2011 NOVEMBER POST
CONGRATULATIONS TO AUSTIN MUSEUM OF ART AND ARTHOUSE! These two arts organizations have done what our U.S.Congress seems unable to do. They have reached an agreement! After much discussion the two boards of AMOA and ARTHOUSE have agreed to merge. ARTHOUSE reinvented the Texas Fine Arts Association that had shared the Laguna Gloria campus and moved downtown. LAGUNA GLORIA ART MUSEUM became Austin Museum of Art and made plans to create a downtown location on the block it purchased in the heart of the city, although that was not to be. ARTHOUSE was successful in establishing a great Congress Avenue location in a beautifully renovated building along with a tremendous debt. After several unsuccessful attempts to raise funds for a downtown building, AMOA sold its strategically located block and banked its impressive revenue. Each had what the other needed. In my opinion the two boards of directors acted wisely by recognizing this. I'm sure there will be many details to reconcile, not