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Originally Posted by austlar1
I agree. The collection is spectacular. It is good to know that at least one of the BIG MONEY folks here in Austin is collecting serious art and is presumably interested in keeping it here after he is gone. It looks like he wants to turn his home and grounds into a permanent museum at some later date. Fingers crossed he doesn't change his mind. I'm sure museums in other cities are going to try to tempt him with offers.
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I am also happy about the idea of another art collection and institution and this is undoubtedly an amazing and vast collection. I also definitely agree this is philanthropy; (eventually) an enormous donation to the city...
But this is not quite as exciting to me as it seems to be for others; they make clear in the article that "Booth wants to convert his property to a civic use, to make it accessible to the public for small groups to tour after his death," and that immediately rings alarm-bells about accessibility. The property is still in a wealthy, giant-single-family home neighborhood zoned as such and I don't anticipate a decent sized parking facility anywhere nearby. Neighbors will also complain and do everything in their power to limit access and traffic. It's great that people will be able to enjoy this collection, but how many will actually see it? How many non-affluent families from around the region will travel into the hills and mansions of West Austin to enjoy this? They say specifically "small groups" - does this include field trips for public schoolers, or is that too large? It sounds like they want a small staff of curators to give small private tours (and I doubt they could physically accommodate much more without major improvements and new infrastructure), but I may be overly pessimistic. I just question how much of the entire community this will ever serve or will be able to appreciate this.
I know it's pie-in-the-sky and this is my inner-millennial coming out, but I wish he would relocate his collection after his passing to a more accessible area - a new sculpture garden and art museum on the South Shore, for instance. I know the city has an affinity for those baseball diamonds, but just imagine if Butler Shores was reconfigured to accommodate such a space; a block from Umlauf and Zilker and Zach Scott and an short walk from Dougherty Arts, Auditorium Shores, The Long Center, and the Botanical Garden (not to mention right off the heavily trafficked hike and bike trail and on Austin's front lawn). It would be far more organic than the Dallas Arts District (in the spirit of Austin), yet one of the greatest assemblages of cultural institutions and exhibitions anywhere around. A man can dream...
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