Arts Within Our ReachNewsletter

Summer 2004

Challenge Grant Energizes the South Texas Institute for the ArtsDr. Robert R. Furgason, President, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and Al Jones, President, American Bank, Co-chairmen, Arts Within our Reach

The South Texas Institute for the Arts is excited to announce an outstanding new grant of $1,000,000 has been pledged to the Arts Within Our Reach capital campaign. Made by Mr. and Mrs. William B. Miller and Mr. and Mrs. John O. Chapman, the new pledge comes in the form of a challenge, and must be matched on a 2:1 basis by August 31, 2004.

Hence, in order to receive the challenge grant, we must raise an additional $2,000,000. Combined, these funds will provide almost all that remains to be raised in order to attain our total campaign goal of $8,500,000.

And, there is more good news. In response to the $1,000,000 challenge, over $900,000 has already been pledged since the challenge was announced on May 13. We intend to complete our fund raising activities early this fall, to break ground and begin construction on the new addition. Construction will require 18 months. The new building and “arts complex” will open to the public in 2006.

Please join us in thanking the Miller and Chapman families for this generous gift. We also invite you to contribute this summer and help us match the challenge!

For more information, contact the South Texas Institute for the Arts, 361-825-3500.

From left to right are Maureen and Bill Miller, and John and Louise Chapman.

Shown here is the new addition to the South Texas Institute for the Arts, the William B. and Maureen Miller Building, designed by Legorreta + Legorreta (virtual rendering by Render Solutions).

Why the New Addition is Needed• The Institute’s permanent collection has grown. Current storage can

no longer hold the over 1,800 works the collection now contains. A larger and more secure storage vault is urgently needed.

• The demand for educational programs for children and adults in the visual and performing arts outstrips the Institute’s ability to provide them. Lack of space today is a hindrance the new building will alleviate.

• More space is needed to accommodate a new exhibition and program focus, American western and wildlife art.

• The Institute is an important destination for residents and out-of-town visitors alike. An expanded gift shop and dining facilities are amenities the public will appreciate and enjoy.

• Studies show that new museum projects have a tremendously positive impact on tourism, and help improve the quality of life for the citizens who live in those communities. The new addition will be a significant new attraction and will contribute to the cultural life of our city and to South Texas as a whole.

The Arts: A Potent Force in Economic DevelopmentS. Loyd Neal, Jr., Mayor, City of Corpus Christi

The South Texas Institute for the Arts is an important destination for residents and out-of-town visitors alike. Currently housed in a landmark building designed by American architect Philip Johnson on Shoreline Boulevard, the museum serves tens of thousands each year - visitors from across the world who visit Corpus Christi for recreational purposes, conventioneers, children in the Corpus Christi Independent School District, art collectors, university students, and residents from all walks of life. In fact, the Institute is the primary “fine art” museum for all of South Texas, and as such, the organization’s role in the cultural life of our city and region is very important.

Due to community demand and an increased emphasis on education for children and adults, the South Texas Institute for the Arts needs to expand. Through a careful selection process, an architect whose work is compatible with that of Philip Johnson was selected. The result is a beautiful, modern architectural design by Ricardo Legorreta. Legorreta is, like Johnson, an architect of international renown, and once the new building is complete, Corpus Christi will have two world-class buildings to brag about. They will, in themselves, be an attraction to visitors to Corpus Christi.

A study by the National Governors Association concerning the role of the arts in the economic development of our cities, states and the nation reports:

“The arts are emerging as a potent force in the economic life of cities and rural areas nationwide and are assuming an important role as a direct and indirect contributor to state economies. Thriving cultural life generates income, jobs, and tax revenue, and it also creates visibility for a state. The arts and heritage activities that are prominent features for some states and regions - Broadway and off-Broadway in New York City; the entertainment industry in Southern California; the summer dance, theater and music festivals of the Berkshires; and jazz in new Orleans, to name a few - establish an identity that becomes a regionally and nationally recognizable destination. In this sense, arts-related events have long been regarded as important components in tourism

development. In the New Economy, however, the arts are gaining recognition for their role in making communities attractive to workers who want to be identified with - and participate in - these opportunities during their scarce leisure time.”

The report also notes, “nationally, the non-profit arts industry is a $36.8 billion business that supports 1.3 million full-time jobs. Governments also reap considerable economic benefits: $790 million in revenue at the local level, $1.2 billion at the state level, and $3.4 billion at the federal level.”

