The exhibit will be on display from Oct. 3, 2005 until Jan. 19, 2026.
SAN ANTONIO — History buffs and proud Texans will get to glimpse unique maps, focusing on the Lone Star State at the Briscoe Western Art Museum later this year.
The museum is set to unveil “Going to Texas: Five Centuries of Texas Maps,” which includes a rare, private map collection that spans nearly 500 years of Texas history. The exclusive exhibition features 64 original maps from the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection – a Texas businessman and philanthropist who carefully assembled the collection.
The maps in the collection range from 1548 to 2006, tracing Texas’ transformation from the days of New Spain to the modern era. “Going to Texas: Five Centuries of Texas Maps,” reveals vivid moments in Texas history with each map either charting transport lines, outlining battle lines or showing uncharted frontiers.
The fall exhibition will be on display from Oct. 3, 2005 until Jan. 19, 2026.
Along with the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection, the Briscoe will display pieces from its own holdings and additional historical loans to compliment the maps and highlight key periods in Texas’ evolution, including Spanish Texas, Mexican Texas, the Republic of Texas and statehood. The maps are on loan from the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas.
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a collection of this caliber,” Liz Jackson, President and CEO of the Briscoe Western Art Museum said. “Maps are more than coordinates and boundaries – they are windows into the people, politics and possibilities of a place. This exhibition shows how cartography helped shape Texas and how Texas shaped the world’s imagination in return.”
The Briscoe Western Art Museum is open Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday through Monday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission is free for children 12 and under and for active duty military.