The Blanton Museum of Art’s new gallery building is getting all the attention these days, what with the opening a mere two weeks away, but that doesn’t mean the structure’s companion, the education and visitors pavilion, is lacking in activity. Construction is under way for the 56,000-square-foot building, and it has just acquired a name, thanks to Houston businessman Edgar A. Smith. A $4.5 million donation from the UT alum and member of the Chancellor’s Council (given with the condition that it be matched by other donors, which it has been) landed him the naming rights. The Edgar A. Smith Building will house a 300-seat auditorium, 60-seat lecture hall, classrooms, a cafe, and the museum shop, and when it opens in 2007, you’ll enter it through the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Grand Foyer, named in recognition of a $1 million gift from the philanthropic couple. Meanwhile, at the Mari and James A. Michener Gallery Building, the galleries holding the Blanton’s collection of prints and drawings will be named for Houstonians Julius and Suzan Glickman, who also made a $1 million gift. These donations put the museum within a million of its $83.5 million goal. For more information, visit www.blantonmuseum.org.
This article appears in April 14 • 2006.