David had to work all weekend thank the LORD so we can’t go anywhere but if we had been able to I would have liked to attend Meadow Museum’s 60th Birthday celebration. Since we have that in common but don’t tell anyone I’m 60 please. LOL
Even though my family didn’t get to attend the celebration the Museum will be celebrating its milestone birthday all year long with an exciting slate of programs and exhibitions. The centerpiece of the celebrations will be a weekend of anniversary-themed programs held this weekend (April 3–6)
MEADOWS MUSEUM CELEBRATES 60TH BIRTHDAY WITH FAMILY DAY BASH, FREE ADMISSION APRIL 5–6, LECTURES, TOURS AND MORE
DALLAS (SMU) — April 3, 2025 — Sixty years ago, on April 3, 1965, SMU opened the doors to the Meadows Museum as part of its School of the Arts. What began as a small exhibition space to house the art collection of Texas philanthropist Algur H. Meadows would eventually become one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, realizing his aim to build “a small Prado for Texas” (Houston Chronicle, April 14, 1968).
Now, in a freestanding building six times the size of its original space and with a collection approximately doubled in size, the Meadows Museum is the premier U.S. institution dedicated to the study and presentation of Spanish art and culture.
The museum will be celebrating its milestone birthday all year long with an exciting slate of programs and exhibitions. The centerpiece of the celebrations will be a weekend of anniversary-themed programs held April 3–6.
These events include a special Thursday-night lecture by the director on the history of the Museum, free admission Saturday and Sunday, a Meadows Museum “Eras” Tour on Saturday, a Family Day on Sunday and more.
A series of monthly docent-led spotlight talks highlighting the Museum’s acquisitions decade by decade will continue through June; and the Membership Department is offering a free guided tour for a group of up to 10 people to anyone who joins or renews their membership in 2025.
Here is a list of the upcoming activities planned for the 60th Birthday celebration:
SMU COMMUNITY BIRTHDAY PARTY
Thursday, April 3, 12–1 p.m.
For SMU faculty and staff (present current SMU ID for admission)
The Meadows Museum will fête SMU faculty and staff members with pink champagne cupcakes (the most popular cake flavor in 1965) from Society Bakery, spotlight talks by museum docents, and a special gift for the first 60 attendees.
LECTURE: THE MEADOWS MUSEUM AT 60: A DIAMOND IN DALLAS
Thursday, April 3, 6–7 p.m.
$10 general public; free to SMU students and Meadows Museum members at the Goya/Individual levels and above
Amanda W. Dotseth, Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of Arts, will commemorate the Museum’s opening on April 3, 1965, by discussing Algur H. Meadows and his vision to create a “Prado on the Prairie.”
60TH BIRTHDAY FREE ADMISSION WEEKEND
Saturday, April 5, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and Sunday, April 6, 1–5 p.m.
Visitors are invited to enjoy free admission and explore the Meadows Museum’s stunning permanent collection along with the monumental traveling exhibition The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce, featuring Flaming June and other masterworks by European, American, and Puerto Rican artists.
Also on view is A Decade of Acquisitions: Celebrating Works on Paper, a special exhibition of Spanish drawings, prints and watercolors from the 17th to the 21st Century recently acquired by the museum.
THE MEADOWS MUSEUM’S “ERAS” TOUR
Saturday, April 5, 2–3 p.m.
FREE
This Saturday, the museum’s standing public tour will have a special 60th-anniversary focus, exploring key works acquired during each of the museum’s past six decades.
FAMILY DAY | 60TH BIRTHDAY BASH!
Sunday, April 6, 2–4 p.m.
Free and open to the public
Enjoy art-making activities, games, interactive gallery experiences and, of course, Birthday cake! Strollers are welcome, and free parking is available in the Museum’s underground lot. In honor of its milestone Birthday, the museum is giving back—attendees are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the DFW Birthday Brigade, which serves up Birthday magic for unsheltered youth in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
SPOTLIGHT TALKS: DECADE X DECADE
Now through June Second Sundays at 2 p.m. and fourth Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Walk down memory lane and explore the Museum’s acquisitions by decade. A series of six 20-minute docent-led talks will spotlight a different decade and work of art. The series began in January with the 1960s and will conclude in June, focusing on acquisitions made in the 2010s and 2020s
Looking ahead to the fall, the Museum anticipates announcing a very special exhibition planned for 2027 with a new exhibition partner; an anniversary-themed College Night: ART after DARK (for SMU students) and member holiday party; and a film series with the theme of Spain in the 1960s.
The Meadows Museum is located on the SMU campus at 5900 Bishop Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75205. Hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursday, and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. Parking is free for museum visitors. For more information and to purchase tickets,
ABOUT THE MEADOWS MUSEUM
The Meadows Museum is the leading U.S. institution focused on studying and presenting the art of Spain. In 1962, Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated his private collection of Spanish paintings and funds to start a museum at Southern Methodist University.
The museum opened to the public in 1965, marking the first step in fulfilling Meadows’s vision to create “a small Prado for Texas.” Today, the Meadows is home to one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The collection spans from the 10th to the 21st centuries and includes medieval objects, Renaissance and Baroque sculptures, and major paintings by Golden Age
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
