New Galveston Museum

New Galveston museum makes history of Texas and the Southwest come alive — thanks to one man's passion

The Galveston landscape has changed over the years, and so have the houses. History, hurricanes and in some cases, new owners have seen to that.

One home in particular though, has survived em’ all. For one hundred and twenty one years. Today, thankfully, it rests in rightful hands.

The original structure, completed in 1895, once served as the Island City Protestant-Israelite Orphans Home. After the 1900 storm, Thomas Edison filmed a panorama of the home. Although severely damaged then, incredibly, it still stood.

Now, the house at 1315 21st Street sits like a giant golden egg, cradled in oaks, palms, and fresh blooming agapanthus. It’s been restored, renovated and all rubbed clean, with a state of the art geothermal air-conditioning and heating system to boot. On June 19, its doors open with a new name and mission thanks to the passionate historian, Mr. J.P. Bryan.

There are museums and then there are those gems that give you goose bumps. Touring the Bryan Museum, I got riggers. One after another. You might too when you see the 10,000 year old mortar (corn grinder), or, a rare war shield (late 1700s) made by the Pueblo Indians, or, maybe one of the books in the Research Library. The oldest is a memoir of Cabeza de Vaca, dated 1551.

Labor of love

The Bryan Collection, is the result of a life long labor of love. It holds over 70,000 pieces of Southwestern history. To call it outstanding is like saying a Rembrandt is “pretty.” Words don’t do this collection justice but jaw dropping comes close. At the Bryan Museum, history feels alive and well. It’s personal.

The artifacts alone will make your heart thump, but coupled with how they’re displayed turns this tour into an experience from fascinating to intimate. You’re looking at an 1882 Colt shotgun, for example, and behind it, as a backdrop, there’s a map, even older. If you step back to take in the whole room, you realize that from the long-leaf pine floors to the ceiling, you’re surrounded by authenticity. Gifts galore.

Each room represents an era, starting with Pre-Columbian to the 19th Century settlement. Next to the display cases, an interactive iPad provides more details.

From room to room you go, like turning the pages of a great book. By the end of your read, you know the complete story of the settlement of the West and a lot more. You feel close to those who lived near these relics.

The saddles are stunning. Studying one closer up, I got a faint whiff of horse. Sweet.

If you can pry yourself away and go upstairs, you come to the Texas Masters Gallery. The Jeu de Paume of Texas, I thought. That is, small and exquisite. Here, you take in the works of Tom Lea, Elisabet Ney, Robert Jenkins Onderdonk, Jose Arpa Y Perea, and Frank Reaugh to mention a few. None of whom I’d ever heard of before, but understand now why Bryan calls them the masters of depicting Texas. I saw a series of sketches by Frank Reaugh and fell in love with calves . . . all over again.

Treasures of another kind

On the ground floor, also a part of the tour, you find treasures of another kind. Originally, this area was as an indoor playground for the children. Then, it included a swimming pool. “These rooms,” said museum director Jamie Christy, “are all dedicated to the Galveston Orphans Home and the children who occupied it.”

So far, she’s interviewed 30 former residents of the orphanage. This though, like the dedicated director herself, deserves a story all its own.

I haven’t even talked about the Sirena Café. Sirena means mermaid in Spanish. It’s not included in the tour, but believe me, it’s jaw dropping too.

No surprise the Bryan Museum has already won an award. From the City of Galveston for outstanding restoration, renovation and use of building. There’s one better, though, and it came right from within the house. While sitting in the main office, I heard one of the workers in the Introduction Room just across the hall. He was working on an exhibit case, and sometimes . . . he sang a song. Not loud. Content like. Following one song, there came a long silence and then this.

“What an honor,” he said, like a prayer, “we’re working in one of the world’s finest museums.”

Later, I entered the room and introduced myself. “JD” climbed off his ladder and talked about the “warmth and ambiance” of the place. He said that in his 33 years of doing carpentry, he’d never enjoyed working a job more. “I feel privileged to work here,” he said, “it’s just a one of a kind thing.” I understood.

Before leaving, I pulled business cards from a tray. Under each person’s name, read their title in small print. Jamie Christy, Director; Andrew Gustafson, Curator; Chelby King, Grant Writer/Special Projects; Peter Ochoa, Special Events & Museum Store; Tirzah McDaniel, Outreach Coordinator.

Bryan’s said it all — describing this quiet, Captain Call of a man in two words . . . from Texas.

J.P. Bryan in the Frontier Room (1820-1848) viewing the Mexican American War case.

The Bryan Museum Galveston Frontier Room

Photo by Katie Oxford

J.P. Bryan in the Frontier Room (1820-1848) viewing the Mexican American War case.

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MFAH will host two impressive American art exhibits this fall

Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Winslow Homer, Children Playing Under a Gloucester Wharf, 1880.

Houston art lovers can get a glimpse of a couple of impressive exhibits this fall at the MFAH. One is from a private Texas collection of American modernist paintings. The other is a collection of rarely seen Winslow Homer watercolors from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Opening October 25, American Modernism from the Charles Butt Collection marks the first exhibition drawn from the renowned private collection of Texas philanthropist Charles Butt. With some 80 works, including by such iconic artists as Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and Jacob Lawrence, this landmark presentation highlights a deeply personal collecting vision, offering a fresh perspective on American modernism and illuminating key movements and artistic voices that shaped the course of 20th-century art.

The exhibit’s sections reflect Charles Butt’s lifelong passions, which span a love for the sea, developed over Butt’s childhood spent in Corpus Christi, as well as works showcasing how landscape shaped America’s response to modernism, and how artists subverted landscape conventions to chart more personal journeys. A special section in the Houston presentation will be devoted to seven visionary watercolors by Charles Burchfield.

“Charles Butt is widely known in Texas for his philanthropy and abiding commitment to education,” Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, said in a statement. “Less known, until now, is his discerning eye and passion for American art, as expressed by some of our most accomplished artists in the 20th century. We are pleased to host his distinguished group of American modernist paintings in Houston, and grateful to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art for organizing the exhibition and this statewide Tour.”

The exhibit runs through January 18, 2027.

Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston opens November 1. This is a once-in-a-generation exhibition showcasing the watercolors of this quintessential New England artist, who captured the fleeting effects of light, atmosphere, and landscape on daily life in America during the transformative decades of the late 19th century. Houston is the only travel venue for this exhibition, following its debut last fall in Boston. The exhibit runs through February 7, 2027 and includes 50 watercolors by the artist, alongside a selection of his oils, drawings, and prints.

“We are thrilled that our colleagues in Boston have consented to share with us their definitive collection of works by Winslow Homer,” said Tinterow. “The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is not only one of the world’s premier art museums, but the longtime steward of the singular legacy of Winslow Homer. As a quintessential New England artist, Homer — much like his exact contemporary Mark Twain — captured life in America as it transformed from an agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse. Because Homer's light-sensitive works on paper are normally kept in dark storage, this exhibition provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see Homer's vision of our country, made visible only in Houston on the occasion of the nation’s semiquincentennial.”

Museum goers will find the exhibit organized chronologically, focusing on major chapters in Homer’s life. The arc demonstrates his evolution as an artist, capturing his fascination with the world around him. Paintings include Leaping Trout, from 1889, his first watercolor to be purchased by any museum, and Driftwood, his last watercolor.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts and originally apprenticed to a print shop, Homer covered the Civil War for Harper’s Weekly as an artist. Working in watercolor in the 1870s, he traveled through the Adirondacks, Massachusetts, Florida, and the Caribbean. He died in 1910, having spent the last decades of his life painting and working in Maine.

These two exhibitions are presented in conjunction with America 250 marking the semiquincentennial of America’s founding with a roster of more than 70 artworks from across its campus and collections that speak to the American experience.

Winslow Homer, Children Playing Under a Gloucester Wharf, 1880.

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