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''Austin'' is an immersive work of art and architecture designed by artist
The design-build team that realized the project was Overland Partners and Linbeck Group. The structure is clad with 1,569 
There are fourteen black and white marble panels on the interior walls of ''Austin'' that each measure 40" x 40". The black marble is from Belgium, and the white marble is from Carrara, Italy. Kelly experimented with a variety of composition for these simple panels, inspired by the Stations of the Cross. There is also an 18 foot tall totem in ''Austins interior, which is salvaged redwood.Ellsworth Kelly's ''Austin'' FAQs
/ref>
Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...
and built on the grounds of the Blanton Museum of Art
The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent col ...
in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, USA. The building is a permanent installation and part of the museum's permanent collection.
In January 2015, Kelly gifted to the Blanton Museum the design concept for a stone building that he subsequently named ''Austin''. This work of art relates to the tradition of modernist artist-commissioned buildings that includes the Rothko Chapel
The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art: on its walls are fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko in v ...
, the Thanks-Giving Square
Thanks-Giving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Dedicated in 1976, the complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-de ...
Chapel of Thanksgiving, and Henri Matisse's Matisse Chapel. Kelly said that the design of the building was inspired by Romanesque and Byzantine art
Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted u ...
he studied while in Paris on the G.I. Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
. Following Kelly's gift, the Blanton launched a $15 million campaign to realize the project. The building was opened to the public February 18, 2018.
A companion exhibition of Kelly's prints, sketches, and sculptures was displayed February 18 - April 29, 2018 at the Blanton to trace the evolution of four core motifs throughout his career; spectrum, black and white, color grid, and totem.
Construction and design
The design-build team that realized the project was Overland Partners and Linbeck Group. The structure is clad with 1,569 limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
panels from Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
, Spain. The interior stone flooring and plaza flooring is granite from Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, United States. The entry door is made from a native Texas live oak
Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...
tree from the site of the Dell Medical School. ''Austin'' has thirty-three mouth blown glass windows fabricated by Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany installed on three walls in "color grid", "starburst" and "tumbling squares" motifs.
There are fourteen black and white marble panels on the interior walls of ''Austin'' that each measure 40" x 40". The black marble is from Belgium, and the white marble is from Carrara, Italy. Kelly experimented with a variety of composition for these simple panels, inspired by the Stations of the Cross. There is also an 18 foot tall totem in ''Austins interior, which is salvaged redwood./ref>
References
External links
University and college chapels in the United States University of Texas at Austin campus University and college buildings completed in 2018 {{Texas-struct-stub