Texas A&M University is retiring the "Art Galleries" name for its campus art department and renaming it the Texas A&M University Art Museum, according to a university press release dated Oct. 7 and published by WTAW on Monday.
The change covers both of the department's exhibition spaces: the Forsyth Galleries and the J. Wayne Stark Galleries. Those two spaces keep their own names and stay where they are inside the Memorial Student Center, the release said. What changes is the umbrella identity for the department as a whole.
Why the university says it changed the name
The release said the new title better matches what the staff already does: acquiring, caring for and interpreting the university's growing art holdings, and working with faculty who use the teaching collections in research and in class.
"Our role extends well beyond presenting exhibitions," said John Spriggins, the museum's director. "The new name more accurately represents our responsibility to preserve, interpret and make these collections accessible while supporting the academic mission of Texas A&M University."
Two collections under one roof
The Stark collections, dedicated in 1992, carry the name of J. Wayne Stark, a 1939 graduate who led the Memorial Student Center as its first director and worked at Texas A&M for 33 years, according to the release. The university credits him with putting museum-quality works on display on campus, which became the starting point for the current collections.
The Stark focuses on contemporary Texas and regional art.
