National Ranching Heritage Center to expand with new Western art, interactive institute
The National Ranching Heritage Center will soon be getting a new art institute featuring interactive classes and displays for the public to learn about Western culture.
Jim Bret Campbell, executive director of the NRHC, said this comes after Steagall and his wife were looking for a place to donate his collection of Western songs, poetry, and various radio and TV recordings of his shows.
After finalizing an agreement with the NRHC, Campbell said they started looking at how the center wanted to display and preserve the collection that wasn't solely focused on Steagall or that acted like a "hall of fame." Thus, the new institute came about.
"What we really envision is that will serve as a base for a research library that then is used to preserve and pass forward those media, in addition to these other traditional Western arts, ultimately with the hope of passing down our cow country, culture and values, through the brilliance of Western art," Campbell said.
The new institute is currently estimated to be 270,000 square feet and will feature an artisan courtyard that will allow the public to learn from masters in prose, poetry, songwriting, sculpture and art while also featuring two unique spaces.
"Two of the major features will be, so we'll actually have a full-scale bits and spur shop and then actually on the other side of the facility will actually have a full-scale boot and saddle shop," Campbell said. "Our intent is that we would have artisans and gear makers working in there all the time."
Campbell said the NRHC already has a network of artisans to recruit from to help teach classes but will also work with organizations like The Cowboy Artists of America.
The project also comes at a time the NRHC was in the process of creating a master plan for the center.
"We had several challenges that we wanted to try to address in that master plan, but then it just made sense to incorporate the Red Steagall Institute into that," Campbell said.
Among the challenges the center wanted to address were creating a more visible entrance by moving the Longhorn steer to the 4th Street entrance, making the front doors more vehicle- and pedestrian-friendly, and finding room to expand.
The center is currently landlocked by 4th Street to the north, the Texas Tech Museum to the west, Marsha Sharp Freeway to the south and Texas Tech Athletics Field Events facilities to the east. So, Campbell went to the university for advice on where to find room to expand.
"President (Lawrence) Schovanec informed us in the summer of '22 that he and (TTU) Athletics were willing to relocate the shotput field, the throw field to another part of campus, and then we could use that area to expand," he said.
When will this open? Campbell said it would take a while since the TTUS Board of Regents approved the project's initial budget of $514,218 for planning and design services.
"We anticipate this stage one design services will take about four months, and then hopefully we have all the funds in place to continue on. The stage two design is slated for about another two months after that," Campbell said.
This project will be funded through donations. Campbell said the campaign's silent phase has already raised $3 million.
"We will be launching a more formal capital campaign now that we have approval from the regents," Campbell said. "Really going through strategically thinking about how do we raise the funds."
For those who wish to donate, Campbell said to contact him directly through the NRHC to talk about making a donation.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: NRHC to expand with $28 million Western art, interactive institute
