A major grant from the Art Bridges Foundation supports a dynamic exhibition partnership with three Texas museums through 2024

Fort Worth, TX, February 28, 2023 — The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (the Carter) is pleased to announce a partnership with three Texas museums made possible by a grant of over a quarter of a million dollars from the Art Bridges Foundation. Part of the nationwide Art Bridges Cohort Program, this new partnership will bring a series of special exhibitions drawn in part from the Carter’s collection to three Texas museums: Amarillo Museum of Art (Amarillo), Art Museum of South Texas (Corpus Christi), and Ellen Noël Art Museum (Odessa). Over the next several years, each partner will present exhibitions that reframe and broaden traditional ideas about American art. This unprecedented partnership is centered on sharing collections and museum resources to establish a new model for accessible and inclusive community engagement. The exhibitions are the result of a multiyear-long exchange and collaboration among the staff of the institutions.

Paul R. Provost, Art Bridges Foundation CEO, stated, “Expanding access through collaboration and collection-sharing is at the heart of the Art Bridges Cohort Program, and we’re delighted to have the Amon Carter Museum of American Art leading a cohort with museums across Texas. Countless visitors will be introduced to the Carter’s collections through these exhibitions, and we’re confident the program will deepen engagement with their communities. We are proud to support this new Art Bridges Texas Cohort and we are eager to see the inspiring exhibitions and programs come to life.”

The Texas cohort’s inaugural exhibition, Native Impressions: In Our Own Words, launches this spring and will be on view April 21 through August 6, 2023 at the Art Museum of South Texas. Following the presentation there, Native Impressions is scheduled to travel to the Amarillo Museum of Art (December 16, 2023–March 17, 2024). Dates are subject to change, please visit the websites of each partner institution for the most up-to-date exhibition information. Ellen Noël Art Museum will host the exhibition following its re-opening in 2024.

Native Impressions features a portfolio of 26 vibrantly colored printed portraits by artists Daniel Heyman (b. 1963) and Lucy Ganje (b. 1949). These two artists collaborated in portraying present-day members of North Dakota Indian Nations, including those around Standing Rock. Heyman traveled to North Dakota in the summer of 2015 to begin work with Ganje on a project that chronicles the stories of individuals who live within the state's various nations. The artists combined portraits and text from a range of people in the communities they visited including a former marine, two university presidents, and a grieving mother, among others. The exhibition features each sitter’s personal oral history in his or her own words, as told to the artist while sitting for a portrait, giving voice to those historically denied a voice. Recurring motifs include climate, energy, and the legacy of boarding schools to which elder relatives were sent during forced assimilation.

The second exhibition is slated for Winter–Fall 2024 and tells the story of American photographers’ efforts, from the late 19th century on, to explore and proclaim photography’s artfulness. Photography Is Art features a selection of work from the Carter’s expansive and renowned photography collection, and reveals how artists shaped their medium’s artistic language.

With this cohort partnership, the Carter is building on its long history of collaborating with the community to provide opportunities for people to explore the value of art and creativity beyond the walls of the Museum. Through its community partnerships, such as with Artes de la Rosa and Cook Children’s, the Carter creates experiences and opportunities in Fort Worth and beyond that foster creativity and make art accessible to all people in their own lives and spaces.

About the Art Bridges Cohort Program

Originated in 2018, the Art Bridges Cohort Program is committed to supporting multiyear exhibition partnerships among museums nationwide. The program builds on the mission of the Art Bridges Foundation to expand access to American art across the United States and to empower museums to broaden traditional definitions of American art. For each cohort, an organizing museum and its regional partners collaborate to create exhibitions that inspire and deepen engagement with local audiences. Sharing collections and resources, the program’s dynamic partnerships will generate over 80 exhibitions that are content rich, include in-depth educational and interpretive materials, and are designed to meet a wide range of audience interests.

Amarillo Museum of Art

The Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA) is dedicated to enriching the lives of the diverse people of the Texas Panhandle area, bringing them together for the experience of art through exhibitions, education, and collections. In 1972, the Amarillo Art Center opened to the public in a building designed by Edward Durrell Stone as part of the Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Amarillo College. In 1979 it was fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. In 1994, the Amarillo Art Center was renamed the Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA). The AMoA welcomes and provides free admission to all.

Art Museum of South Texas

The Mission of the South Texas Institute for the Arts (the Institute), doing business as the Art Museum of South Texas, is to operate educational facilities and an art museum which advance the awareness, knowledge, appreciation, and enjoyment of the visual arts for residents of and visitors to South Texas. To meet its educational mission, the Institute will present a variety of programs which include classes, lectures, films, performances, and other activities which inspire community interest in the visual arts. These programs will be offered at the Art Museum of South Texas, the Antonio E. Garcia Arts and Education Center, and other outreach venues that serve the Institute’s mission. In operating an art museum, the Institute will actively collect, conserve, exhibit, research, and interpret outstanding works of visual art with interest in art of the Americas and of the region.

Ellen Noël Art Museum

The Museum first opened in 1985 as the Art Institute for the Permian Basin. This was done through several years of grassroots fundraising efforts by Odessans to build a fine arts museum. The Museum was renamed in 1995 to honor the leadership and philanthropy of Mrs. Ellen W. Noël. ENAM’s mission is to connect people with art by engaging our community through exhibitions, education, collections, and outreach. The Museum does this by serving a 100,000-square-mile region throughout West Texas, providing free admission and offering important educational and cultural experiences that may otherwise not be available elsewhere.

About Art Bridges Foundation

Art Bridges is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 190 museums of all sizes and locations to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges collection, and programs designed to inspire and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to the present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. To learn more about Art Bridges, follow the hashtag #ArtBridges on social media and visit www.artbridgesfoundation.org.

About the Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Located in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (the Carter) is a dynamic cultural resource that provides unique access and insight into the history and future of American creativity through its expansive exhibitions and programming. The Carter’s preeminent collection includes masterworks by legendary American artists such as Ruth Asawa, Alexander Calder, Frederic Church, Stuart Davis, Robert Duncanson, Thomas Eakins, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, and John Singer Sargent, as well as one of the country’s foremost repositories of American photography. In addition to its innovative exhibition program and engagement with artists working today, the Museum’s premier primary research collection and leading conservation program make it a must-see destination for art lovers and scholars of all ages nationwide. Admission is always free. To learn more about the Carter, visit cartermuseum.org.