It is time for Corpus Christi to get on the bandwagon and support its arts organizations whole-heartedly, particularly those - like the South Texas Institute for the Arts - that have an important impact on the economic health of our city and region, and with expanded facilities, could have an even greater impact. The educational benefits of the arts to a well-balanced education are clear, but few of us are truly aware of the tremendous economic benefit our arts organizations in Corpus Christi provide today, and what they will provide in future years.

I urge you to join the many fine donors who have already contributed to the capital campaign, and pledge your personal support today to the expansion of the South Texas Institute for the Arts. It is a “win-win” partnership for all of us!

The complete report from the National Governors Association (June 25, 2001), “The Role of the Arts in Economic Development,” may be viewed online at: http://www.nga.org/cda/files/062501ARTSDEV.pdf.

This virtual image shows the Louise G. and John O. Chapman Gallery, the main gallery of the William B. and Maureen Miller Building (virtual rendering by Render Solutions).

The Importance of Museums and Museum ArchitectureBy Kenton McDonald, Matthews and Branscomb, and Chairman, Board of Governing Trustees, South Texas Institute for the Arts

“Architecture is inhabited sculpture,” said Constantin Brancusi, one of the foremost sculptors of the 20th century (from Themes and Episodes, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, 1966).

In a pioneering study conducted in the 1980s, the Commission on Museums for a New Century noted that museums offer rich encounters with reality, with the past, with what exists now and with what is possible.

“Museums stimulate curiosity, give pleasure, increase knowledge. Museums acquaint us with the unfamiliar, coaxing us beyond the safety of what we already know. And they impart a freshness to the familiar, disclosing miracles in what we have long taken for granted. Museums are gathering places, places of discovery, places to find quiet, to contemplate and to be inspired. They are our collective memory, our chronicle of human creativity, our window on the natural and physical world” (Museums for a New Century, American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C., 1984).

This is still true today. Museums in the United States come in all shapes and sizes. Collectively, they are a national treasure. Museums are the stewards of our country’s common wealth, and as stated in the Commission’s report, they represent “a wealth of spirit, of substance, of cultural abundance.” They have been likened by scholars to temples and palaces - they create serene environments that are eminently special.

It is no wonder, then, that museum buildings are often themselves works of art. Philip Herrera remarks, “New museums tend to be strikingly handsome and efficient, works of art in their own right. Prominent [American] architects have always designed museums, of course, but now there’s a big difference

This virtual rendering shows the entrance to the new addition (virtual image by Render Solutions).

.... Now they are hiring the best architects they can find, regardless of where the architects come from” (Town & Country, May, 2004, “A New Age for Museums”).

When the South Texas Institute for the Arts began to contemplate the expansion of its facility on Shoreline Boulevard, it sought an architect of international stature, one who would design an entirely unique building, while simultaneously respecting the architecture of the existing museum. Ricardo Legorreta admirably fits this description.

Art critic Blake Eskin has remarked, “Because architecture is an art form, erecting a building can sometimes seem like adding to the collection” (“The Incredible Growing Art Museum,” ArtNews, October, 2001). Eskin also notes, “In a multibillion-dollar building boom, museums around the globe are erecting new structures or expanding their current homes. As they tailor themselves to accommodate bigger art, larger crowds, and broader missions, the very notion of the museum is evolving in the process.”

Stunning museum designs such as the one we are contemplating are public symbols of the cultural aspirations of a city. These unique, forward-looking architectural statements also permanently change the character of the cities that contain them.

The South Texas Institute for the Arts is honored to have Mr. Legorreta designing its new addition. Once complete, the new building will become one of the leading examples of museum architecture in Texas and the nation, a powerful symbol of our city and South Texas, and one of which we will be most proud.

Institute architect Ricardo Legorreta, left, is seen here with with Toby Shor and Kenton McDonald on September 15, 2003 (photograph by Jeff Janko).

