The Blanton Museum of Art, one of the country’s foremost university art museums. The Blanton’s permanent collection includes thought-provoking work from Mexican muralists Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, as well as a range of contemporary rotating exhibitions. Access to Ellsworth Kelly’s immersive installation Austin is also included in your ticket.
History of the Blanton Museum
The Blanton was established in 1963 and was originally named the University Art Museum. In 1994, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, wife of novelist James Michener, gifted $5 million for the construction of a new museum complex. This would be the first dedicated space for the museum’s permanent collection since its founding. The campaign to build a new building began in 1997 with a $12 million gift from the Houston Endowment. In honor of its then-chairman, Jack S. Blanton. The museum was renamed the Blanton Museum of Art.
Blanton Museum Collection
The Blanton Museum of Art’s permanent collection of more than 18,000 pieces is known for its European paintings, prints, and drawings, as well as modern and contemporary American and Latin American art. At over 189,000 SF it is one of the largest university museums in the United States
The Blanton Museum of Art is recognized for its contemporary and American and Latin American art, Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, broad collection of prints and drawings, and Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin.
One of the largest sculptures in the Blanton is in the atrium titled Stacked Waters. In 2009, Teresita Fernández transformed the Blanton’s Rapoport Atrium into an artwork almost as epic as the space itself: 3,100 square feet of custom-cast acrylic in various shades of blue, laid out in horizontal bands from the ground floor almost to the top of the staircase.
Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin
In January 2015, the renowned American artist Ellsworth Kelly presented Blanton with the design concept for his largest work to date, a 2,715-square-foot stone structure with brilliant colored glass windows and a totemic wooden sculpture. The structure is named Austin-this follows the artist’s practice of naming works after the place in which they are built. It is the only structure he has designed.
The visually arresting structure is envisioned by Kelly as a site for joy and contemplation.
Blanton Museum Address
200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Austin, TX 78712
PHONE: 512-471-5482
Blanton Museum Operating Hours
Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm
Sun: 1pm-5pm
Mon-Tues: CLOSED
Admission Cost
Includes access to Ellsworth Kelly’s “Austin”
$12 – Adult
$10 – Seniors (65+)
$ 5 – Youth and College ID holders
FREE – Members, UT ID holders, Children 12 & under, Military ID holders, and Teachers with a valid ID
Thursday is free admission day for all
