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From the USA Today travel section

Autumn leaves imprint in America's museums

By Maria Puente, USA TODAY

Fall is usually the busy season at American museums. Here are some notable exhibits from across the USA.

Cartier Design Viewed by Ettore Sottsass

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Oct. 31-March 27, 2005

Another jewelry extravaganza, this one a collection of Cartier objects selected by Cartier art director and Italian design maestro Ettore Sottsass. Diadems, brooches, necklaces, rings and bracelets, as well as luscious accessories such as cigarette cases and clocks, are included among the 200 objects. See a maharaja's Elephant Mystery Clock, the Duchess of Windsor's tiger lorgnette and Daisy Fellowes' Tutti Frutti necklace. Information: 713-639-7300 or mfah.org.

Nice seeing our museum highlighted along with these others:

Guggenheim Museum, New York

American Folk Art Museum, New York

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C

Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

I've been to a few of these, and they are fantastic museums.

notable exhibits from across the USA

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  • 3 months later...

Feb. 15, 2005, 6:12AM

BEQUEST TO MFA COULD SET RECORD FOR AN ART MUSEUM

Oil heiress's gift ultimately may be up to $450 million

By SHANNON BUGGS

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, soon could be entered in the annals of philanthropy as the recipient of the largest cash gift to a fine arts museum ever publicly announced.

Caroline Wiess Law, the daughter of one of Humble Oil Co.'s founders, made the museum the prime beneficiary of her estate.

When all of Law's assets are sold and the legal proceedings conclude, possibly by the end of this year, the museum could net between $400 million and $450 million, said director Peter Marzio.

"In recent history, this would be one of the biggest, if not the biggest cash gifts to an art museum," said Mimi Gaudieri, executive director, Association of Art Museum Directors in New York. "This money will help make Houston one of the most important museums in terms of programming and serving the public."

Law's giving would rank as No. 1 in non-art donations to museums on a list compiled by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, which tracks charitable donations of $50 million and more.

Less pressure on budget

The MFA already has plans to kick off a capital campaign in the coming months for designing and building a third structure on its campus to house 20th century and contemporary art, Marzio said. This comes after the museum raised $125 million to build the 200,000-square-foot Audrey Jones Beck building, which opened in March 2000.

"If the Law bequest works out the way we want, " Marzio said, "there will not be as much pressure on the operating budget to build the new building as there was on the budget when we built the Beck building."

Because the Law gift is endowed money, it is not meant to be spent. Instead, the cash will be invested by money managers Fayez Sarofim in Houston and Luther King in Fort Worth.

The $165 million the museum has already received from Law's estate has raised the museum's total endowment to $545 million. A second check of $165 million is expected to arrive by the end of March, making the city's wealthiest arts organization even richer.

"It's a magnanimous gift not only to the MFA but to the entire city," said Ed Wulfe, president of the Houston Symphony. "It ensures the long-term viability of one of our major arts organizations and allows it to continue to impact the quality of life of our entire city."

An avid art collector, Law followed her mother's footsteps on the MFA's board of directors. She used oil industry inheritances from her parents and husbands to support the museum's growth.

She was named a life trustee and was thanked by the board for her generosity over the years with the honor of her name being bestowed on the museum's main building designed by architect Mies Van Der Roh.

"She felt that our family has been very lucky and that this city has been very good to us and that it is our privilege and duty to give back to the city and that this gift might inspire others to do the same," said Jim Elkins, Law's nephew and executor of her estate.

Soon after Law died in 2003 on Christmas Eve and her 85th birthday, her estate gave the museum Law's contemporary art collection valued at between $60 million and $85 million. The 55 major works include pieces by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro.

The estate also distributed $25 million checks each to the museum, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

What was not mentioned in the museum's announcement about that gift was that Law named the museum the residual beneficiary of her estate. Anything not specifically given to a person or institution was to go to the museum, including all of the assets of her foundation, which is valued at $18 million and is scheduled to be dissolved by the end of the year.

The endowment also allows the museum to use less of the endowment's income every year to run the fine arts museum and the central administration of an arts organization that also operates the Glassell School of Art and the decorative arts museums at Rienzi and Bayou Bend.

The museum's budget requires a draw of about 5.1 percent of the $544 million endowment total return to generate one-fourth of the the $41 million needed to operate the museum this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

History of efficiency

Before this infusion of cash, the museum earned a reputation as an efficient charity by spending 88 percent of its budget on programs and services and paying only 4 cents to raise $1 in charitable contributions, said Charity Navigator, a Web-based evaluator of the financial habits of nonprofits.

