SAN ANTONIO – If you haven’t driven by the McNay Art Museum in a while, chances are you won’t recognize the property from the street view.
The museum on Thursday announced that Phase 1 of its Landscape Master Plan is now complete.
The $6.25 million renovation project involved the removal of the thick hedges along the edge of the property and the addition of see-through fencing, making the museum visible from the street.
Crews also planted 144 new trees and 7,892 shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials, a news release states.
Two acres at Austin Highway and North New Braunfels were added to the museum’s footprint – which grew from 23 to 25 acres — and they were completely renovated.
That section, now known as the Mays Family Park, holds the sculpture, Ascent, by Alexander Liberman. The release states that the park was named after the Mays Family Foundation, which donated $2 million to the museum.
A stainless-steel sculpture by Philip Grausman called Victoria was relocated to the renovated entrance at Austin Highway.
The entrance on New Braunfels has also been reworked and renamed after Tom Frost.
Four other sculptures were added over the last two years. Those are The Sole Sitter by Willie Cole, Standing Tulip by Tom Wesselmann, Hashtag-Orange by Alejandro Martín, and Deer by Tony Tasset.
“The McNay is proud to realize a vision first introduced in 2004 by former McNay Board Chairman, Tom Frost, McNay Director Emeritus, William J. Chiego, and a forward-looking team of Trustees and staff who saw where cultural institutions around the world were headed,” Richard Aste, the director and CEO of the McNay, said in the release.
“We are already seeing the positive impact of a more inclusive, open campus on our community, and we’re just getting started.”
The release states that Phase 2 of the Landscape Master Plan is in development.