December 12, 2000

$1 MILLION GIFT FROM NANCY HAMON TO PROVIDE EXHIBITION SPACE IN NEW MEADOWS MUSEUM AT SMU

DALLAS (SMU) -- A gift of $1 million from Dallas philanthropist and civic leader Nancy B. Hamon, through the Hamon Charitable Foundation, will provide space for special exhibitions of internationally important art in the new Meadows Museum, now under construction at Southern Methodist University. The Jake and Nancy Hamon Galleries will be named in honor of the donor and her late husband. The gift was announced in conjunction with the celebration of Mrs. Hamon's birthday on December 12.

"Nancy Hamon's vision and generosity have been major factors in the flourishing of the arts at SMU and in Dallas through the years," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "This latest gift will enable SMU to bring important exhibitions to the Meadows Museum as a complement to the distinguished permanent collection."

The Hamon Galleries will house the inaugural exhibition of the new Meadows Museum, which will open in March 200l. The exhibition, a retrospective presentation of the work of Spanish architect-engineer-sculptor Santiago Calatrava, will run from March 25 through August 5. It is funded by a grant from Communities Foundation of Texas.

The new Meadows Museum will double the exhibition space for the internationally acclaimed Meadows Museum Collection, one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The museum also will significantly expand facilities for research and for educational and public programming.

The second floor of the new museum will be devoted to exhibition galleries, with separate areas for the permanent collection and special exhibitions. The Jake and Nancy Hamon Galleries will occupy a 4,000-square-foot area of the second floor. The museum will present three special exhibitions a year in the Hamon Galleries with themes and focus different from the scope of the permanent collection. With the opening of the new galleries, the quality, scope and import of the museum's previous special exhibitions will increase substantially.

The new freestanding museum will be located on Bishop Boulevard just north of the Mockingbird Lane entrance to the campus. It will replace the present museum, which opened in 1965 as part of a new arts center at SMU. The new museum of approximately 66,000 square feet will be six times larger than the present museum. An underground parking garage for 500 cars will provide convenient access for museum visitors.

Meadows School of the Arts Dean Carole Brandt said, "The Hamon gift of very beautiful spaces in which to showcase work across the spectrum of world-class art, in combination with the preeminent permanent Meadows Collection of Spanish art and contemporary sculpture, will provide immeasurable enrichment, privilege and pleasure for the university community and the region. We are excited and most grateful to Mrs. Hamon."

The Meadows Museum and its distinguished collection were developed through the generosity and dedication of the late Algur H. Meadows of Dallas. The Meadows Foundation has continued to support the museum through the years and, most recently, provided $20 million for design and construction of the new building.

Including the new gift for the Meadows Museum, Nancy Hamon's contributions to SMU total more than $7.4 million. Her principal gift was $5 million to establish the Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library in Meadows School of the Arts. SMU celebrated the 10th anniversary of the library's opening with a reception honoring Mrs. Hamon December 10. She also has given $1 million to the Dean's Discretionary Fund of the Meadows School.

In 1995 Mrs. Hamon received SMU's Foundation for the Future Award honoring individuals whose longtime service and philanthropy have had a lasting impact on the university. She received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from SMU at its May 2000 commencement, when she was cited for having "nurtured and transformed the city's major cultural institutions." She has served SMU on the boards of Meadows School of the Arts and the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College. She is currently a member of the Texas Committee for the $400 million Campaign for SMU.

The new $1 million Hamon gift counts toward the SMU campaign, launched in 1997. This five-year campaign is the most ambitious fund-raising effort in the university's history, with the largest goal ever sought by an institution in North Texas. The campaign seeks endowment and other support to continue strengthening the quality of students, faculty, academic programs and selected facilities at SMU.