SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The McNay Art Museum has received a bequest of $5 million from the estate of Nancy Blackburn Hamon, which will help to endow the operation of the museum's Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for Exhibitions. The 45,000 square foot Center doubled the size of the museum. For the first time the McNay has the space to present larger and more varied exhibitions that might otherwise not be seen in San Antonio, while, at the same time, present all aspects of its renowned permanent collection.

Pledged by Mrs. Hamon during the McNay's recent capital campaign that raised over $51 million, the endowment will be named The Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Sustaining Endowment for the Center for Exhibitions.

McNay Director, Dr. William J. Chiego, stated "This major bequest from Nancy Hamon is yet another demonstration of her extraordinary generosity to the arts, and of her understanding of what is required to sustain a major cultural institution. The Hamon endowment is especially critical at a time of national economic stress and pressure on institutional endowments."

Mrs. Hamon was a former trustee and an honorary trustee of the McNay since 1994. She passed away on July 30 in Dallas, which became her home when she married famed oil wildcatter Jake L. Hamon in 1949. She was a generous benefactor to the arts in Texas and beyond, and especially in Dallas. In recognition of gifts she made to the McNay in her lifetime, the museum's central courtyard was named the Estelle Blackburn Patio to honor her mother, and a suite of galleries on the residence's upper floor was named the Nancy and Jake Hamon Galleries.

Gaines Voigt, past president of the McNay Board of Trustees, speaking of his lifelong friend, said: "This gift reflects Nancy's special affection for her home town of San Antonio and for the McNay."