March 1 - May 3
WPA Prints: The Amity Arts Foundation Collection
Gallery 1
40 lithographs, etchings, and woodcuts by artists who worked with the printmaking programs of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA. Circulated by Landau Traveling Exhibitions.

About The Museum Of Texas Tech University

The Museum is an educational, scientific, cultural, and research element of Texas Tech University. It consists of several components: the main Museum building, the Moody Planetarium, the Natural Science Research Laboratory, the research and educational elements of the Lubbock Lake Landmark, and the Val Verde County research site.

The Museum of Texas Tech University was first accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1990. It received continuing accreditation in 1998 and 2008. Accreditation by the AAM demonstrates "a professional level of operation in accordance with the standards of excellence prescribed by the American Association of Museums..." The 2008 accreditation certification will be current until 2018.

Mission Statement

The Museum of Texas Tech University, as an education resource for a diverse audience, collects, researches, and disseminates information about the natural and cultural heritage of local and related regions.

Statement of Purpose

Established in 1929, the Museum is an educational, scientific, cultural, and research element of Texas Tech University. It is a not-for-profit institution by virtue of being a part of Texas Tech University. The Museum's purpose is to support the academic and intellectual mission of Texas Tech University through the collection, preservation, documentation, and research of scientific and cultural material and to disseminate information about those collections and their scientific and cultural topics through exhibition, interpretation, and publication for primary, secondary, and higher education students, the scholarly community, and the general public. The Museum aspires to provide the highest standard of excellence in museological ethics and practices, while pursuing continuous improvement, stimulating the greatest quantity of quality research, conservation, interpretation, exhibition, and education, and providing support for faculty, staff, and students. The Museum is a multi-faceted institution that includes the main building, the Helen Devitt Jones Auditorium and Sculpture Court and Auditorium, Moody Planetarium, Natural Science Research Laboratory, Lubbock Lake Landmark, research acreage in Val Verde County, and the Center for Advanced Study of Museum Science and Heritage Management.

History of the Museum of TTU

The Museum was founded as the West Texas Museum in 1929, shortly after Texas Technological College was chartered in 1925. Dr. William Curry Holden served as its first director until 1969 when he retired. He oversaw the construction of the first building, which began as a basement only, through the completion of that facility, to the construction and occupation of the current buildings in 1970. Dr. Holden also identified the first Folsom projectile points from the Lubbock Lake area which became the Lubbock Lake Landmark, an internationally recognized center for studies of early man in the New World. In the 1990s the site was jointly operated by TTU and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department as Lubbock Lake Landmark State Historical Park. During that time, several new buildings were constructed including the Robert A. "Bob" Nash Interpretive Center and the Quaternary Research Center. In 1999, the state historical park was fully transferred to Texas Tech University under the supervision and care of the Museum of TTU, and returned to the name Lubbock Lake Landmark.

When the Museum moved into its present quarters at 3301 4th Street, the former, central-campus building was converted into classroom and office spaces and renamed Holden Hall. The newly relocated and reorganized museum was renamed the Museum of Texas Tech University and, shortly thereafter, the Natural Science Research Laboratory (NSRL) was added.

Significant additions to the MoTTU have occurred over the past 31 years including the establishment of the Ranching Heritage Center (dedicated in 1976 and reorganized as a separate University department in 1998), the construction of permanent interpretation and research facilities at the Lubbock Lake Landmark (1990), the building of the Diamond M Wing to house the spectacular Diamond M Fine Art Collection (1995), the addition of the spacious Helen Jones Auditorium and Sculpture Court Wing (2001), and the 18,000+sq.ft. NSRL Addition in 2004 and an educational space addition to the Nash Interpretive Center at the Landmark in 2007.

In addition to physical plant growth, the collections have continued to increase steadily. In 2000, the collections number in the neighborhood of three million objects and specimens. The Museum of TTU is a vital, growing institution that will continue to provide education and entertainment to the university and surrounding communities, and all who visit far into the future.