Friends of Elisabet Ney Museum

05/24/2026

Good things are happening at Elisabet Ney Museum! We can’t wait to celebrate it all with you in the Spring!

05/10/2026

A new story out today in the Austin American-Statesman from Michael Barnes starts… “The Elisabet Ney Museum is slated to reopen in spring 2027 after a thorough renovation, already well underway, and a virtual revolution in its public role as part of Austin’s larger culture.

The pioneering German American sculptor’s 1892 limestone studio, which she called Formosa, has always been a jewel.

Yet under director and curator Jade Walker, the little castle in Hyde Park, as well as its restored meadow gardens above Waller Creek, will become a beehive of activities that combine art, history, education and a sense of place in fresh ways.

After guiding this reporter around the site last month, Walker and some museum advocates chatted with me about Ney, the woman, who can be credited with helping found the city’s arts scene during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Beyond her artistic triumphs, Ney’s personal story — her outsider status, eccentricities and progressive ambitions — makes this history even more compelling. Spend any time exploring Austin’s past and you’ll run into anecdotes about Ney’s unusual presence on the social scene, distinctive manner of dress, vegetarian diet, status as an unmarried woman living with a male partner, and other then-peculiar habits, sometimes recounted humorously.”

Read the rest at https://www.statesman.com/news/history/article/austin-elisabet-ney-museum-reopening-2027-22242690.php

04/02/2026

Jade Walker, director and curator of , gave a very enlightening presentation on Elisabet’s life, career, and work at the yesterday. So much to learn about and appreciate!

04/01/2026

Today (Wednesday, April 1st) at noon at the Bullock Texas State History Museum: Join Jade Walker, Director and Curator of the Elisabet Ney Museum, for a presentation outlining the life and times of Elisabet Ney and her lasting legacy on visual art in Texas and beyond. Emigrating as a political refugee in 1871, celebrated German artist Elisabet Ney eventually landed in Texas. Formosa, her rugged, limestone Austin home and studio, (today’s Elisabet Ney Museum) was built in 1892 to accommodate her art practice. From Formosa, Ney created iconic Texas figurative sculptures, while forging the young state’s intellectual underpinnings.

Join the Director and Curator of the Elisabet Ney Museum for a presentation about Ney's lasting legacy. Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

03/30/2026

Thanks to Tribeza for profiling all of these incredible female leaders of Austin cultural institutions—including our own director Jade Walker—and photographing them in the under-renovation Elisabet Ney Museum!

“Austin’s first museum, the Elisabet Ney Museum, is dedicated to a figure who defied convention. A German-born sculptor, naturalist and early suffragist, Ney built a life and career on her own terms, and her work now appears in the Smithsonian, the Texas State Capitol and other major collections. That legacy continues to inform the museum’s approach today, with Director and Curator Jade Walker regularly presenting contemporary artists alongside Ney’s sculptures to spark new perspectives on the present. ‘I want to feel that spark of curiosity,’ said Walker, whose museum will reopen in October. ‘I’m always drawn to installations that take risks,’ she said. “An exhibition that leaves me with more questions than answers is a win in my book.’”

This Women’s History Month, meet the art directors bringing fresh perspectives to some of Austin’s most important art spaces.

01/26/2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISS NEY!

Elisabet Ney was born Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney on January 26, 1833, in Münster, in the Province of Westphalia. We celebrate her this month as we embark on new adventures in the form of a Capital Improvement Projects at Formosa, we also introduce our Beyond Formosa campaign. Read on for the latest from the museum:

Elisabet Ney was born Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney on January 26, 1833, in Münster, in the Province of Westphalia. We celebrate her this month as we embark on new adventures in the form of a Capital Improvement Projects at Formosa, we also introduce our Beyond Formosa campaign.

01/20/2025

Jade Walker, director of Elisabet Ney Museum, sat down with Glasstire to talk about the past, present, and future of the Ney… particularly the closure and transformation: “he last piece of this puzzle is a rehabilitation plan that is being finalized this winter by Ten Eyck Landscape Architects allowing for increased gathering places, teaching gardens, and attention to the long grass meadow that Ney loved. All of these moves are aimed at sustainability and broadening the experience for visitors to engage with Ney’s life work, artistic process, lived experience, worldview, and the symbolism of her story through a forward-looking lens so that anyone who arrives at the museum will feel welcome and inspired. This is possible by making a historic space like Formosa and the grounds relevant to a new generation and I think Ney would agree that this can happen through the arts and education- both in conversation with a native wild landscape.“ Read on…

Leslie Moody Castro talks with Jade Walker about new plans for the Elisabet Ney museum and the importance of historic artist studio museums.

12/30/2024

Thanks to the San Antonio Express-News for reporting on the closure and historic renovations!

The Elisabet Ney Museum, where the German artist sculpted prominent Texans, will close until 2026 for renovation and upgrades.

12/20/2024

Have you heard Elisabet Ney Museum is closing for many months for renovations starting December 30th?! Drop by if you can.

Our 2024 Holiday Hours ✨
Looking forward to seeing y'all in our last couple days before closure!

Elisabet Ney Museum to Close for Renovations on December 30, 2024; The Museum is Anticipated to Reopen in the Summer of 2026

In January 2025, the Elisabet Ney Museum will begin a once in a lifetime restorative shift with significant updates to the building, its historic grounds, and the interpretation of Elisabet Ney’s life and work reimagined thanks to the input and help from the Austin community. Its reopening (projected in summer 2026) will create a new and exciting cultural experience for Austin and visitors to the museum.

Find more info at AustinTexas.gov/ElisabetNey, theney.org, or https://www.austintexas.gov/department/elisabet-ney-museum-improvements

Happy Holidays!

11/21/2024

Tonight!