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5d ago

Institute of Texan Cultures Reopens in Temporary Downtown Space at Frost Tower

After demolition of its Hemisfair home for the Project Marvel redevelopment, UTSA is using a downtown Frost Tower space to keep the museum accessible.

The entrance to the Institute of Texan Cultures at the corner of Camaron and West Houston streets at Frost Tower. The institute's new home may be smaller than its original site, but it packs just as much insight in Texas's multicultural heritage.
An exterior view of the new home for the Institute of Texan Cultures at Frost Tower.
The custom mural "Texas Tapestry: Patterns of Belonging" by Sandra Gonzalez-KcKinney and her husband, Malachy McKinney, welcomes guests at the entrance of the new home for the Institute of Texan Cultures.
Clockwise from top: "A Plaza in Texas in the 1930s" (2015, acrylic on wood) by Carmen Lomas Garza, "Black Madonna of Czestochwa" (1960, oil on canvas) by E. Wronski and "No me queda más" (1995, oil on canvas) by Brad Braune at the Institute of Texan Cultures.

Overview

  • The museum opened Wednesday on the Frost Tower ground floor at 111 West Houston Street in an 8,000-plus-square-foot temporary venue.
  • The semi-permanent Common Threads gallery explores four themes: home and family life, heritage and traditions, arts and culture, plus community.
  • Curators plan rotating installations at least twice a year under the Common Threads framework to keep objects and stories refreshed.
  • A loaned Mumentous exhibition spotlights Texas homecoming mums, including a custom piece crafted from 4,000 feet of ribbon.
  • The new site follows a 2024 agreement to raze the former ITC building for Project Marvel, which includes a new Spurs arena, after preservationists failed to stop the demolition.