CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS PRESENTS CAST: MOLDING A NEW MUSEUM FOR UT DALLAS, FEATURING 3D MODELS AND SCHEMATIC RENDERINGS OF THE NEW CROW MUSEUM DESIGNED BY MORPHOSIS AND DEBUTING SPRING 2024
On view Nov. 3, 2022-March 5, 2023, Cast provides a first look at the Crow Museum’s second location; the 68,000-square-foot structure will be part of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, a new cultural district serving as the gateway to UT Dallas and a destination to foster engagement in the arts and learning
DALLAS (Oct. 28, 2022) – The Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas presents Cast: Molding a New Museum for UT Dallas,an exhibition providing an exclusive first look at the Crow Museum’s second location designed by global architecture and design firm Morphosis, currently being constructed on the institution’s campus during Phase 1 of the planned Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum. ‘
The 12-acre Athenaeum cultural district will house two art museums and a performance hall, serving as the gateway to the UT Dallas campus and a destination to foster engagement in the arts and learning. From Nov. 3, 2022-March 5, 2023, the exhibition will run at the founding site of the Crow Museum, located in the Dallas Arts District at 2010 Flora St.
Cast: Molding a New Museum for UT Dallas will feature 3D models of the new museum structure; renderings that show the design process; introductions of the designers, architects, planners and leadership behind the building; selections of works of art from the Crow Museum of Asian Art; along with works from the Stevens, Beockman and Horchow collections that have been gifted to The University of Texas at Dallas. For the new museum, the collection focus will include Asia and the Americas representing the region’s history and future intercultural exchange with the diverse cultures of these continents.
The exhibition will also provide a behind-the-scenes look into the ideation and planning process for the Crow Museum, including significant writing and original design conceived by the late Dr. Richard C. Brettell, who initiated plans for the Athenaeum and was integrally involved in the selection of Morphosis.
This exhibition was co-created by the Crow Museum and Morphosis with the intention to create the studio energy of how ideas become spaces for engagement and learning. The building design is an expression of architecture, math and science for the purpose of creating a new work of art as a vessel for current and future works of art: visual and performing. The exhibition curator is Amy Hofland who also serves as senior director of the Crow Museum.
Phase I of the O’Donnell Athenaeum project, which includes the Crow Museum, is projected to debut spring 2024. Once the on-campus museum is completed, the downtown Dallas Arts District location will remain open and continue to present a full exhibition and program calendar.
“We are forging the northern expansion of the Crow Museum of Asian Art within the greater concept of the Athenaeum – one museum, two locations,” said Hofland. “This growth for the Crow Museum will allow us to be more accessible and relevant to the campus, which boasts a significant Asian American student population, but also the growingly diverse communities within the North Texas region.”
She adds that with both a Downtown Dallas and campus location, the Museum’s reach will be broader and its ability to promote greater understanding and appreciation for Asian life and culture will be strengthened.
“This was the 2nd century aspiration of the classical Roman Athenaeum – exchange and dialogue around inspiration from works of art of all forms,” said Hofland. “This was also my good friend Dr. Brettell’s aspiration for the cultural life of Dallas: daring spaces of innovation and cultural excellence to be shared by all.”
Designed by Morphosis, the Athenaeum complex includes three new buildings – the Crow Museum of Asian Art, a performance hall and a planned museum for the traditional arts of the Americas – in addition to a parking structure, all surrounding a central, two-acre plaza that serves as the heart of the new cultural district. The firm created a cohesive vision and masterplan for the Athenaeum where architecture and landscape combine to form a dynamic new district with a distinct identity that establishes UT Dallas as a cultural hub.
“With the groundbreaking of the Crow Museum building in May this year, we have made great progress in bringing to life the first phase of the Athenaeum, a vital project for bringing the arts to UT Dallas. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view the design process and collaboration with the university that brought us to this moment,” said Arne Emerson, Morphosis Partner and Design Partner leading the project. “From the beginning, an important priority in realizing the vision for this project was to engage the community with art and architecture, now possible through the mounting of this exhibition.”
The Athenaeum will feature landscaped gardens; tree-lined walkways; paved open spaces with benches and water features; an amphitheater; and contemporary sculptures from the Crow Museum’s collection. Landscaping and open space are used intentionally in the Athenaeum to knit together the various buildings within the district and create an important link to the rest of the campus.
