Founders’ Day Weekend April 16-18 celebrated several University milestones – the 100th anniversary year of SMU’s opening, the Year of the Student and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Meadows Museum.
“This year, 2015, is the Year of the Student because 100 years ago our first students climbed the steps of Dallas Hall to enter SMU, with all University operations centered in that single, grand building,” President R. Gerald Turner said at his annual briefing. “Appropriately, our students have been making history ever since.”
On Friday the SMU community commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Meadows Museum with a celebratory gathering that attracted international visitors (large photo above). Founded in 1965 by benefactor Algur H. Meadows, it houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain.
As part of the celebration, the Meadows Museum is presenting the first exhibition in the United States of paintings from the collection of Juan Abelló and his wife, Anna Gamazo, considered among the world’s top collectors. The Abelló Collection: A Modern Taste for European Masters features paintings and drawings spanning the 16th to the 21st centuries, including works by Spanish and other European masters.
On Saturday, the Meadows Museum welcomed visitors to travel to Spain without leaving Dallas with its “Passport to Spain” Community Day activities (small photos above). The family-friendly event included opera arias performed by Meadows School of the Arts student, painting demonstrations and dance performances.
Rounding out the weekend was a reunion of Golden Mustangs, for alumni from the classes of 1964 or earlier; Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU; President’s Associates reception honoring donors who make gifts totaling $1,000 or more in a single year; the President’s Briefing; and the Mustang Fan Fair at Ford Stadium, featuring the SMU football spring game.
More scenes from the Meadows Museum, Founders’ Day Weekend
> See more photos of Community Day at the Meadows Museum