Next Chapter for Arts Begins with Brettell Room Opening

University of Texas at Dallas leaders and friends celebrated the opening of the Brettell Reading Room at the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Athenaeum on Sept. 4. The reading room is the first space to be completed in Phase I of the University's new cultural district.

The Brettell Reading Room honors the late Dr. Richard Brettell, a longtime professor of art and aesthetic studies at UT Dallas whose vision for enhancing the arts on campus first inspired the O'Donnell Athenaeum project.

"Rick had a vision for the future," said Amy Hofland, senior director of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas, whose galleries anchor the O'Donnell Athenaeum's first building. "Today we stand in Rick's future. It was a dream, a drawing on a piece of paper, an architectural plan, a summer research trip. We are here today at the gateway of a 12-acre cultural district."

Brettell was the founding director of the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History until his death in 2020. One of the world's foremost authorities on impressionism and French painting from 1830 to 1930, Brettell was instrumental in promoting the arts throughout Dallas. He served as the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art from 1988 to 1992 and fostered relationships with cultural leaders across the city.

"Rick was a remarkable scholar and educator, and one of those leading voices in the world of art," said Dr. Richard C. Benson, UTD president and the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. "His charismatic lectures introduced thousands to great works of art, as did his work to build the arts culture in Dallas. If you knew Rick, you would see how this room uniquely represents him."

The Brettell Reading Room contains more than 2,500 books from Brettell's personal collection, spanning disciplines from museum studies and art theory to philosophy and religion. Also on display are works of art and objects that held special meaning for Brettell, including a copy of his dissertation examining the French commune of Pointoise, as depicted in the work of the Danish-French painter Camille Pissarro, and a pencil portrait of Brettell created by a former student.

Dr. Caroline Brettell explained how her husband's experiences as a scholar shaped his perspective on the kinds of spaces best suited to promote intellectual and creative study. His time spent working as a graduate student in Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University and in the Bibliothèque nationale de France inspired a deep love of reading rooms. She said he was moved by their contemplative atmosphere and the opportunities they afforded for dialogue with other academics.

"It is the combination of books and art that are at the core of an athenaeum, spaces that welcome both reading and looking," Caroline Brettell said.

When imagining the future of the arts at UT Dallas, Rick Brettell envisioned a facility embodying the tradition of the great athenaeums in Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut. During the early stages of planning for the O'Donnell Athenaeum in 2020, Brettell described his vision for the future of the arts at UTD: "This complex will be a meeting place where the activities of research, teaching, making, demonstration, exhibiting and performing take place. It will engage community members, scientists, engineers, researchers, artists, designers and humanists to interact, discuss and collaborate on the creation of new knowledge that spans disciplines."

When complete, the O'Donnell Athenaeum will embody Brettell's vision. In addition to the Phase I building housing the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Carolyn Brown Archives and works exhibited in partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art, future phases will include a performance hall and music building, and an additional museum dedicated to Latin American art.

Knowing how important the O'Donnell Athenaeum project was to Brettell, Dr. Michael Thomas, director of the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History and the Richard R. Brettell Distinguished University Chair, worked with Brettell on the idea of a reading room before his death.

"He was excited about it," Thomas said. "He thought it would be a very special place, and I am so excited that we're actually here now. Thank you to all of Rick's circle, the people who understood the importance of this one component of a much larger and massively important building for this campus. We're all excited to see it come to fruition."

The construction of the Brettell Reading Room was made possible by generous gifts from Brettell's family, friends and former colleagues totaling more than $567,900.