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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University |
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in Dallas is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in |
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2015; and |
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WHEREAS, Inspired by visits to the famed Prado Museum in |
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Madrid during the 1950s, the Texas philanthropist and oil financier |
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Algur H. Meadows began to collect Spanish art, and in 1962, he |
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donated funds to endow a museum to house his collection on the SMU |
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campus as part of a new arts center; and |
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WHEREAS, The Meadows Museum opened its doors in 1965, and it |
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quickly won renown for having one of the largest and most |
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comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain; spanning |
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1,000 years, from the 10th century to the 21st, the collection |
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contains masterpieces by El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Miro, and |
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Picasso, as well as Renaissance altar pieces and a selection of |
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twentieth-century sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Claes |
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Oldenburg, and others; the plaza outside the museum is graced with |
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Santiago Calatrava's giant moving sculpture, Wave; the museum |
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offers visitors guided tours of its collection, as well as public |
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lectures, gallery talks, and symposia by leading scholars and |
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artists; and |
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WHEREAS, Through the years, the Meadows Foundation has |
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continued to provide generous support to the museum, contributing |
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$18.5 million for a new building that opened in 2001, as well as |
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funds for acquisitions, exhibitions, curatorial staff, and other |
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purposes; in March 2015, the foundation contributed $25 million to |
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the museum and $20 million to the Meadows School of the Arts, the |
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largest single gift in SMU's history; and |
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WHEREAS, This festive anniversary year is being marked at the |
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museum with a series of special exhibitions and events, including a |
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retrospective display of archival material, artworks, and |
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photographs documenting the museum's history, The Meadows |
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Collects: 50 Years of Spanish Art in Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, With the founding of the Meadows Museum, Algur |
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Meadows fulfilled his dream of creating a "small Prado for Texas," |
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and in the half-century since, the museum has offered countless |
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Texans as well as visitors from around the world the opportunity to |
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view and enjoy some of the great masterworks of Spanish art; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Meadows |
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Museum in Dallas and extend to its staff and volunteers sincere best |
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wishes for continued success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the museum as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |
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Meyer |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 2452 was adopted by the House on May |
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21, 2015, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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