A new icon has arrived at the McNay Art Museum, and you can walk right through it. The museum has added Edra Soto’s “Screenhouse (2019)” to its permanent collection, a 10-foot-high modernized gazebo now standing on the museum grounds — the first outdoor sculpture by a Latina artist in McNay history.
Built from nearly 400 charcoal-hued cast concrete blocks, “Screenhouse” is part of Soto’s celebrated “GRAFT” series, inspired by the rejas and quiebrasoles — the decorative concrete screens and iron grills that brighten homes across Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and the American South. Native San Antonio foliage mirrors Puerto Rican plants around the sculpture, blending two landscapes into one welcoming space.
The Chicago-based Puerto Rican artist created the work as an invitation: visitors are encouraged to move through the structure, pause inside it, and feel the warmth of Caribbean history as part of American history. “Screenhouse invites visitors to an interactive encounter with Caribbean history, which is part of American history,” Soto said. Its geometric patterns play beautifully against the intricate tilework of founder Marion Koogler McNay’s residence.
Best of all, the McNay’s grounds are free and open to everyone during daylight hours — no ticket needed to experience this striking new gathering space.
Photo: McNay Art Museum
