Austin (building)

Austin is a chapel designed by artist Ellsworth Kelly under construction (as of October 31, 2015) on the Blanton Museum of Art’s grounds in Austin, Texas.

In January 2015, Kelly gifted to the Blanton Museum the design concept for a 2,715 square feet (252.2 m²) stone building that he subsequently named Austin. This work of art relates to the tradition of modernist artist-commissioned buildings that includes Rothko Chapel and Henri Matisse’s Matisse Chapel. Kelly said that the design of the building was inspired by Romanesque and Byzantine art he studied while in Paris on the G.I. Bill. Following Kelly’s gift, the Blanton launched a $15 million campaign to realize the project.