The Grace Museum
The Grace Museum is in Abilene, Texas. It is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum has five art galleries with rotating exhibitions and a large permanent art collection, plus a history gallery about Abilene and West Texas. There is also an art library, an education center, and a hands-on gallery for children and families.
The museum began in 1937 as the Abilene Fine Arts Museum, started by the Art League of the Abilene Woman’s Club. It was housed in several downtown locations before its current facility was renovated in 1992. Since 1992 it has been known as Museums of Abilene, Grace Cultural Center, and in 1998 it was renamed The Grace Museum. It serves Central West Texas with unique art and local history exhibitions, plus education outreach and lectures.
The permanent art collection began in 1938 and now includes more than 5,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and drawings. Notable artists include James Surls, Andy Warhol, Melissa Miller, David Bates, and others. The collection features strong Texas art, Depression-era prints, and photography.
The history collection started in 1976 and includes documents, photographs, textiles, and local artifacts from 1850–1950. Some items and online collections can be viewed through The Portal to Texas and the West Texas Digital Archives.
The Grace Museum presents about 12 temporary art exhibitions each year, many with Texas connections, drawn from the permanent collection or loans from other institutions. It also publishes catalogs and books about its exhibitions.
The third-floor history galleries feature recreations of Abilene parlors and a historic hotel room, plus a bootmaker shop. The second-floor children’s gallery is a hands-on learning space with interactive displays, including a replica of Abilene’s Paramount Theatre and an interactive sound wall.
The Grace Museum is housed in the historic Hotel Grace, a 55,000-square-foot building in downtown Abilene. Built in 1909, the hotel later became the Drake Hotel and closed in 1973. It was saved and restored in the late 1980s and opened as The Museums of Abilene in 1992. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Location and contact: 102 Cypress Street, Abilene, TX 79601. Director: Laura Moore. Curator: Judy Tedford Deaton. Website: thegracemuseum.org. Visitors: about 60,000 annually.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:42 (CET).