SAN ANTONIO, TX.- One of the San Antonio Museum of Art’s most-loved collections, hidden in storage during the construction of the recent Asian Art Wing, will once again be on display for the public next spring. Museum director Dr. Marion Oettinger, Jr. has announced a March 2, 2008 reopening date for the new installation of the Museum’s collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman works of art.

“Under the direction of the Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. Curator of Western Antiquities, Dr. Jessica Powers, we are delighted to be able to present a new vision of this important collection. Jessica’s expertise has given us an opportunity to update the installation - both to reflect changes in the understanding of the ancient cultures and to meet the needs of the museum's diverse audience,” noted Oettinger.

The San Antonio Museum of Art has the largest public collection of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities in Texas , and its collections of Greek vases and Roman sculptures are of national importance. Since 1990, these collections have been housed in the Gilbert Denman and Estelle Blackburn Galleries, which are part of the Ewing Halsell Wing. Both galleries were closed to the public in late 2002 for the construction of the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Asian Art Wing. The Blackburn Gallery, with the museum's Greek vases and Greek, Etruscan and Roman metal and terracotta objects, reopened in 2006 but will be closed again for the final six months of the installation. The Denman Gallery remains closed.

The plans currently proposed for the reinstallation will create two culturally distinct galleries, with the Greek collection in the Blackburn Gallery and the Etruscan and Roman collections in the Denman Gallery. The works of art will be subdivided into chronological and thematic groups within each gallery. In the Blackburn Gallery, these include Greece in the Bronze Age (3000-1100 B.C.), the Greek World (1100-323 B.C.), the Hellenistic World (323-31 B.C.), and a selection of gold jewelry and coins. The Denman Gallery will have areas devoted to Etruscan Art, Roman Portraiture, Mythology and Roman Art and Roman Funerary Sculpture.

Powers explained a key difference in the new installation – “In each gallery, related works in different media will be displayed together, so that, for example, the museum's Greek funerary sculpture and Greek vases from tomb contexts will be presented together for the first time.” The installation will also include new didactic materials, including wall text panels and maps as well as explanatory labels, to guide visitors through the collection.

The Museum’s annual gala will take place February 28, 2008, in celebration of the reinstallation. The galleries will open to the public on March 2, 2008.

In anticipation of the opening, a classical film series will be offered this fall at the Museum. Powers will introduce each film.

Black Orpheus - Tuesday, October 30, 6:30 pm. The myth of Orpheus, who descended to the Underworld to rescue his beloved Eurydice, is beautifully retold in the context of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Directed by Marcel Camus.

Cleopatra - Sunday, November 18, 2 pm. This epic retelling of Cleopatra's affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony became equally famous for the off-screen romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Fellini – Satyricon - Tuesday, November 27, 6:30 pm. Federico Fellini's interpretation of the Latin novel the Satyricon follows the surreal adventures of two young men and satirizes the decadence of Imperial Rome. Directed by Federico Fellini.