New $6M entrance complex will be built at Laguna Gloria
The Contemporary Austin is hanging up a new welcome sign at Laguna Gloria.
The beloved 14-acre site, home to Clara Driscoll’s 1916 villa and, now, the sprawling Marcus Sculpture Park, is set to undergo a multiphase face-lift. The first step is to break ground March 21 on a new $6 million guest-friendly entrance complex and improvements to the verges of West 35th Street.
The effort was made possible by a $3 million grant from the Moody Foundation, which recently gave $15 million to the Waller Creek Conservancy to build a performance venue in Waterloo Park and $9.7 million to the Pease Park Conservancy to improve the green space alongside Shoal Creek, considered the city’s oldest park and site for a new Stickwork sculpture off Parkway.
“We want to invest in spaces where the community can experience art in nature,” said Ross Moody, trustee of the Moody Foundation. “We believe the community — and visitors from around the world — will enjoy the new amenities at Laguna Gloria for many generations to come. Our goal is to work with local nonprofits to not only showcase Austin’s natural beauty, but to also expand a visitor’s experience by tastefully incorporating world-class music, sculpture, dance, design, etc.”
The announcement comes at a watershed moment for Austin visual art. This week, the Blanton Museum of Art makes public its $23 million “Austin,” a crown jewel of a building that doubles as a work of art, by modern artist Ellsworth Kelly. Also on the University of Texas campus, the Landmarks public art program recently unveiled “Amistad América,” a 4,000-square-foot abstract mural by José Parlá inside the Rowling Building. For its part, the Contemporary Austin just opened a multipart exhibition by Rodney McMillian, the first winner of the $100,000 Suzanne Deal Booth