Tucked away near the heart of the massive Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center on the campus of Baylor University is a gem of a museum. Named for Ruby Laura Hooper Martin, the niece of Lady Hooper-Schaefer, the Martin Museum of Art has served Waco and the Baylor community since 1982.

But the museum’s roots actually go back some 14 years earlier, under the direction of Dr. J.B. Smith, then chairman of Baylor’s Department of Art.  Originally housed in the Carroll Science Building, the Baylor Art Museum began with a small collection of purchased and donated artwork consisting mainly of some prints, a few paintings, Japanese woodblocks, and some African sculpture.

But Dr. Smith had a vision for the museum and its art collection.  A 1968 article in the Baylor Lariat quotes Smith saying, “We can’t ask our students to go to Boston to see paintings, but we can bring the paintings here for them to see.  Our museum is small, but it is a start, and the museum does have a future. I can remember when the Texas Collection was a five-foot shelf in the library and the Strecker Museum was a bunch of barrels of snakes in the basement of the library.”

Smith stressed that an art museum was imperative because it not only offers opportunity for academic scholarship, but it contributes very positively to the cultural perceptions of our campus and of Waco. With no art museums between Dallas and Austin, Smith saw a mission.  “We’re in a desert and Baylor can be an oasis,” Smith said. 

Forty years later, the museum has changed names but the mission is still the same.  “We are first and foremost, a teaching museum,” says current director, Karin Gilliam. “We serve our campus and community by offering a variety of cultural opportunities, including exhibitions by students and art faculty as well as internationally recognized artists.” 

One thing that has indeed changed is the size and scope of the Permanent Collection, which has grown to 1150 pieces of artwork representing works by famous artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Francisco de Goya and Edouard-Leon Cortes.  In addition, the museum recently received the McMullen-Connally Family Collection, containing approximately 300 paintings by famous watercolor artists such as George Post, Phil Dike, Edgar Whitney and John Marin.  The collection is housed and displayed in the McMullen-Connally Faculty Center at Baylor.

“We look forward to being able to accept additional gifts of fine art once we have more exhibition and storage space,” Gilliam said.

Professor John D. McClanahan, Chair of the Department of Art since 1989, has set a steady course for the museum’s future. Preliminary plans are being discussed to construct a new and larger art museum capable of displaying world-class traveling exhibitions, as well as the university’s ever-growing art collection.  “Our wonderful Permanent Collection deserves the opportunity to be exhibited more often,” said Gilliam, “and our plans for a new museum include enough additional gallery space to be able to display it more frequently. A new, free-standing museum would definitely raise awareness and attendance.  I envision it as a very community friendly place with ample visitor parking.  It will be a significant attraction for our campus and community.”

Community support for the museum has come in the form of help from a group of art lovers, the Martin Museum Art Angels. They lend their support and fundraising abilities as a way to help with art conservation, with the purchase of new pieces for the Permanent Collection and with boosting the museum attendance. “The Art Angels are extremely important to us,” Gilliam said. “They are constantly helping to raise awareness of the museum within our community.” 

Things have come a long way since Dr. J.B. Smith first advocated for a Baylor Art Museum but his passion to bring quality art to the students and residents of Central Texas lives on.

The Martin Museum of Art is located in the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center on the Baylor University campus. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5p.m. on Saturday. The museum is closed during university holidays. Admission is free and all events are open to the public, unless specified. For more information, call (254) 710-867 or visit the museum website at www.baylor.edu/martinmuseum.