That compares with the average art museum's spending just 68 percent on programs and 13 cents on fund-raising expenses.

But one area in which the MFA appears stagnant is in revenue growth. Over the past three to five years, the average art museum grew by at least 6 percent, deriving primary revenue from individual donations, corporate contributions and and ticket sales. The MFA's revenue in that time frame rose only 1.6 percent.

Chronicle reporters Everett Evans, Purva Patel and Charles Ward contributed to this story.

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I found out about this minutes after a friend had sent me an e-mail describing the scene of the bombing in Lebanon yesterday, down the street from where he attends school. He saw people lying in the street who had been cut apart by the shards of broken glass that fell from windows in luxury hotels. Thus I feel nothing but the ludicrousness of somebody giving $400 million dollars to buy art for a museum. In a couple days though I am sure I will recover to my normal, de-sensitized self.

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I found out about this minutes after a friend had sent me an e-mail describing the scene of the bombing in Lebanon yesterday, down the street from where he attends school.  He saw people lying in the street who had been cut apart by the shards of broken glass that fell from windows in luxury hotels.  Thus I feel nothing but the ludicrousness of somebody giving $400 million dollars to buy art for a museum.  In a couple days though I am sure I will recover to my normal, de-sensitized self.

So you see this as a bad thing? Interesting...

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it will be interesting to see what develops in regards to the new building for 20th century and contemporary art. hopefully, there will be an international competition for an architect. perhaps we will have another significant piece of architecture to add to our great city.

although i love the fact the we have a museum district, i would like very much to have a significant (architectural gem) museum downtown or midtown.

not robert stern or michael graves please. i know gehry is cliche to some but i'm still green with jealousy over bilbao. tadao ando or renzo piano would be awesome too. how nice it would be to have more of their work in texas. zaha hadid would really make me happy as well.

is it true that they will destroy the new parking garage for the next expansion? anyone?

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They could just blow it on 2-3 Van Goghs. Irises cost the Getty Center in L.A. about 23 million alone.

So, three of those would add up to $69 million, leaving the vast majority un-"blown".

In any event, as the article stated, the money will be going into their endowment. It will not be "blown" on anything.

With respect to tearing down the parking garage, and replacing it with the new building... That is one of the options, but I'm pretty sure no decision has been made. In fact, it would be very surprising if anything that specific were decided this early in the process. I would imagine the placement of the new building might be part of any architectural competition. I believe the musuem owns some other land adjacent to its facilities as well, but I don't remember exactly which parcels.

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Let me think... Oh yes, you could be in the TOP FIVE, or TOP TWO, or you could even be the TOP ONE.

My point being that TOP 10 incorporates TOP 3, 2 or 1. It is weakly worded. Perhaps a better argument for you might have been "Top 10 INTERnationally".

I do hope the parking garage isnt pulled down as someone mentioned.

Has everyone seen the walk-way under the street from the garage to the museum? Rather cool in my opinion.

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My point being that TOP 10 incorporates TOP 3, 2 or 1. It is weakly worded. Perhaps a better argument for you might have been "Top 10 INTERnationally".

I do hope the parking garage isnt pulled down as someone mentioned.

Has everyone seen the walk-way under the street from the garage to the museum? Rather cool in my opinion.

The walkway is cool, but it's between the Law Building and the Beck Building, not between the parking garage and the Beck Building. I wouldn't mind seeing them tear down that parking garage, as long as whatever they replace it with addresses the street on a pedestrian level. That parking garage creates a bit of a psychological blockade to pedestrian activity, IMO.

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The walkway is cool, but it's between the Law Building and the Beck Building, not between the parking garage and the Beck Building.  I wouldn't mind seeing them tear down that parking garage, as long as whatever they replace it with addresses the street on a pedestrian level.  That parking garage creates a bit of a psychological blockade to pedestrian activity, IMO.

Was the garage built to eventually replace all the surface lots there?

Your right about the tunnel, I forgot it ran under main not fannin.

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Met and Getty, I knew. Kimbell, I'd take your word on it. My guess after that would be maybe the Whitney? Only other two that come to mind would be the Guggenheim and the Smithsonian (or NGoA).

My favorite museum doesnt qualify but its the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. I was a volunteer tour guide there for a summer.

