Home on the Range

Isn't this a fabulous piece of sculpture?! I recently visited the building that it graces, one of our city's newest and most interesting museums. 

The Briscoe Western Art Museum is downtown and I'd been wanting to visit ever since it opened and just hadn't found the time. Then, a Texas Public Radio volunteer opportunity there came up on the the calendar and I jumped at this excuse to finally see the place.

We didn't have the time to look at all the exhibits with as much care as I would have liked, so a follow-up visit is definitely in the cards. But we saw plenty of neat stuff, starting with this impressive and thoughtful piece in the museum's lobby:

This is just one side of the monumental bronze. It's called Visions of Change, and it summarizes a sizeable chunk of Texas history eloquently. The other side contrasts the cowboy and longhorns with a Native American and buffalo, as you can sort of see on the left here. The piece is so big it was hard to get a good shot that conveys its entire message. You should go see it in person!

I realized when going through my photos, I must have been much more taken with the sculptures and artifacts than the paintings, since I don't have any shots of the latter! But the sculptures were all pretty cool. Here's another one I really liked:

I don't remember the exact title, and it's not featured on the museum's website, but it was something about being "upstream." An artistic expression of an event that we've had to deal with in reality occasionally: keeping a hold on your boat in a strong current.

The artifacts were also impressive, from ceremonial swords, to an amazing collection of spurs that looked really painful! to some really gorgeous saddles, like this one:

One of the major pieces is this beautiful stagecoach:

But I like the little gems just as well, like this charming pipe:

The building is an appropriately fine setting for these wonderful pieces. It used to be the Public Library, built in 1930 on the site of the original Carnegie Library that was severely damaged in the great flood of 1921. In 1968, the Library relocated to a larger building a few blocks away, and I think of that as the "old" Library. (It moved to its current location in the 1990's.) But Henry still thinks of the building housing the Briscoe as the old library. But I have to call it the old-old one.

After the Library moved out, the building became  the Hertzberg Circus Museum, and housed this extensive collection of circus memorabilia and circus-related art for many years. The city relinquished control of the collection in 2001 and the materials were passed along to the Witte, our fine natural history museum. The building was vacant for several years, and who knows what establishment might have ended up in that prime real estate (it's right on the River, for gosh sakes!).

Fortunately, it has a tenant worthy of its interesting history and its architectural dignity. I spent most of my volunteer time in the lobby and was intrigued by its gorgeous ceiling. The museum staff told us that it was the original ceiling from the 1930 structure. Later I was able to get a closer view from the mezzanine:

You might notice in this photo a row of circular medallions just below the ceiling, all around the walls. Here's what they look like:

Aren't they neat? We asked the staff if they were added when the building was remodeled to make it the Briscoe, since they have that western art vibe. But, no, they are orginal, just like the ceiling. So back when this space was where people brought their library books to check out, and now where people come to see western art, the old buffalo nickels are still keeping watch.