
The director of the Meadows Museum, Amanda Dotseth, speaks at the Bernardo de Gálvez Award ceremony held at the Teatro Real in Madrid on May 26, 2023. Photo: Fundación Consejo España – USA / Lourdes Martín
Amanda Dotseth, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Museum and Centennial Chair of the Meadows School of the Arts, received the award from the Fundación Chairman Josu Jon Imaz at the Teatro Real in Madrid. She stated, “Our mission is clear: to be THE place for excellence in the study of Spanish art and culture in the United States. The Gálvez Award is a remarkable recognition of our past successes and our future potential in this grand endeavor.”
Learn more about the Bernardo de Gálvez Award and the Fundación Consejo España – Estados Unidos at the organization’s website.