William B. and Maureen MillerLouise G. and John O. Chapman

H-E-B Grocery CompanyBlanche Davis Moore Foundation

The Meadows FoundationAlfred B. and JoAn Rhode

Toby Shor and Kenton McDonaldCelika Storm

Hugh L. McColl, Jr. in honor of Mary Grace and Frank HorlockNelwyn and John Anderson

The Kane Family and Sam Kane Beef Processors, Inc.American Bank

The Brown Foundation, Inc. of HoustonThe Fondren Foundation

Celso Gonzalez-FallaThe William Randolph Hearst Foundations

Cora and Tom KeelerVirginia and Gerald Lindholm

Joan and Bernard PaulsonDaryl Hause and George E. Tanner

Carolyn and Daniel A. PedrottiDouglas and Lynn AllisonPhyllis and George Finley

Paul and Mary Haas FoundationGloria and Ed Hicks

Lynda and Harris KaffieEarl C. Sams Foundation, Inc.

Mr. and Mrs. Leroy TaylorRobin Borglum Carter

Arts Within Our ReachCampaign Contributors of $1,000 or More

Robin and Lou CarterMargaret, Scott, and Jackson Duncan

Mr. and Mrs. W. N. PressleyMr. and Mrs. Leslie W. Dunn

Pettus Advertising, Inc.Jeanne Jones Hause

Alan and Elise McClainDianne and Dennis Lee

Jennifer and Jordan BowenMr. and Mrs. Anthony F. Constant

Frank and Diann CornishCaryl and Jim Devlin

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan K. HarrisTim Headington

Sandy McKinnon/KIIIThe William G. Otton FamilyKimberley and Bernard Seger

Carol and James Thaxton

Elvira and Erich WendlJane and Ken Owen

AnonymousAnne Aeby and Max Gonzalez

Karen L. and Michael A. O’Connor, Sr.Verna M. Stone

Barbara R. McDowellDr. and Mrs. Martin Hanisch

Mr. and Mrs. Tim BundickCharlene and John Chesshir

Alexis and Todd HunterDiana and Juan Marinez

Amy Shelton McNutt Charitable TrustLinda and Burk Strong

Paul GarciaCarolyn M. Appleton

Lauraine Miller Rose and Larry L. RoseElenita Collins

The background of these pages is a virtual image of the Alfred B. and JoAn Rhode Gift Shop, seen from the Celika Storm Entrance Lobby (virtual rendering by Render Solutions).

Arts Within Our ReachCampaign Contributors of $1,000 or More

Sam and Anne Vaky CountissSam Fresch Fund, Coastal Bend Community Foundation

Cindy and John KroegerHerndon Plant Oakley Ltd.

Connie FreemanDr. and Mrs. Robert R. FurgasonMr. and Mrs. Lev H. Prichard III

Nora and Oscar GarciaMr. and Mrs. Melvyn N. KleinJanet G. and Mark J. Hulings

Darrell Barger and Elizabeth ReeseBettye and Joe Baria

Mr. and Mrs. John R. Dykema, Jr. Gary J. and Shawn Groesbeck

Edward H. HarteDebbie and Matt LaytonBette and David Mason

The Larry and Pat McNeil FoundationDee and Ed Meisenheimer

The Candace and Jim Moloney Fund, Coastal Bend Community FoundationNational Endowment for the Arts

Patty and Henry NussThomas M. O’Connor in honor of Madeline F. O’Connor

Jairo and Clara Puentes Ed Rachal Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Winston B. SextonAlan and Mamie StonerPat and Sam J. Susser

Nina Amador and Adan Villarreal and CITGO Petroleum Corporation

Cilla FancherBelinda and Andy Luddeke

Chris and Robert AdlerNelda Martinez

Frank and Paula ArmstrongThe Paul and Barbara Black Foundation

Chispa and Bobby BluntzerKaren and Richard Bonner

Faye and Lance BruunAlison Keeler CarrilloLaurie and Troy Cook

Ann E. CooverRebecca T. Crow

Pat and Phil DennistonDavid and Susana DeVacque

Joe A. Diaz

Charles and Gayle DoraineMr. and Mrs. David P. EngelNorris and Grant Fergeson

Rachel and Jose Gonzalez-FallaElia Gutierrez and Family

Ann Williams HarperDavid Jack

William H. JueRoland and Janet S. Leon

Carey P. LockeLeon S. Loeb

Trey McCampbellBonnie B. Pereida

Marjorie and Ed PrichardMarilyn and Robert Ramey

David and Elizabeth Chu RichterAlice and Ed Tarpley

Sylvia and Mark WhitmoreBarbara B. Wommack

The background of these pages is a virtual image of the Alfred B. and JoAn Rhode Gift Shop, seen from the Celika Storm Entrance Lobby (virtual rendering by Render Solutions).

