Blanton gears up for higher profile

The art at the Blanton Museum's "New Works for the Collection" exhibit tells a story.

But that story isn't necessarily about art. It's about money — or the lack thereof.

Of the 84 works on exhibit, only 20 were purchased with museum funds. The rest were donated.

Ned Rifkin, who took over as the director of the University of Texas museum one year ago this month, faces a big challenge on this anniversary: how to expand and raise the museum's status amid university budget cuts and the worst economic downturn in a generation.

"It's a very odd time to be trying to implement discernible change," Rifkin said. But that's what he plans to do. He and his staff have come up with a five-year strategic plan that he hopes will steer the nation's largest university art museum in terms of square footage into a new era.

The strategy centers on more fundraising from a wider base of donors. It also calls for streamlining programs and exhibits, altering the tradition-laden exterior of the building to better immediately identify it as an art museum, improving the visitor experience and positioning the Blanton to be the region's flagship museum.

"All museums are having to rethink themselves now," Rifkin said. "The times call for it."

The Blanton's plan comes as Austin's visual art scene is poised for major realignment.

In September, UT's art department will open the Visual Arts Center, a 22,000-square-foot space in the Art Building that will feature five galleries and host exhibits not just by UT art faculty members and students, but also by visiting international artists. The center is taking over the space that housed the Blanton until 2006.

Then in October, Arthouse, the arts center on Congress Avenue, will reopen after a $6.6 million architecturally adventurous renovation that will triple the gallery space to more than 20,000 square feet. Arthouse is known for presenting cutting-edge contemporary international art. (Meanwhile, the Austin Museum of Art remains in its temporary home in the lobby of an office building while its plans for a major facility of its own are on hold.)

It's time for the Blanton to raise its profile, Rifkin suggests.

"We can't do this without Austin, and we want (the city's) engagement," Rifkin said. "But (does Austin) really want a dynamic, vital art museum, and is that museum the Blanton? I want to make a case for the Blanton."

However, Rifkin wonders whether Austin is ready and willing to return the interest. "I think as Austin grows and deepens, hopefully people will see what (the Blanton) can offer and want to take a leadership role in supporting it," he said. "Yes, we're UT's museum of art, but that doesn't mean UT or the state is really supporting us to the extent that it also fully serves the community of Austin."

The museum's current budget is $5.8 million, down from $6.4 million in 2006, the year the Blanton opened the doors to the first building of its new two-building, $83.5 million complex, prominently perched on the south edge of campus.

About $2.1 million, or 36 percent, of the Blanton's budget comes from UT and the state. But the museum has to come up with the rest. About $1.6 million comes from grants, memberships and contributions. About $1.4 million comes from revenue generated by the Blanton's endowment of $30 million. And about $700,000 comes from admissions, museum shop sales and facility rentals.

Museum attendance held steady in 2009 at about 130,000, and the Blanton's membership roll totals 5,667.

"We don't necessarily have fewer donors, just substantially lower donations than we've had in the past," Rifkin said. "And UT has already gone through one across-the-board budget cut, and we've been warned to anticipate another. How that will affect the museum is hard to know until we know what the (budget cut) might be."

It's relatively rare for a university-based museum to aspire to be a city's flagship art destination. And the Blanton isn't directly comparable to many university art museums, much less flagship city museums such as the Kimbell in Fort Worth or Houston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Collegiate museums usually start as modest student-focused affairs within an existing art department, rely almost wholly on gifts of art and money from alumni and hence develop with collections that usually lack depth and are sometimes even eccentric.

"University museums aren't typically the places filled with great masterpieces," Rifkin said. They're "usually very idiosyncratic institutions."