Day Trips

Photo by Gerald E. McLeod

The Museum of East Texas in Lufkin sets the standard for small-town art museums. Aside from a world-class collection of regional and international art, the museum also hosts enlightened traveling exhibits, such as the current show of John James Audubon's hand-colored American bird engravings.

Opened in 1976, the museum has grown into a cultural and education center in the Piney Woods of East Texas. In addition to a large, modern gallery, the museum has four other exhibition spaces and a performing arts center.

But the Museum of East Texas offers more than just outstanding exhibits; it also operates a summer art camp for area school children that attracted more than 430 students last summer. "We want our children to have the same cultural opportunities as kids in large urban areas," says J.P. McDonald, executive director of the museum. Among the museum's army of volunteers that make the shows happen are several graduates of the summer program.

The museum began in 1972 as a project of the Lufkin Service League, later to become the Junior League of Lufkin. The members had their eyes on the ruins of St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church. Built in 1905, the red brick church was nearly destroyed by fire in 1969. Rather than rebuild, the congregation sold the site across the street from the civic center to the city to be used as a parking lot. "The ladies literally scraped soot and cleaned bricks to restore the building," McDonald says. The result of all their efforts is a nearly 34-year-old institution that is an asset to the region.

The Audubon exhibit is an example of the valuable programs presented by the museum. "It took more than three years of hard work to bring the show," McDonald says, "and it has been well worth the effort."

On loan from the John James Audubon Museum in Henderson, Ky., through Jan. 19, 2010, the exhibit presents more than 60 of Audubon's engravings from Birds of America, which was first published in 1827. The portfolio was sold by subscriptions for the princely sum of $1,000. Of the 180 sets sold, only 110 are known to survive. In 2002, one of the sets sold for $8.8 million.

Audubon's four-volume portfolio was printed on 39.5-inch-by-29.5-inch sheets of heavy paper and hand-colored using watercolors. The large format allowed him to present the birds at life size, including several species that are now extinct, such as the passenger pigeon and pileated woodpecker. There is no substitute for the beauty and detail of the original prints.

The Museum of East Texas is at 503 N. Second St. in Lufkin. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm; Saturday, 10am to 5pm; and Sunday, 1 to 5pm. In conjunction with the Audubon exhibit, the museum is also showing nature photography and drawings by local artists. For more information, call 936/639-4434 or go to www.metlufkin.org. Admission is free.

959th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips" 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, P.O. Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.