UNT RECEIVES $75,000 TO OPEN ART GALLERY IN FORT WORTH AT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER
Two Fort Worth companies are contributing $75,000 toward the creation of a 1,650-square-foot art gallery at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, near the world-class museums in the highly visible Fort Worth Cultural District.Construction firm Thos. S. Byrne contributed $50,000 to the project, and the architecture, engineering and planning firm of Carter & Burgess committed $25,000 in financial resources and design. The gallery, called “UNT artspace FW,” will open to the public Sept. 10 (Saturday) at 3400 Camp Bowie Boulevard in the Center for BioHealth at the UNT Health Science Center. The opening will take place in conjunction with Fall Gallery Night, a gallery and museum tour hosted by the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association.
“Now in our 83rd year of continuous operations, our corporate giving has always centered around healthcare, children and educational needs,” said Keith Muskrat, vice president and construction manager for Thos. S. Byrne. “Our contribution supports an institution that educates our future caregivers. This is why Byrne believed it was important to contribute to UNT artspace FW.”
Charles W. Nixon, vice president-principal of Carter & Burgess, Inc., said, “Carter & Burgess is pleased to provide continuing support to assist the University of North Texas School of Visual Arts in furthering visual arts education and in creating the new art gallery. Carter & Burgess served as architect/engineer for the design of the art gallery and the new Center for BioHealth where the gallery is located.”
The gallery will primarily showcase UNT-based curatorial projects, featuring the artwork of UNT students, faculty and alumni.
The premier exhibition, Symbiotic, will celebrate UNT’s longstanding and ongoing relationship with the Fort Worth museums by featuring the art of UNT alumni who work at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Amon Carter Museum and the Kimbell Art Museum.
“We are grateful for the gifts from these two companies, making this gallery possible,” said Michael Drought, interim dean of the UNT School of Visual Arts. “We will now be able to showcase our faculty and alumni and become an active participant in the Fort Worth arts community. SOVA’s growth and increasing national reputation requires us to expand our involvement throughout the Metroplex, and UNT artspace FW is the next step to interact with our supporters outside of Denton.”
UNT artspace FW is the newest in SOVA’s complex of galleries, which include:
UNT Art Gallery in Denton: The 2,500-square-foot gallery in the Art Building on the UNT campus features exhibits programmed one to three years in advance. Gallery director Diana Block is responsible for exhibitions, including works by professional artists, with shows running four to six weeks in duration.
Cora Stafford Gallery in Denton: The 900-square-foot gallery on the first floor of Oak Street Hall on the UNT campus is programmed semester-by-semester, primarily for master of fine arts exhibitions and other class projects. Exhibits are typically one week in duration and are scheduled by the UNT Art Gallery, though exhibition content is not controlled by gallery staff.
For more information, call (940) 565-4005.
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Contact: Ellen Schroeder 940-369-7912, or 940-565-2108, e-mail eschroeder@unt.edu.
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