PAST EXHIBITIONS

According to the wishes of the late Mrs. Frances Golden Ware (’44), the Meadows Museum has received seven important early twentieth-century American paintings. The paintings were acquired by Mrs. Ware’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Roscoe Golden, and reflect their love of the open spaces they often visited in Texas, Colorado, Arkansas and New Mexico. It was a passion they passed on to Mrs. Ware during the summer vacations of her childhood.

The collection includes works by Julian Onderdonk, Bert Phillips, Olin Travis, Ila McAfee, Elmer Page Turner, and Frank Reaugh. Mr. and Mrs. Golden personally met with the artists in their studios to select the paintings for their home on University Boulevard. Mrs. Ware had fond childhood memories of being with her parents at the Taos artists’ studios, and vividly recalled her mother’s trip to meet with Frank Reaugh in his studio in Oak Cliff. Shortly before her death in 2010, Mrs. Ware made known her wish that the paintings pass to the Meadows Museum. She requested that they be recognized as a gift from Mrs. Ware’s family, made in honor of herself and her parents. It is a tribute to her family’s close association with SMU from 1917, when Mrs. Golden began teaching music on campus, to 2010. During that time, four generations were part of SMU as students, faculty, administrators, board members, donors and friends.

This summer the Meadows Museum will celebrate this gift with an exhibition to honor the art of the Southwest and to recognize the generosity of the donors whose gifts have significantly enhanced the Museum’s collections. The show will include many of the works given by Mrs. Jerry Bywaters Cochran, as well as these seven related works given by Mrs. Elizabeth (Bettina) Ware Hennessy, Dr. John Roscoe Ware, and Dr. David Lochridge Ware, in honor of their mother Mrs. Frances Golden Ware, and her parents.

This exhibition has been organized by the Meadows Museum and funded by a generous gift from The Meadows Foundation.