Art Museums 101: You May Ask Yourself, “How Did They Get Here?”

What comes to mind when you think of an art museum? More than a jewel box of precious objects, art museums tell stories about the cultures that produce them and serve as important economic engines, and vital community infrastructure. This richly illustrated talk will consider the role of art museums from their centuries-old origins to the present -day, interweaving milestone architectural moments and taking a special look at SAMA’s history as an innovative example of adaptive reuse, a transformative neighborhood keystone, and an expression of optimism for the future of San Antonio.

Throughout her career, Emily Ballew Neff, the Kelso Director at SAMA, has been driven by a vision to bring people and great art together in meaningful ways. Prior to SAMA, Neff most recently served as the executive director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, where, among her numerous accomplishments, she spearheaded the effort to relocate the museum to downtown Memphis to enhance its role within the city’s civic and cultural core. While she spent most of her career at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she was its founding curator of American painting and sculpture, she will never forget visiting SAMA in 1991 to see the landmark exhibition, Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries.