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<\/p>\nThe renovation covers about 700 square feet of renovated space and expands the museum’s exhibition capacity. <\/p>\n
SAN ANTONIO \u2014 The Briscoe Western Art Museum has completed a major renovation in downtown San Antonio, adding new gallery space and an immersive digital experience designed to give visitors a new way to explore the American West.<\/p>\n
The transformation centers around the new Valerie Urschel Guenther Four Pillars Gallery, which serves as a new entry point for visitors and introduces the museum’s interpretation of Western art through four themes: Wildlife & The Land, Native People of the Americas, Tejanos, Vaqueros & Spanish Heritage, and Cowboys & The American Frontier.<\/p>\n
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The renovated space includes the Linda Whitacre Orientation Theater, where visitors can watch “Beyond the Frontier: Four Pillars of Western Art,” which is a 14-minute cinematic experience projected across a nearly 20-foot LED wall.<\/p>\n
The experience incorporates 85 works of art from the Briscoe’s collection and other collections, combining them with archival imagery, animation, motion graphics, narration, music and sound.<\/p>\n
The massive digital canvas allows paintings to expand beyond their original frames, highlighting details that could be difficult to see at their original size.<\/p>\n
\u201cA landscape can suddenly surround you,\u201d Briscoe President and CEO Liz Jackson said in a statement. \u201cA detail that may be only inches wide can become several feet tall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal, she said, isn’t to replace the museum’s original artwork but to encourage visitors to seek out those pieces in the galleries and look at them differently.<\/p>\n
The Four Pillars framework also puts a greater emphasis on the Spanish and Mexican roots of Western ranching and horsemanship, highlighting the influence of Tejanos and vaqueros on the American cowboy.<\/p>\n
\nMore space, refreshed galleries <\/p>\n
The renovation covers about 700 square feet of renovated space and expands the museum’s exhibition capacity inside its historic building, which once housed San Antonio’s Public Library.<\/p>\n
The new Four Pillars Gallery is next to the Theresa Guenther New Works Gallery and a new West Gallery.<\/p>\n
The changes give the Briscoe more room to display pieces from its collection and host temporary exhibitions while creating a more connected visitor experience throughout the first floor.<\/p>\n
The museum has also refreshed its Women of the West Gallery. That space will reopen Oct. 15 with “Kathy Sosa: Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico,” featuring more than 30 paintings, mixed-media works and sculptures by San Antonio artist Kathy Sosa.<\/p>\n
The exhibition focuses on women who helped shape Texas, Mexico and the American West and will be on display through June 14, 2027.<\/p>\n