Dishman exhibition celebrates Beaumont’s Glory Days

Step into the past as Lamar University’s Dishman Art Museum exhibits “Glory Days: The Art and Visual Culture of the Second Spindletop, 1929-1934,” March 25 - April 13.

The collaborative exhibition features decorative arts, photography, sculpture and historical artifacts created by the vast oil fortunes of Beaumont’s second Spindletop oil boom in the late 1920s. The show details how the oil boom ushered in a new era of prosperity for Beaumont and a renaissance in the arts.

“This is an exciting exhibition for the Dishman Art Museum and the Lamar community,” said Megan Young, director of the Dishman and assistant professor of art. “Beaumont has a beautiful and rich history that developed during the late 1920s. We are lucky that so much of that culture has been preserved locally and look forward to giving everyone a glimpse into such a beautiful period.”

The exhibition marks the first collaborative venture between the Dishman Art Museum and several local institutions and individuals, including the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Beaumont Heritage Society/Chambers House, Beaumont Main Street, the Clifton Steamboat Museum, the Texas Energy Museum, the Lamar University Archives and Special Collections, McFaddin-Ward House Museum, Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, photographer Keith Carter and archivist Penny Clark.

The Dishman Art Museum will host an opening reception for the exhibition on Saturday, March 29, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Fred B. McKinley and Greg Riley, authors of “Black Gold to Bluegrass: From the Oil Fields of Texas to Spindletop Farm of Kentucky,” will be on hand at the opening reception. Admission to the reception and the exhibition are free.

“I am thrilled to be working with so many of our local partners for this exhibition,” said Young. “The amount of enthusiasm and interest in this project has been incredible. Everything on display in this exhibition, from oil samples, architectural renderings, and industrial tools, to flapper dresses, table settings, paintings and photographs are excellent hallmarks of how many Beaumonters lived as a result of the oil boom.”

The Dishman Art Museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and is located at 1030 E. Lavaca in Beaumont. Free museum-dedicated parking is available in front of the Dishman during museum hours. For more information, visit lamar.edu/dishman, or call 409-880-8959 or email [email protected].

Pictured: The Kyle Building, built in 1933. Photo courtesy of Beaumont Main Street.