Menil Collection Launches New Commission Program, with Teresita Fernández as Inaugural Artist
The Menil Collection in Houston will reopen its Fresco Building in late 2027 and convert it into a venue for “semi-permanent, site-specific commissions,” each installed for about five years. New York–based artist Teresita Fernández will be the inaugural commissioned artist for the program. Menil director Rebecca Rabinow invited Fernández to visit the building during renovations after Fernández came to the Menil last year for another site-specific project for the exhibition “What drawing can be: four responses.” The Fresco Building previously housed two 13th-century Byzantine frescoes from 1997 to 2012 on extended loan from the Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus, and after the frescoes departed the building was deconsecrated and transferred to the Menil. Fernández, known for large-scale installations engaging landscape and histories of the Caribbean and Indigenous Americas, said the commission offers a monumental opportunity aligned with the Menil’s commitment to contemplative art experiences.
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This story was covered in Restitution Showdowns, Museums at Breaking Point