ART Passion

AT&T donation elevates UTSA collection

If Yazmin Anzaldua were to stretch her arms just a bit in front of her, she could almost touch the Judith Nulty painting that hangs on the wall of the John Peace Library. Instead, the junior business management major works diligently on her iPad.

But the soothing blues, greens and browns of the valuable oil painting, called “Garden at Thorrent,” don’t go unnoticed. Nor does the rest of the art that surrounds her in the library.

“You know in museums, artwork is so far away and you aren’t allowed to get too close to them,” she said. “But here, they’re so close we can really enjoy them. You get bored looking at your books, and you look up and see a little bit of color.”

Indeed, the white walls of the second floor of the JPL form an ideal gallery for the paintings, most of them from two donations from AT&T’s art collection. On one wall hangs “Garden of Thorrent.” On another, pop art by Nick Krushenick, considered a pioneer of the style, hovers over an intimate study area, the painting’s loud red, yellow, orange and blue color scheme demanding attention.

Along a back wall looms artist Carmen Cicero’s “Fin de Siecle,” an acrylic on canvas that measures more than 96 inches across. It is the most expensive of the donated paintings, valued at $65,000.

“It is like you’re coming into a museum,” said Arturo Infante Almeida, art specialist and curator for UTSA. “These are museum pieces.”

Since 2008, AT&T has donated nearly five dozen works of art to the university, with a total donation value of more than $647,000. The first gift came on the heels of the communications giant’s announcement of the relocation of its headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas.

AT&T is known throughout art communities for its robust art collection, which is used to provide a stimulating setting for the company’s employees, but also to reflect the diversity of employees and customers alike, said Renee Flores, AT&T regional vice president for external and legislative affairs.

“AT&T is in the business of connecting people, and the arts represent the ultimate communicator. It has no boundaries and stretches across cultures, communities and continents,” Flores said. “AT&T believes education is at the forefront of San Antonio’s success, and UTSA plays a pivotal role to help achieve those results.”

The artwork is stylistically diverse, from bold and bright photorealistic scenes and landscapes to pastel abstracts. Although the provenance of some paintings is unknown, most of the large-scale works are from the 1970s to the turn of the century.

Among the most notable is Krushenick’s “Big Juice,” created in 1969 and valued at $18,000.

“Even though most people think of Andy Warhol when they think about pop art, Nick Krushenick is a really important part of the pop art movement,” Almeida said. “It’s huge to get something like this.”

Almeida’s favorite piece, an untitled street scene by Larry Chappelear valued at $6,000, hangs prominently on the first floor of the library.

“What I hope we have accomplished with the art in this building is that people will take note of what is before them,” he said. “I want the art to be the first impression you get when you walk into any campus building. I want you to see what we have here at the university and I want it to be an enriching experience.”

The artwork also has educational value, he said. Students who study an artist in class can walk into a building somewhere on campus and see that artist’s original work close enough to study each careful brushstroke.

That was the goal of the donation, Flores added. For years, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have supported the arts and other philanthropic programs. As its art collection grew, the company saw an opportunity to share its pieces with educational institutions such as UTSA, she said.

“UTSA’s partnerships have long resulted in excellent new learning opportunities for students,” Flores said. “For us to contribute art to the campus in a way that’s meaningful to students and faculty and helps propel UTSA toward meeting and exceeding its goals was a terrific opportunity for us.”

The donation by AT&T elevates the entire art collection at the university, Almeida said.

“AT&T’s gift to the university is testament to its continued support of art and education in our community,” he said. “This is an important collection of work that not only enriches the campus but is also an invaluable resource for education and research for students of art and art history.”

Web Extra:

To learn and view the collection, visit utsa.edu/attart

–Lety Laurel