The Austin Arts Hall of Fame: Ernest and Sarah Butler

Patrons extraordinaire

It's an approach they learned together while students at Baylor University. There, they took "Integration of Abilities," a class by the legendary theater teacher and director Paul Baker, who taught a holistic approach to understanding arts.

Since moving to Austin 35 years ago, the Butlers, both native Texans, have not stopped integrating their lives with the arts. And they have not stopped bolstering Austin arts organizations so that many others can avail themselves of the arts.

From their earliest years here, as Ernest Butler founded the Austin Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic and the couple raised their two children, they have been active members of Austin Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera and Ballet Austin, following each organization as it grew and eventually contributing their time and leadership skills as board members.

And as their means grew, so did the Butlers' largesse. Modest almost to a fault, they still have given millions to Austin arts organizations, specifically to interest-bearing endowment funds. Providing a firm, permanent financial base so that arts groups don't spend so much time and energy raising funds ensures a group's artistic growth, the Butlers say. "It's a way for arts organizations to be able to do what they do best," says Sarah Butler.

They are certainly not the wealthiest patrons in Austin, but nobody has given more, all told, than the Butlers.
-- Jeanne Claire van Ryzin

Ernest & Sarah Butler		Barbara Carson	Felicity Coltman	Chris Cowden	Karen Kuykendall	Jim Swift	Boyd Vance