The permanent collection of the Art Museum of Southeast Texas consists of nearly 1,700 objects. Artworks within the collection include paintings, collages, textile works, large and small sculptures, drawings, photographs, decorative arts, folk art, and mixed media objects. AMSET began acquiring works in 1950 and continues to add artworks through donations and museum purchases. Over the past decade, a concentrated effort has been placed on narrowing the focus of the permanent collection to assemble a cohesive but integrated body of artwork. Areas of concentration include 19th – 21st c. modern and contemporary North American and Mexican art with a focus on this region. The permanent collection includes the recently acquired John G. Fairey Collection of Mexican Folk Art, which numbers 474 objects.
AMSET’s permanent collection represents over 430 artists, including: Robert Rauschenberg, John Alexander, Maude Carron, Dixie Friend Gay, Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, Angélica Delfina Vásquez Cruz, James Surls, Mary McCleary, Billy Hassell, Celia Eberle, Johnnie Swearingen, Burgess Dulaney, Keith Carter, David Cargill, Felix “Fox” Harris, David Bates and Jesús Moroles.
AMSET would like to thank the Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding two grant projects to professionally photograph the John Gaston Fairey Collection of Mexican Folk Art.
Texas Fine Art
Texas Folk Art
Regional/Southeast Texas Folk Art
Early American Folk Art
Mexican Folk Art
Early American Art (prior to 1970)
European Art
Contemporary Mexican Art
Decorative Arts
A permanent collection is a group of artworks, objects, or artifacts protected and cared for by an organization. These objects usually have significant cultural and educational value to the community, state, or nation in which the organization is located.
There are different processes for different institutions, but most museums have similar policies. Artwork can be donated to the museum by a private individual, estate or company. Artwork can also be purchased by the museum from a gallery, artist or collector.
Often a collector will contact the museum’s Curatorial staff about donating an artwork through email or a phone call. The Curatorial staff determines whether or not the artwork would fit into the focus of the museum’s collection and if it fills certain gaps in the collection. The staff always considers how the artwork fits into the museum’s collection management plan – a comprehensive document that acts as a guide for developing and strengthening the permanent collection. The plan is written and updated by the museum staff and approved by the Acquisitions Committee.
If the staff believes it could fit into the collection, the artwork then has to be voted on by two committees. The first committee is the Acquisitions Committee, which is made up of local community members and museum leadership positions. The Acquisitions Committee considers a number of factors before approving an artwork for the permanent collection. These include, but are not limited to:
The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) is an actively collecting institution, meaning that we are accepting donations or making purchases right now; however, we currently are very selective in this process.
If an artwork is approved by the Acquisitions Committee, the artwork is presented to the Board of Trustees. If the Board approves the donation or purchase, the Curatorial Staff contacts the donor or artist about signing legal paperwork and transporting the artwork to the museum.
The museum is actively seeking artworks that fit into our Collections Plan from particular time periods and geographical locations, including but not limited to: North American Folk Art, Mexican Folk Art, Early Texas Art and Contemporary Texas Art.
Please contact Caitlin Clay, Curator of Exhibitions, at [email protected] or at 409-832-3432, if you are interested in donating an artwork to AMSET. Having information such as dimensions, quality digital images (please no blurry photos), provenance (history of how the artwork was acquired and who has owned it), and value readily available is greatly appreciated, but not required.
AMSET will at times accept artwork for fundraising purposes. By donating the artwork to AMSET, the donor may receive a tax deduction. By donating in this manner, the donor agrees to allow AMSET to sell the artwork to assist with fundraising efforts. Whether or not an artwork is accepted for fundraising purposes is determined by AMSET’s Curatorial Staff.
Please contact Caitlin Clay, Curator of Exhibitions, at [email protected] or at 409-832-3432, if you are interested in donating an artwork for fundraising purposes to AMSET. Having information such as dimensions, quality digital images, provenance (history of how the artwork was acquired and who has owned it), and value readily available is greatly appreciated, but not required.
Art Museum of Southeast Texas
500 Main Street
Beaumont, TX 77701
M–F: 9am – 5pm
Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun: Noon – 5pm
Closed major holidays
Admission is always FREE.
Donations accepted.
