The Rise of the Inclusive Museum

The University of Texas, College of Fine Arts. Excerpts from art building and museum dedication booklet, 1963. Box 2.324/Q11, Booklet, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

What has historically functioned as displays of power and private collections has undergone a long evolution to become the modern museum. Ultimately, these institutions serve the purpose of preserving a culture, but the recent discourse has revealed ways in which a more holistic approach can be taken to ensure greater preservation of culture. By focusing on institutions such as the University of Texas, this exhibit will center around archival findings such as the papers of Barbara Duncan, E. William Doty, and the University College of Fine Arts. This exhibit will explore ideas and theories such as the rise of the inclusive museum, visitor-centered exhibitions, the shift toward a more democratic museum, and the effect of funding on institutions. Analysis of these items will underscore the ways museums and collections at the University of Texas have evolved to serve the greater public and how the public and societal opinion on the art of the era stand to serve that change. With such change, themes of inclusion and representation in museums must also be addressed. As the inauguration of the University Art Museum seeks to share space with the changing social climate of the 1960s, the cause for the fine arts fights to not get left behind.