SAN ANGELO, Texas — A $7.9 million two-part expansion project has been approved for the Mayer Museum at Angelo State University by the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents.
Work on the first new addition is already underway on a $4.5 million, single-story expansion to the southwest corner of the museum. The approximately 4,500-square-foot addition will house a large general use/events space, a café, restrooms, support spaces and in-wall display cases for exhibits.
The second $3.4 million expansion project was approved by the board of regents last week for a nearly 2,400-square-foot, single-story addition to the west side of the museum to house a new open gallery space for traveling and permanent exhibits.
The two projects are primarily funded by additional gifts from long-time ASU supporters Richard and B.J. Mayer, who previously funded construction of the original $17 million, 32,000-square-foot museum.
"We continue to be amazed by the generosity of Richard and B.J. Mayer and their commitment to supporting Angelo State," ASU President, Ronnie Hawkins Jr., said in a media release from the university. "The new additions will make the museum an attractive site for campus and public events, as well as greatly enhance our ability to both entertain and educate the Ram Family and the community. The museum and these new additions are awesome examples of what we can accomplish with the support of outstanding friends like the Mayers, and we couldn't be more grateful."
Originally opened in May 2021, the Mayer Museum already houses a main exhibit floor, a large exhibit gallery, smaller exhibit rooms and a Kid's Cave children's area. It is also home to ASU's West Texas Collection and supports ASU student art programs with classrooms, specialized labs for graphic design, sculpture and ceramics and student gallery space, along with faculty and staff offices and support spaces in the east section of the facility.
The centerpiece of the museum is the dinosaur collection featuring a full-size replica skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex surrounded by 16 smaller dinosaur skeletons, as well as casts of dinosaur tracks and fossilized dinosaur eggs. Also on permanent display are an extensive geology collection and the K. Michael Conaway Archive and Exhibit that features a dynamic, educational and interactive record of Conaway's career, primarily as U.S. Representative for the 11th District of Texas from 2005-2021.
The museum has hosted more than 15 collaborative and traveling exhibits ranging from paintings, sculptures and ceramics to a variety of West Texas historical displays and different classes of specimens from the Angelo State Natural History Collections. Collaborative partners have included Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, Railway Museum of San Angelo, San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, San Angelo Amateur Radio Club and various artists, sculptors and ceramicists.
The Mayer Museum, 2501 W. Avenue N, is open to the public with no admission fee and is open weekly from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The museum will remain open during the construction of the new additions.
