Last updated: 7/4/2021
5900 Bishop Boulevard
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
P.O. Box 750357
Dallas, TX 75275
Tuesday - Wednesday, Friday - Saturday
10 AM - 5 PM
The Meadows Museum is closed on Mondays, Easter Sunday, July 4, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
Complimentary admission on Thursdays after 5 p.m.
Adults: $12
Seniors (65 and over): $10
Members: free
Students (): $4
Children under 12: Free
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Mark A. Roglán
phone:
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Carrie Sanger
phone: 214-768-1584
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The Meadows Museum is the leading U.S. institution focused on the study and presentation of the art of Spain. In 1962, Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated his private collection of Spanish paintings, as well as funds to start a museum, to 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 and modern masters.
The Meadows Museum, a division of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (SMU), advances knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts and culture of Spain through the collection and interpretation of works of the greatest aesthetic and historical importance.
During business trips to Spain in the 1950s, Texas philanthropist and oil financier Algur H. Meadows spent many hours at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. The Prado’s spectacular collection of Spanish masterpieces inspired Meadows to begin his own collection of Spanish art. In 1962, through The Meadows Foundation, he gave Southern Methodist University funds for the construction and endowment of a museum to house his Spanish collection.
The Meadows Museum opened in 1965 as part of the new Owen Arts Center at SMU. In the years that followed, Algur Meadows provided the impetus and funds for an aggressive, but highly selective, acquisitions program through which an extraordinary collection was developed in a remarkably short period of time. Since his death in 1978, The Meadows Foundation and numerous donors have provided ongoing support for continued development of the museum’s permanent collection, nearly doubling its collection of paintings.
The Foundation gave a gift of $18.5 million in 1998 for construction of a new museum building on campus to showcase the collection and provide more space for special exhibitions and educational programs; the new building opened in March 2001. In 2006, the Foundation gave $33 million to the Meadows School of the Arts, the largest grant ever made by the Foundation and the largest ever received by SMU at the time, which included $25 million for the museum for acquisitions, exhibitions, an educational curator position, an expanded educational program, and special initiatives of the museum director. The Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, during which The Meadows Foundation made yet another historic gift to SMU of $45 million, $25 million of which was designated to support goals and programs at the Museum.
Ranging from early Renaissance examples to modern works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Juan Gris, the majority of works of art in the collection were created during the Spanish Golden Age by Baroque artists such as Diego Velázquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Jusepe de Ribera. One of the great protagonists of 18th-century Spanish art, Francisco de Goya, is represented within the founding collection by several painted works, along with complete first-edition sets of the artist's four great print series. The Algur H. Meadows Collection also includes a number of late 19th- and early 20th-century paintings by Spanish artists working both within and beyond their native country's borders, such as Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, Raimundo de Madrazo, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, and Ignacio Zuloaga. Over the past two decades, the collection has grown to include contemporary Spanish artists such as Santiago Calatrava and Jaume Plensa.
The Meadows Museum holdings include some ten thousand Archivo Mas photographs of Spain and Italy used for study purposes.
Lectures,symposia, gallery talks, museum tours, concerts, films, children's programs, art classes,international travel, regional travel
The Meadows Museum has developed a series of gallery tours. These are available to schools, university students, and adults. Museum docents take extensive training and lead these tours throughout the year. Included with the scheduled school tours are teachers' pre-visit packets with hands-on activities geared to the different levels of primary and secondary school students. These packets cover a variety of topics such as elements of design, themes in art, and Spanish art. The Meadows Museum has developed innovative hands-on activities for students.
Study print reproductions and teacher's guides on works from the permanent collection are also available.
A freestanding, stately red-brick Collegiate Georgian building with an outdoor sculpture plaza and dedicated parking garage provide 14,000 square feet of gallery space for major loan exhibitions and designated areas for the display of the permanent collection and to accommodate innovative educational programming. The first-floor houses special event spaces, a museum shop, additional galleries, and education areas, including a studio and auditorium.
Auditoriums
Lecture Halls
Performance Areas
The Meadows Museum is a division of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.
Access: Scholars
Appointment required: Yes
A biannual magazine, "At the Meadows," provides museum members with advance notice of events and programs, and offers in-depth profiles of exhibitions and acquisitions. Curatorial staff are frequent editors and contributors to exhibition catalogs and other scholarly publications.
The Meadows Museum Shop is your destination for unique gifts, unusual jewelry and fabulous books. A great place to browse, you will see a wide range of merchandise and an incredible selection of books that complement the Museum’s permanent collection and expand your knowledge of our visiting exhibitions. Our children’s section is rich with exciting toys, art sets and hard-to-find books. Meadows Museum members receive a 10% discount on all purchases and from time to time also get special offers and opportunities.
These Meadows Museum exhibition catalogues are available in the Meadows Museum Shop. For more information or to purchase, visit our Amazon site; alternatively, where indicated, please call 214.768.1695 or email the Museum Shop (museumshop@smu.edu). If ordering catalogues via e-mail, please be sure to include the title(s) in your message. DO NOT include credit card information, a shop representative will call you to obtain it.
The Meadows Museum offers elegant spaces for individuals and groups wishing to host special events. Museum members along with SMU organizations and other non-profit groups are invited to book space in the museum for their events.
Whether you want a rehearsal dinner or reception in the uniquely oval-shaped Gene and Jerry Jones Great Hall, the Museum provides striking and sophisticated settings for events of all kinds. The intimate Algur H. Meadows Founder’s Room is an available space that is conducive to small board meetings, private dinners, and receptions. For panel discussions, film screenings, and lectures, there is the Bob and Jean Smith Auditorium, which is equipped with the latest audio-visual technology.
Gift Shop
Online Gift Shop
Special Event Rental
Group Tours
The Meadows Museum is committed to making the museum accessible for all visitors. Please note that our efforts to make our website, programs, and museum more accessible are ongoing. If you encounter any accessibility concerns, please contact us at museumaccess@smu.edu. More information about disability-related accommodations can be found at https://meadowsmuseumdallas.org/visit-us/accessibility/
Wheelchair Accessible
Parking
Restrooms
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