News
The Elisabet Ney Museum Is a Historic Austin ‘Hidden Gem’ | Texas Highways
Located near the UT campus, the former home studio tells the story of the German expat and trailblazing female sculptor
“I feel like there’s something really unique about being able to look at the history of such a strong female artist and all the things that have come out of the Ney being here,” museum curator Jade Walker says. “This was the first art museum in Central Texas and the first in Austin, and it lays the flavor of the Austin creative scene. Because Ney was such an outlier in so many ways and such an iconoclast, I think that speaks to the way that our community sees themselves, as outliers.”
Walker added that you don’t have to be a tourist to enjoy the Elisabet Ney Museum. Many of the people who roam in day after day tell the volunteers that they used to live in the neighborhood or have passed by on drives and never made a point to stop in. “It’s a hidden gem,” Walker said. Continue Reading
Review: "De Tierra" | Austin Chronicle
Exhibition unites two profound figurative sculptors, immigrants more than a century apart
A new exhibition of sculpture by Alejandra Almuelle adds further beauty to that familiar gem anchoring the quietly busy, tree-lined Hyde Park neighborhood: the Elisabet Ney Museum.
But: Who was Elisabet Ney?
Born in 1833 in Münster, Province of Westphalia, Ney was the first woman admitted to Munich's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She left Germany as a political refugee in 1871, wound up in East Texas, and – after years of struggling to farm and raise a child – she renewed her long-deferred sculpting career in Austin. Formosa, built in 1892, was the home and studio where Ney created her iconic figurative sculptures and held salons and generally supercharged the cultural and intellectual scenes of this then-young capital city.
And now that lovingly preserved historic venue, officially the Elisabet Ney Museum since 1911, presents "De Tierra," highlighting the work of Alejandra Almuelle. So the next question must be: Who is Alejandra Almuelle?
Born in 1962 in Arequipa, Peru – a country where the abundance of clay has made it a sort of language for artistic expression – she spent a few years in Pizac, in the Sacred Valley of Cuzco, a center for ceramic-making. After she moved to Austin in 1988, her work with clay addressed the functionality of the medium as well as its sculptural expression. The artist's had exhibitions of her sublime figurative explorations all over town in the past three decades, showing in such places as Gallery Lombardi, Cloud Tree Studio, Dimension Gallery, Moya McIntyre's superlative "The Femme Abstract" showcase, and more. Now, here in the stonework building in Hyde Park, Almuelle's works are displayed alongside Ney's impressive oeuvre for greatest resonance. Continue Reading
This Amplify Austin Day, every donation supports local women and LGBTQIA+ artists through the Elisabet Ney Museum’s contemporary exhibition program
March 1st & 2nd 6pm until 6pm
The Elisabet Ney Museum is dedicated to celebrating the work and values of innovative sculptor and activist Elisabet Ney and preserving her historic studio and home, “Formosa.” It is also committed to amplifying the perspectives of contemporary female-identifying artists and empowering them to carve their own path through a dynamic exhibition program.
Since 2016, the Ney’s Contemporary Exhibition Program has shown the work of more than 100 women and LGBTQIA+ artists. Whether creating an ambitious outdoor installation or a thoughtful indoor exhibition, each artist presents boundary-breaking work installed in a historic setting.
These art experiences enrich our city and honor the legacy of Elisabet Ney, a pioneering spirit committed to ideals of progressivism, creativity, dialogue, and tolerance. And, they are always presented free of charge to visitors.
I Live Here I Give Here's signature program, Amplify Austin Day, offers every community member the opportunity to give. Since 2013, this annual event has raised $92.8 million dollars, making it the biggest giving event in Central Texas. During a single 24-hour period, from 6pm on March 1st, to 6pm on March 2nd, residents across a seven-county region will come together to support more than 700 nonprofits by making a donation through the platform, AmplifyATX.org.
Jade Walker to lead Elisabet Ney Museum
Join us in welcoming our new Director & Curator, Jade Walker, who will lead the Elisabet Ney Museum going forward. She is the first female sculptor for this role and also brings years of leadership experience from her time with the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas, Art Alliance of Austin The Contemporary Austin - Art School at Laguna Gloria, and the Baughman Center at the University of Florida Performing Arts Center. Walker picks up where Oliver Franklin left off with his passing earlier this year. Continue Reading.
NEY-borhood Effort: Carrying forward grant momentum in honor of Oliver Franklin
City and Community to invest $3.614M in Museum Improvements
By the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum
Established in 1891, the Hyde Park’s neighborhood was then a rural area on Austin’s fringes. As Hyde Park was being laid out, a political refugee and successful sculptor picked the area for her home and studio (“Formosa”) and in doing so, became an indelible part of our character and story. Elisabet Ney (1833-1907) was a groundbreaking German radical Progressive, suffragist, abolitionist, gender non-conformist, and in-demand sculptress. From her Hyde Park studio, she created some of Texas’s most iconic statuary—from models which she personally accompanied across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe on several ship voyages. Some these works today reside in the capitol buildings in Washington, D.C. and Austin while others are in museums around the world. Her leadership in arts advocacy and the state’s suffragist movement inspired generations. Continue Reading
Contribute to the Friends of the Ney’s “NEY-borhood Effort”
Friends of the Elisabet Ney Meet Their Match; Will Continue Fundraising
As reported in the July Pecan Press, the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum—an all volunteer support group for the City of Austin’s iconic Elisabet Ney Museum—asked Hyde Park neighbors to help it meet a Still Water Foundation $25,000 challenge grant the group had recently been awarded. “We are happy to report” said Jack Nokes, the Friends’ fundraising chair, “that, as of July 20th, our pledges and donations are at $28,600.” That includes 26 different donations from neighbors who care about historic preservation and art as well as a nice donation from the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association that put the total over the $25,000 goal.
In a joint statement from Nokes and Alison Young (landscaping chair) they said: “We are grateful and humbled by the generosity of our neighbors, but we still have more to do to reach an overall goal of $200,000 for a new interpretive plan. We invite those who haven’t had a chance to donate to do so.”
Donations by check should be made out to Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum and mailed to Austin Community Foundation, 4315 Guadalupe, Suite 300, Austin, 78751. Online donations may be made here: https://bit.ly/FriendsOfNey.
So far, the Friends have secured grants and donations totaling almost $94,000, and other grant requests are pending. This effort is in support of a new interpretive plan to re-asses Elisabet’s story, the landscape and the visitor experience in conjunction with a City of Austin project to invest $3.415 million in capital improvements to the Ney’s structure and grounds. The museum will close for renovations starting in January. The improvements are projected to be completed by summer of 2024.