Lining the western edge of the plaza will be three buildings: the two-story, 68,000-square-foot Crow Museum, which includes 12,000 square feet of contiguous outdoor space for programs and events (Phase I); a two-story, 53,000-square-foot performance hall including a 600-seat concert hall, practice rooms, and choral and orchestra rehearsal rooms (Phase II); and a two-story, 50,000-square-foot museum for the traditional arts of the Americas (Phase III). On the eastern edge of the plaza, masked by a freestanding wall, will be a three-story 1,100-car parking structure with two levels above ground and one basement level walkout that will serve the Athenaeum and campus.
The three buildings are each designed with second floors that are larger than the ground floor, creating covered exterior spaces, where the buildings, plaza and landscaping fuse together to form intimate spaces that can be used for studying, building entry, daytime and nighttime events and gatherings, performances, art displays and everyday campus life. Each building is clad with white precast concrete panels featuring a 3D pattern created through an innovative process designed by Morphosis.
The Crow Museum includes 16,000 square feet of flexible gallery space, , with additional space for the display of new acquisitions or temporary exhibitions. Large windows at the ends of the galleries allow for ample natural light but can also be blacked out for light-sensitive objects. The building will house a state-of-the-art conservation lab, seminar rooms, administrative offices, art storage and the Brettell Reading Room, which will house the personal library of Brettell.
The Athenaeum is supported by a $32 million gift from the O’Donnell Foundation, the single largest monetary gift from one of UT Dallas’ most significant donors. In addition to the Crow Collection, the University has received gifts of three collections of Latin American folk art: the Roger Horchow Collection, the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Latin American Folk Art, and the Bryan J. Stevens Collection of Masks of the Sierra de Puebla. These three collections, along with additional planned collections, will form the basis of a second museum focused on the University’s growing collection of Mexican art and folk art of the Americas.
History of the Athenaeum
In 2019, the Athenaeum began to take shape when the Trammell and Margaret Crow family donated the entire collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art, together with $25.45 million of support funding for a new museum on the UT Dallas campus. The Crow Museum’s collection demonstrates the diversity of Asian art, with more than 1,000 works from Cambodia, China (including Tibet), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam, spanning from the ancient to the contemporary, as well as a library of more than 12,000 books, catalogs and journals.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Located in the Dallas Arts District, the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas is open Tuesdays-Sundays (11 a.m.-5 p.m.). The museum is closed on Mondays. Admission is free and suggested donations are $12 for adults. For more information, please go to or call 214-979-6430.
ABOUT THE CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS.
Founded in 1998, the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas inspires and promotes learning and dialogue about the arts and cultures of Asia through its exhibitions, the research and preservation of its collections, artistic and educational programming, and visitor experience and engagement. The museum accomplishes this in accordance with the highest professional standards and through collaboration with diverse audiences and community partners within North Texas and throughout the world. Free and open to the public, this museum celebrates the arts and cultures of Asia – from ancient eras to contemporary times – through a variety of permanent and traveling exhibitions that showcase the arts of a multitude of countries. With an array of beautiful spaces and galleries, the museum offers a serene setting for quiet reflection in the heart of the Dallas Arts District. Learn more at crowmuseum.org.
ABOUT MORPHOSIS
Morphosis is a global architecture and design firm, creating compelling work that is intelligent, pragmatic, and powerful. For more than 50 years, Morphosis has practiced at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and design, working across a broad range of project types and scales, including civic, academic, cultural, commercial, retail, residential, and mixed-use; urban master plans; and original publications, objects, and art. Committed to the practice of architecture as a collaborative enterprise, Partners Arne Emerson, Ung-Joo Scott Lee, Brandon Welling, and Eui-Sung Yi lead a team of more than 80 in Los Angeles, New York, Dubai, Seoul, and Shanghai, in collaboration with founder and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne. At the root of all Morphosis projects is a focus on rigorous research and innovation, prioritizing performance-driven design that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Through its research arm, The Now Institute, the firm collaborates with academic institutions to create design-based solutions for the pressing issues of the day, from mobility, urban revitalization, and sustainability to public policy, planning, and community outreach. For more information, visit
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