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"Thus I feel nothing but the ludicrousness of somebody giving $400 million dollars to buy art for a museum. In a couple days though I am sure I will recover to my normal, de-sensitized self." (quote, h-town man)

h-town i can feel for you - i was in a taxi when i heard the news, talking on my cell to someone in austin trying to lobby for the children of texas who were kicked out of the chips program. but the feeling passed as i'm sure it has for you. i simply reminded myself that art is one aspect of life that encourages civility and often uplifts humanity. i also remembered that someone's last wishes must be respected and one of my grandma's favorites, "charity begins in the home" which reminded me that houston was indeed fortunate to be the recipient. the mfa does sponsor several art projects including the glassell school which includes many generous scholarships. well enough said, i just wanted to let you know you were not alone in your initial thought.

debmartin

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museum.jpg

Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is reflected in the window of the Caroline Wiess Law Building. The Museum District is in the midst of a massive expansion that could mean more than $100 million worth of cultural development.

Feb. 19, 2005, 11:20PM

City builds on culture

'It'll be like nothing else in the world,' Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, says about the Museum District

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is planning an expansion that would bring a massive gallery of 20th century art to its Museum District campus just off Main Street.

A couple of blocks away, the Children's Museum of Houston wants to nearly double its size, adding gallery space and enlarging the courtyard.

And just to the north, Asia Society Texas has cleared a block to build Asia House, which will include exhibition space, a performance hall and a library to showcase Asian-American culture.

Throughout Houston's Museum District, a part of town anchored at the intersection of Binz and Main Street, similar new facilities, expansions and renovations are under way or planned at many of the 16 institutions that make up this growing cultural center.

"It'll be like nothing else in the world," Peter Marzio, director of the MFAH, said. "And that's not Texas tall talk."

Altogether, these projects could amount to more than $100 million worth of cultural development. From an economic standpoint, this cultural building boom is already starting to show in other ways.

New restaurants and retail establishments are beginning to spring up in buildings that have sat vacant for years, and housing is also gaining momentum.

Residential builders have been buying dilapidated homes and replacing them with townhome developments in an area east of Main Street that was once out of the realm of new development.

Over 5 million people visit the five top museums in the district, according to the institutions.

That doesn't include some of the smaller galleries like the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and Lawndale Art Center, which recently completed a $1.4 million renovation to its building on Main.

When it opened in its current location in 1992, the Children's Museum of Houston was one of the first art institutions to venture that far east of Main. Today, the museum is overflowing with visitors.

At 44,000 square feet, the Children's Museum was designed to accommodate 350,000 visitors a year. Its actual number is in the 600,000s, which helps make a case for increased funding.

It will soon begin a campaign to help raise money for a $16 million expansion and renovation project that will include a 37,000-square-foot addition to its existing building.

"We're out of bathrooms. We're out of conveniences," said Tammie Kahn, executive director of the museum. "It's time for us to consider this."

The museum will also build a small parking garage on a lot it owns across the street.

Eventually, that land will be used for another expansion or could potentially be turned into green space, Kahn said.

"We're trying to guard that parking lot for future development," she said. "The most important asset we have is that land."

Space for the future

Of all the arts groups, the Museum of Fine Arts, which is in line to receive one of the largest cash donations ever made to an art museum, will likely grow the most.

"The MFA is sort of the mother ship," said Susan Young, administrator for the Houston Museum District Association.

A construction date hasn't been set. Marzio said he has just started putting together a list of top architects who could design the new space.

"If it went well, it would be nice to have a building no later than 2010," said Marzio, whose museum stands to net up to $450 million from the estate of oil heiress Caroline Weiss Law.

The museum is considering four sites for its new building.

Two of those sites are vacant blocks just north of the Glassell School on Montrose and adjacent to First Presbyterian Church on Main Street.

The third alternative, Marzio said, is to build on land that houses the museum's parking garage and visitors center next to the new Audrey Jones Beck Building.

The parking garage would be rebuilt on one of the museum's vacant tracts.

The last option is to acquire another parcel in the area.

Real estate experts said that while vacant land around the museum district is limited, there are older residential and commercial properties in the area that have "higher and better uses."

"Some properties are at the end of their useful lives and are in great locations," said Tom Bacon, a principal of Lionstone Group, a Houston-based real estate investment firm.

But prices for those properties are quickly escalating.

Young said property that sold for $15 per square foot five years ago is now going for close to $50 per square foot.