Thoughts on Architecture“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.”

Philip Johnson, address given at Columbia University, 1975.

“Architecture is life, or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.”

Frank Lloyd Wright, An Organic Architecture, 1939.

“The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man’s life on earth and to fulfill his belief in the nobility of existence.”

Eero Saarinen, address given at Dartmouth College, Yale, 1968.

“Architecture begins where engineering ends.”

Walter Gropius (1883 -1969), German architect, to Harvard Department of Architecture, quoted in Architects on Architecture, ed. Paul Heyer, 1978.

“Architecture is the alphabet of giants; it is the largest set of symbols ever made to meet the eyes of men.”

G. K. Chesterton (1874 -1936), English essayist, novelist, journalist, poet in Webster’s Electronic Quotebase, ed. Keith Mohler, 1994.

This is an aerial view of the new Institute building from the Port of Corpus Christi, showing the café courtyard (virtual rendering by Render Solutions).

Buying Bricks Today Will Construct Learning Opportunities for TomorrowBy Elizabeth B. Reese, Ph.D., Member, Board of Governing Trustees, South Texas Institute for the Arts, and Independent Art and Museum Education Consultant and Author

Since the birth of the art museum in America, at the heart of their missions is education. Likewise, the soul of the South Texas Institute for the Arts is to create and sustain meaningful learning experiences in the visual arts for diverse communities of learners.

Art museums are different from other institutions like schools or libraries in numerous and important ways. Art museums provide visitors of all ages with opportunities to engage with truly original art and objects created by other human beings. Genuine objects of art represent how individuals make meaning of their world by communicating what we see, who we are, and what ideas and issues are important to us. These types of authentic educational experiences empower learners of all ages to learn with and about people from various expressive, historical, social, economic, and political backgrounds in exciting yet safe environments. Additionally, learning in art museums is self-directed, thus enabling visitors to connect to, and build upon new information with existing knowledge and experiences. This cognitive layering is crucial for substantial learning to occur.

In recent years, not-for-profit institutions nation-wide have experienced financial strains. Today, museum professionals increasingly seek to develop meaningful learning opportunities with added sustainability, such as on-site programs and especially exhibitions themselves. In other words, staff and volunteer efforts and funding are being directed toward programs that have longevity, rather than focusing on programs or projects with short duration, or that reach one audience one time only.

Children’s educational classes are a key component of the South Texas Institute for the Arts. Classes are conducted at both the museum location on Shoreline Boulevard and at the Antonio E. Garcia Arts Education Center.

As members of the South Texas community, we now have a special opportunity to “buy the bricks,” so to speak, that will construct the expanded authentic educational experiences for tomorrow

Perhaps the most cost effective and common sense rationale for expanding the Institute is to increase the use and visibility of the permanent collection. Although the Philip Johnson building was not originally designed for art collection purposes, the museum’s leadership agrees that collecting and maintaining a body of art that represents the personal, social, cultural, and historical narratives of diverse individuals living in the South Texas region is paramount to the museum’s role as an educational institution. Accordingly, the collection is quickly outgrowing the current facility’s limited storage space, and the exhibition spaces currently available prohibit the staff from fully utilizing the collection as a teaching tool. We must add bricks today in order to provide learning opportunities in concert with educational strategies for the new century. In order to share the stories inherent in our collection, STIA can expand its storage space, exhibition and educational spaces.

The expansion of the Institute will provide increasingly safe, secure, and ample room for the storage of the valuable and growing permanent collection. The works of art the Institute keeps in trust for community members will be moved above water level to a new vault, with highly controlled atmospheric conditions, and adequate space for both current and future holdings.

Although the South Texas Institute for the Arts currently has some of the most beautiful art galleries anywhere, additional gallery space will allow the staff to offer various styles and genres to an increasingly diverse audience. In this manner, a myriad of artistic and cultural perspectives can be encountered during any given visit. The ability to present numerous narratives simultaneously is critical because it encourages viewers to seek and celebrate comparisons and differences among artists and ideas—a meaningful cognitive process for any age and in any location.

Moreover, additional exhibition space means more of the permanent collection can be seen more often. This is significant because visitors can return to see

When hurricane conditions occur, the permanent collection must be moved up to the main gallery, away from water level. This is the collection during a hurricane alert in the summer of 2003. A new vault will provide greater security and space.

