Mission:
The mission of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts shall be to establish and maintain a museum in order to house and exhibit a permanent collection of art as well as to provide space for traveling exhibitions, for the purpose of the enjoyment and education of the general public in San Angelo, Texas, and the rural communities of the Concho Valley.
Vision:
The vision of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is to enhance the overall quality of life for all members of our community through cultural enlightenment.
History:
The Museum was founded in 1981 and was located in the historic 1864 Quartermaster Building at Fort Concho National Historic Landmark. It opened in 1985 with exhibits from the National Portrait Gallery and the Library of Congress. The Museum has since held over 350 exhibits. Over 150 have featured Texas artists, half of which have been women and 1/3 minority. The overall exhibit program encompasses all mediums, cultures and time periods. Ceramics Monthly has cited the Museums’ biannual National Ceramic Competition as “the premier clay show in America.”
In 1992 and 2005 the Museum received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce. In 1995 the Museum was awarded The National Community Service Award from the American Institute of Architects. In 2003 the Museum received the National Award for Museum Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the country’s highest honor for museums and in 2011 we received the Award of Excellence in Museums from the Texas Historical Commission.
The Museum has an intense interest in the community manifested in exhibits held every five years beginning in 1985, called Visions and Choices. These exhibits allow everyone in the community to show their ideas for the community’s future. Many of the ideas have become tangible and resulted in massive efforts of preservation and renewal.
The Museum has a rapidly growing collection with 300 works of contemporary ceramics. There are also historical ceramic works from Asia and more than 60 contemporary paintings and sculpture by Texas artists. The collection includes over 100 major works of Spanish Colonial and Mexican religious art. The Museum has lent extensively to other museums in Texas.