Others see growth ahead

Other arts organizations own land they are eyeing for future growth.

The Holocaust Museum owns a parcel next to its facility on Caroline.

The land is leased to a nearby hospital while the museum ponders when it will use the property.

Spokesman Mike Rosen said the museum hosts about 90,000 visitors annually, and that number grows by about 10 percent a year.

The Menil Collection, considered by many to be one of the most high-profile privately assembled collections of the 20th century, is also doing some planning.

The museum, which already owns a number of properties in the Montrose area, recently purchased more on Richmond Avenue at Mandell.

The Menil is known for creating new uses for the vast amount of real estate it controls.

The museum houses an art exhibit made of lights in a nondescript building on Richmond. And it owns dozens of bungalows that line the perimeter of its main gallery where it houses offices and has its bookstore.

While the museum has considered building a new gallery to house its large collection of sketches, drawings and other works on paper, plans for its newest acquisition are still unclear.

"It was a very smart thing to do in terms of securing that parcel," Menil spokesman Vance Muse said. "It's now ours well into the future."

One museum without a surplus of land is looking at ways to plan ahead.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is renovating its entomology hall and insect zoo, which by 2006 will culminate in a new insect wing at the Cockrell Butterfly Center.

But, surrounded by public parks, the museum itself is somewhat landlocked. And attendance at the museum has increased almost tenfold in the past two decades, museum President Joel Bartsch said.

"Right now we are looking, as are our neighbors in and around Hermann Park and our sister institutions in the Houston Museum District Association, at several options for how we might meet the ever-increasing demands that come with the continued growth of the city," Bartsch said.

The Museum District Association's Young said the light rail system and a new Main Street exit ramp off U.S. 59 will help shape how the area develops.

The Museum District is already served by three rail stops because it stretches from the Montrose area on the north to near Rice University on the south.

And the new freeway ramp, Young said, marks the first time since the 1950s that traffic has been able to conveniently reach the arts district.

'Museum walk' planned

Young also said the "museum walk," a federally funded infrastructure plan, will improve the area by linking pedestrians and Metro riders to the museums and district landmarks through walkways and signs.

Asia Society Texas chose the area for its new museum partially because of its proximity to light rail.

About two years ago, Asia Society bought a block on Caroline at Southmore for Asia House, which is expected to break ground in two years.

Yoshio Taniguchi, who just completed the renovation and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, was chosen to design the building.

By the look of things, Asia House won't be the only new museum in the area.

Supporters of an African-American culture museum want to be in this area, which encompasses part of the Third Ward. "Our intentions have always been to be in the para-meters of the Museum District," said Irene Johnson, who's involved in the planning. "We're steadfast in our commitment to see this project become a reality."

And the Czech Cultural Center Houston, which recently opened on San Jacinto, will likely expand into a full-fledged museum.

While land prices are becoming an increasingly important factor in the district, Lionstone's Bacon said prices here are still a bargain compared to other cities.

"There has been a lot of focus on land prices having jumped, but relative to other major cities, our land prices remain on the very lowest end," he said.

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A construction date hasn't been set. Marzio said he has just started putting together a list of top architects who could design the new space.

Could this mean..CALATRAVA??!!?? :D:P

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Could this mean..CALATRAVA??!!?? :D  :P

I would actually like to see them pick a lesser known architect that will give us a memorable building instead of letting some A-list architect build an unmemorable box. I like the interiors for the Beck Building a lot and it's a first-rate space for viewing art, but the outside is staid and unremarkable. I'm not a big fan of Gehry, but I would like to see something a bit more organic. Along with this endowment, a great building could really push the MFAH into the world spotlight, something that it truly deserves. A boring box will just make it another also ran.

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I would actually like to see them pick a lesser known architect that will give us a memorable building instead of letting some A-list architect build an unmemorable box. I like the interiors for the Beck Building a lot and it's a first-rate space for viewing art, but the outside is staid and unremarkable. I'm not a big fan of Gehry, but I would like to see something a bit more organic. Along with this endowment, a great building could really push the MFAH into the world spotlight, something that it truly deserves. A boring box will just make it another also ran.

Agree 100%. I always thought with the Beck building they went for the big name without giving much consideration to the design of the building itself, and as you point out, the result is unremarkable at best - a big box that faces the street with blank walls and relates poorly to the older Mies structure. Frankly, I don't see a Gehry building fitting in well at all in the museum district.

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