ODESSA, Texas — The Ellen Noël Art Museum has been open since 1985, showing off various exhibits and galleries to their attendees.
They will soon be closing their doors temporarily to begin a new expansion project, but business will go on as usual.
Many of the art pieces and exhibits at the museum will be moving to a new home, just across the street, at the University of Texas Permian Basin Presidential Archives.
According to Sheila Perry, the executive director of the the Museum, both UTPB and the museum itself will mutually benefit from the move.
“It was like serendipity, because we’ll help them animate and bring alive and open the presidential archives to the public again, and they’re going to give us a place to reside while we’re having work done on this building,” Perry said.
The expansion project will include new technology, along with general housekeeping. Exhibition space in the museum itself will be consolidated to bring in bigger and better exhibitions.
14,000 square feet will also be added for a new community room and three new spaces.
The project has a soft completion window of around 18 months, but museum staff and directors are confident that the end result will be something the city can be proud of.