On
Saturday, January 31, 2009, the Blanton Museum of Art at The University
of Texas at Austin held the first gala celebration in its recently
completed two–building complex. Essence of Cool: 2009 Blanton
Museum Gala honored Jack S. Blanton, for whom the institution is named.
The event raised $1,625,000 in table and ticket sales as well as donations
to launch the Blanton's new $40 million campaign for the support of
exhibitions, collection, and endowment. Additionally, two new art works
purchased in honor of Mr. Blanton and support of the gala, were unveiled.
University of Texas at Austin President William Powers Jr. announced
two significant gifts to the museum made in honor of the occasion in
addition to over $600,000 raised through table and ticket sales. One
million dollars has been given for endowment by the Scurlock Foundation,
with the assistance of Mr. Blanton's three children, Elizabeth Wareing,
Eddy Blanton, and Jack Blanton, Jr. This gift helps to ensure that
exhibitions and research will continue to provide educational opportunities
of the highest caliber for the benefit of the people of Texas. The
museum also received a $25,000 gift from the LBJ Foundation in support
of the museum's endowment, with Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson
Robb on hand for the celebration.
In celebration of the gala, and to emphasize the importance of donations
of works of art to the Blanton's outstanding collection, Jeanne Klein
and Michael Klein generously underwrote two significant new works of
contemporary art that were unveiled at the Gala: Stacked Waters, a
site–specific work commissioned for the Rapoport atrium by artist
Teresita Fernández; and a shimmering large–scale sculptural
work by Ghanaian–born artist El Anatsui.
Event chairs Kelli Blanton, Leslie Blanton, and Elizabeth Wareing
organized the event, which was attended by over 400 guests from across
the country, including Mayors Will Wynn (Austin) and Bill White (Houston),
Austin co–chair Julie Thornton and husband John Thornton, and
Houston chair Ellen Susman and husband Steve Susman. Among the guests
attending from Austin were Carla McDonald and Jack McDonald, Nicole
Covert and Brent Covert, Bob Inman and Nancy Inman, Suzanne Booth and
David Booth, Jack Crosby and Joanne Crosby, Becky Beaver and John Duncan.
A large number of guests attending the event came from Houston, including
Judy Tate and Charles Tate, Cherie Flores and Jim Flores, Jess Sanders
and Beth Sanders Moore, John Thrash and Becca Cason Thrash, and Diane
Lokey Farb.
The evening began with a VIP party in the museum's Capitol Room furnished
with modern Herman Miller pieces, followed by a cocktail reception
throughout the new Edgar A. Smith Building. Guests then crossed the
dramatically lit Faulkner Plaza to the Michener Gallery Building for
a dinner catered by the Four Seasons and program emceed by Texas Monthly
editor–in–chief and Austin gala co–chair Evan Smith.
The museum's downstairs galleries, normally filled with temporary exhibitions,
were decorated with glowing tables and chairs from Lounge 22. Throughout
the evening, guests enjoyed music from the UT Jazz Orchestra and floral
decor by David Kurio Designs. Following a short film tribute to Mr.
Blanton by award–winning documentary filmmaker and University
of Texas at Austin faculty member Paul Stekler, the honoree received
a standing ovation as he remarked, “My buttons pop every time
I walk through these doors.”
