The Museum of the Big Bend, a division of Sul Ross State University in Alpine and a collecting institution that highlights, according to their mission statement, “the prehistory, history and cultural diversity of the Big Bend region of Texas and Mexico,” has set June 23 and 24 as a grand opening date for its new Emmett and Miriam McCoy Building.
A rendering of the entrance of the newly designed building for the Museum of the Big Bend.
The plan for the building was first announced in 2018, at which time Glasstire wrote about how the expansion would double the size of the museum and provide space dedicated to “art, archives and archaeology with nature.” Originally, the new building was set to open on March 10 of this year. On March 4, an email was sent out that stated, simply, that the opening was postponed “due to circumstances beyond [the museum’s] control.” Tickets purchased for the original grand opening will be honored for the rescheduled date.
The weekend will kick off with a grand opening reception on Friday, June 23 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets for this rescheduled reception may be purchased for $75 by following this link. Drinks will be served.
A rendering of the newly designed building for the Museum of the Big Bend.
Events on Saturday, June 24 are free and open to the public. The events begin at 10:30 a.m., when curator Becky Duval Reese will give a presentation on the art of El Paso painter Tom Lea (1907-2001). Mr. Lea’s series Western Beef Cattle will be on view at the museum.
At 11:30 a.m. Christopher Beer, Mary Bones, Bonnie and Robert McKee, and Ron Tyler will sign copies of Fred Darge Paints the Big Bend and Beyond, an exhibition catalog published by the Museum of the Big Bend. Frederich Ernst “Fred” Darge was a German painter who immigrated to Port Arthur, Texas in 1923, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and painted the landscapes and people of the Southwest until his death in 1978. Bonnie McKee, who is a trustee of the Texas Historical Commission, along with her husband Robert, donated their entire collection of Darge paintings to the museum. This collection will debut as a highlight of the new McCoy Building.
After lunch, at 1:30 p.m., retired Amon Carter Museum of American Art director Ron Tyler will present and sign copies of his book Texas Lithographs, which its publisher the University of Texas Press calls “quite possibly the most complete visual record of nineteenth-century Texas.”
Finally, at 2:30 p.m. , there will be a roundtable discussion on building collections featuring curator Christopher Beer and collectors Judy and Stephen Alton, all of whom are associated with the Center for Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA).
For more information on the Museum of the Big Bend and the Grand Opening Weekend, visit the museum’s website.
1 comment
I attended the opening and it was a wonderful event. The reception on Friday was attended by an eclectic crowd and they were able to enjoy exhibits of Texas artists Fred Darge and Tom Lea, of Early Texas Art works from the renowned John Nau III Collection, and of recently-donated Early Texas Art works to the Museum. The education programs on Saturday attracted many Museum patrons who were new to Texas art.