83R7018 BK-D
By: Geren H.R. No. 407
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Citizens of this state and nation lost a highly
esteemed leader and patron of the arts with the January 6, 2013,
passing of Ruth Carter Stevenson, the woman responsible for the
founding of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art; and
WHEREAS, A native of Fort Worth, the former Ruth Carter was
born on October 19, 1923, to Nenetta B. Carter and Amon G. Carter,
Sr., an oil magnate and philanthropist who became publisher of the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram the year of her birth; at age 15, she
attended her first art history course at the Madeira School in
McLean, Virginia, which included field trips to a number of museums
and galleries in the nation's capital; her appreciation for art was
further shaped during her years at Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, New York, when she frequently visited the collections
in New York City; after graduating from Sarah Lawrence in 1945, she
returned to her hometown and served on the board of the Fort Worth
Art Association; in one of her initial projects with the
association, she helped organize the town's first major American
art exhibition; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Stevenson's father died in 1955, and in
granting one of his final requests, she set out to create a museum
to house his personal collection of Frederic Remington and Charles
Russell paintings and sculpture of the American West; the Amon
Carter Museum opened to the public in 1961 in a building designed by
eminent architect Philip Johnson; she soon saw the need to expand
the scope of the collection to include works in all media and from
all of the nation's art movements, and today, the museum is among
the most renowned repositories of American art, with masterworks
from such greats as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, and Georgia
O'Keeffe; in addition, she encouraged the growth of the museum's
educational program to help students develop a deeper understanding
of art, culture, and related subjects; and
WHEREAS, This illustrious Texan further distinguished
herself in a multitude of organizations, including the Fort Worth
City Art Commission, where she served a lengthy tenure as chair; in
1963, she founded the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County
and was appointed to the board of regents of The University of Texas
at Austin that same year, becoming just the second woman to sit on
the board; along with championing the preservation of historic
architecture on the university campus, she was instrumental in the
drive to desegregate the entire UT System; influential within the
state and beyond, she was active on the boards of the National
Endowment for the Arts and the National Trust for Historic Places
and became the first female member of the board, and later the first
female chair, of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.;
and
WHEREAS, An arts and civic leader of great significance and
lasting influence, Ruth Carter Stevenson dedicated her life to
sharing a rich and vital element of American culture with the Fort
Worth community and the world at large, and her remarkable legacy
will resonate long into the future; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Ruth Carter
Stevenson and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her family:
to her children, Sheila Broderick Johnson, J. Lee Johnson IV, Karen
Johnson Hixon, Catherine Lehane Johnson, and Mark Lehane Johnson;
to her 11 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren; and to her other
relatives and many friends; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Ruth Carter
Stevenson.