Some of the most joyful art stories are rediscoveries, and Dallas has a wonderful one this season. New Deal Texas and the West is now on view at the Crow Museum of Asian Art at UT Dallas, in the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, where it runs from September 12, 2026, through July 18, 2027.
The exhibition gathers paintings, textiles, prints, sculptures, books and magazines created with federal support during the New Deal era. About 75 pieces come from the Dallas Museum of Art, and most are being exhibited for the first time after decades in storage. Curated by UT Dallas art history professor Dr. Erika Doss, it is the third Dallas Museum of Art collection featured in the UT Dallas Art Museums partnership — and her first curated exhibition.
Across three galleries organized around work, women and the West, visitors will find New Mexico artist Peter Hurd’s 1940 fresco designs “Pioneer Homebuilders” and “Airmail Over Texas,” colorful Works Progress Administration posters, and a Cooper, Texas, post office mural by Dallas native Lloyd Goff. It is a bright reminder of how public art lifted spirits and put artists to work across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Admission is free, and the Athenaeum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the UT Dallas campus in Richardson — an easy, uplifting museum day for the whole family.
Photo: UT Dallas News Center
