Construction & Exhibits Update
November 3, 2008
Construction of New Spaces Slated for Completion in August
The Wittliff Collections, on the seventh floor of the Alkek Library at Texas State University-San Marcos, are undergoing a major expansion to increase exhibition space for photographs and materials from both the Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection and the Southwestern Writers Collection.
Renovation plans also include a new formal entrance to welcome visitors, the relocation of the front office service desk, and an enlarged reading room for researchers to be named for author Cormac McCarthy, whose major papers are housed at the Southwestern Writers Collection.
The enlarged gallery area will allow more of the Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection to be on view, drawing from the growing archive of almost 15,000 prints. As part of the redesigned entrance, a hallway leading to the new exhibition space will be built to display large art pieces and other objects from both collections. The expanded reading room will accommodate more patrons in a quiet, inviting setting. Relocating the front office will provide a new central contact point for visitors.
The signature longleaf pine and southwestern design accents used in the current spaces will be carried throughout the new areas. Construction is slated for completion at the end of August.
The Grand Reopening on October 17 will celebrate all of the fall exhibitions and will feature a book signing with Keith Carter for his latest in the Wittliff's Southwestern & Mexican Photography Book Series, A Certain Alchemy, as well his new book, Fireflies.
Michael Guarino, of the San Antonio firm Ford, Powell & Carson, Inc., is lead architect for the redesign. The university project manager in charge of construction is Bill G. Tomlinson.
Archives & Exhibits
To serve researchers and students, the archives and supplementary materials (books, serials, DVDs, etc.) will continue to be accessible throughout construction by appointment during posted weekday hours.
The seventh floor exhibit spaces—including the Lonesome Dove Room—have been cleared for construction. In the interim, Lonesome Dove props and costumes, Bill Wittliff’s photographs and script drafts, and other “making of” materials from the major production archives of the miniseries are now back on view on the Alkek Library’s first floor during regular library hours. Satellite exhibits may also be periodically on display.
Check the Wittliff’s online Exhibits & Events Calendar for updates.
Hours Updated Regularly
Hours fluctuate at Texas State’s Alkek Library, and hours at the Wittliff Collections may vary as construction progresses. Weekend hours will resume once the exhibitions reopen. For up-to-the-minute information, call (512) 245-2313 or click the HOURS link on the website: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu.