museum visitors at an exhibit
Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas

The Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum

Detail View, the Enlightened One by Liu Yonggang at the O’Donnell Athenaeum Phase I Museum. © Mauricio Rojas, Courtesy UT Dallas

Learn More About the Crow Museum of Asian Art and the O’Donnell Athenaeum

The Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, a new cultural district located on approximately 12 acres at the southeastern edge of The University of Texas at Dallas, will be a new gateway to the University as well as a destination for students, faculty, staff and the community that will foster engagement in the arts and learning.

Designed by global architecture and design firm Morphosis, the project includes three new buildings — the second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art, a performance hall and a planned second campus museum — in addition to a parking structure, all surrounding a central plaza that serves as the heart of the master plan.

The O’Donnell Athenaeum is supported by a gift from the O’Donnell Foundation. In addition to the Crow Collection, the University has also received gifts of two collections of Latin American folk art: the Roger Horchow Collection and the Laura and Dan Boeckman Collection of Latin American Folk Art.

Phase I of the O’Donnell Athenaeum, the campus location of the Crow Museum of Asian Art, is now open.

“As an expression of human intellect and creativity, the arts play an important role at UT Dallas by enhancing the University’s focus on science, technology, engineering, mathematics and management. But to ensure that UT Dallas develops versatile individuals, we must integrate the arts fully into our vision and the experience of our students,” said UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. “Thanks to the transformative gift from the O’Donnell Foundation, as well as lead gifts from the Crow family and other generous Dallas families, we can now realize this vision for the O’Donnell Athenaeum, creating vibrant spaces commensurate with our aspirations for UT Dallas and becoming a hub for the arts in North Texas.”

North Facing View, Grand Staircase and Lobby. © Mauricio Rojas, Courtesy UT Dallas.

The Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum

The O’Donnell Athenaeum is the latest milestone in a period of significant growth of the arts at UT Dallas, which began in 2014 with the creation of the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History (EODIAH), established through a generous endowment from arts patron Edith O’Donnell and designed to approach art history through multidisciplinary research at a university on the cutting edge of science and technology. Dr. Richard Brettell, founding director of EODIAH, began developing the vision for the O’Donnell Athenaeum, convening spaces for reflection and discussion across disciplines, spanning the visual and performing arts, literature and science. Global in reach, the O’Donnell Athenaeum is envisioned to bridge the UT Dallas and local communities.

In 2019, the O’Donnell Athenaeum began to take shape when the Trammell and Margaret Crow family donated the entire collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art. The Crow Museum’s collection demonstrates the diversity of Asian art, with more than 1,000 works from Cambodia, China (including Tibet), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam, spanning from the ancient to the contemporary, as well as a library of more than 12,000 books, catalogs and journals. The downtown Dallas Arts District location will continue to present a full exhibition and program calendar.

Architecture and Design

After an international search led by Brettell, in late 2019 UT Dallas selected Los Angeles-based Morphosis to design the O’Donnell Athenaeum. The firm created a cohesive vision and master plan for the O’Donnell Athenaeum, where architecture and landscape combine to form a dynamic new district with a distinct identity that establishes UT Dallas as a cultural hub. The heart of the project is defined by a 2-acre plaza, flanked by new buildings on the east and west sides, which will feature landscaped gardens; tree-lined walkways; paved open spaces with benches and water features; an amphitheater; and contemporary sculpture from the Crow Museum’s collection. Landscaping and open space are used intentionally in the master plan to knit together the various buildings within the district and to create an important link to the rest of the campus.

Lining the western edge of the plaza will be three buildings: the two-story, 69,000-square-foot Crow Museum, which includes 12,000 square feet of contiguous outdoor space for programs and events (Phase I); a two-story, 56,000-square-foot, 680-seat performance hall and music building which includes 12,000 square feet of outdoor space, practice rooms, and choral and orchestra rehearsal rooms (Phase II); and an additional museum (Phase III). On the eastern edge of the plaza, masked by a freestanding wall, will be a three-story parking structure with two levels above grade and one basement level walkout that will serve the O’Donnell Athenaeum and campus.

The three cultural buildings are all designed with second floors that are larger than the ground floor, creating covered exterior spaces, where the buildings, plaza and landscaping fuse together to form intimate spaces that can be used for studying, building entry, daytime and nighttime events and gatherings, performances, art display and everyday campus life. Each building is clad with white precast concrete panels featuring a 3D pattern created through an innovative process designed by Morphosis.

“Morphosis is pleased to partner with The University of Texas at Dallas for this important project, giving us the opportunity to help shape the University’s bold vision for the arts on campus,” said Arne Emerson, Morphosis partner and the design partner leading the project. “The O’Donnell Athenaeum will transform the UT Dallas campus with buildings and open spaces for the visual and performing arts that will allow both students and the surrounding community to experience the convergence of art and architecture in ways not previously possible at the University.”

The new building includes 16,000 square feet of flexible gallery space. It will be anchored by the Crow Museum of Asian Art, with additional space for the display of new acquisitions or temporary exhibitions. Large windows at the ends of the galleries allow for ample natural light but can also be blacked out for more light-sensitive objects. The building houses a conservation lab, seminar room, administrative offices, art storage and the Brettell Reading Room, which houses Dr. Brettell’s personal library. The Crow Museum will continue programming in its current space in the downtown Dallas Arts District, providing an extension of the campus museum.

“As one of the few museums in the U.S. dedicated to Asian art, the new museum at UT Dallas greatly expands the University’s commitment to Asian art,” said Amy Hofland, senior director of the Crow Museum of Asian Art. “This new space allows us to grow our collection and programs and, as part of a top-tier research university, expand our research and conservation initiatives, all while fulfilling our mission of being a museum of relevance and belonging for UT Dallas students and faculty, and the larger North Texas community.”

New Dimensions: The Campaign for UT Dallas

The New Dimensions campaign — a $750 million effort to attract talent to North Texas, facilitate the enterprising work of faculty and realize the possibilities that exist when distinguished researchers and visionary artists share a home — will transform UT Dallas into a cultural destination for North Texas. The two museums and the performance hall of the O’Donnell Athenaeum, a significant initiative of the campaign, are funded through private contributions, with the parking structure funded through UT Dallas resources.

“Peter and Edith O’Donnell were crucial to the development of UTD, almost from the beginning. They saw the University as having the potential to blend their passion for education, Peter’s interest in science and engineering, and Edith’s love of the arts. All of this finds unique expression in the role envisioned for the O’Donnell Athenaeum, which makes it especially appropriate that the complex will bear the O’Donnell name,” said William T. Solomon, chairman, president and CEO of the O’Donnell Foundation.

A rendering of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum depicts a view looking south from the Naveen Jindal School of Management Building. Phase I (lower right side) of the O’Donnell Athenaeum will feature the campus home of the Crow Museum of Asian Art. Plans also include a performance hall and a museum for the traditional arts of the Americas that will be directly south of Phase I and a parking garage on the left.