“old friends,” and that is, art with which they have developed a relationship over time. More exhibition space also offers staff and outside curators and scholars opportunities to create visual narratives using the collection or to compare and contrast works from the collection with art in traveling exhibitions.

The plans for the new building would be incomplete without educational spaces, including the Digital Studio Classroom, Seminar Classroom, Conference Room, and Performing Arts Studio. The Digital Studio Classroom will be a laboratory for regional artists and students of all ages, including those in the Corpus Christi Independent School District and students enrolled at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. This classroom will allow them to explore, examine, and create digital and multimedia works. The Performing Arts Studio will provide a flexible space for educational programs in the performing arts for youth. The classroom and conference room upstairs in the Legorreta building will provide opportunities for classes to be conducted throughout the year within the context of the Institute itself, close to works of art being studied. These additions will allow the organization to become a regional leader equipped to facilitate a quality and quantity of educational opportunities currently not available in the South Texas region.

While the Institute and its hard working staff and volunteers look toward tomorrow, they find that the current facility prohibits them from fully realizing future needs and goals. As the keystone to arts education in Texas south of San Antonio, it is time for this institution to evolve in order to create and sustain meaningful relationships with current and new learners of the 21st century. By using the permanent collection in interesting and meaningful ways, learners can become increasingly connected to the Institute. When visitors are invited to explore, relate, examine, and participate regularly and frequently with art and objects inclusive of our regional stories, Institute staff and supporters work together to create and sustain educational opportunities for learners of all ages from various backgrounds.

By giving to the capital campaign, funders can be assured that the bricks laid today facilitate serious learning of tomorrow. The expansion of the Institute permits staff and volunteers to better serve and educate the growing South Texas community of learners in 21st century.

Both visual and performing arts classes are offered by the South Texas Institute for the Arts.

Remembering Our Distinguished PastBy Carolyn M. Appleton, Arts Within Our Reach Capital Campaign Coordinator

Many South Texans are unaware that the building currently occupied by the South Texas Institute for the Arts was designed by one of the foremost architects in the world and one of the best known in the United States, Philip Johnson. The building opened to the public in 1972, over 30 years ago.

Johnson was selected by museum patrons Patsy and Edwin Singer. Mrs. Singer was aware of Johnson’s close association with Texas and the many buildings he designed here in the late 1960s. She was also interested in bringing modern art exhibitions to Corpus Christi and South Texas.

A trip to Johnson’s office in the late 1960s resulted in a challenge from the architect to Mrs. Singer to return with a million dollars committed to the project—which then was a tremendous sum of money—in return for his willingness to design an art museum in Corpus Christi. Within six months, Mrs. Singer returned to New York with her pledges and sealed the agreement with Johnson.

The building Johnson created is considered one of his finest. Yolette Garcia, who is quoted in the book, Philip Johnson & Texas by Frank D. Welsh (The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 2000), remarks, “There is a unworldly aspect about the building. For Corpus Christi it is a cultural beacon there at the water’s edge in a way that a lighthouse could never be. Inside, it’s like a holy place; it has the feel of a Greek temple with openings in the walls looking out to the ocean.” As Philip Johnson himself has noted, the interior of the building can be enjoyed with or without art hanging on its walls—the interior spaces themselves are a joy to walk through. Visitors today agree.

Once commissioned to design a new addition for the Institute, Ricardo Legorreta traveled to see Philip Johnson in New York City to seek his approval. Like Johnson, Legorreta is a world-renowned architect, and he has a great respect for Johnson. Johnson approved of Legorreta’s design and it goes without saying that once complete, the new addition—together with the original museum—will be the most architecturally significant buildings in Corpus Christi and South Texas for many years to come.

“Spreading cultural knowledge is a timeless pursuit that encourages tolerance and appreciation for those different from ourselves. Visual art is uniquely positioned to be a vehicle for fostering peace through understanding, in that it is accessible to all with no language barrier to hamper its message .... The more we know about each other, the more we will realize that our differences are something to be celebrated, rather than feared.”

Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General, speaking about The International Museum of 21st Century Art and Cultural Centre (TIMOTCA). See www.timotca.org/.

Helen Oji, Multicultural, oil on canvas, 1994 (from the permanent collection, South Texas Institute for the Arts).

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