Crow Museum of Asian Art opens a free fall season in Dallas and Richardson

The Crow Museum of Asian Art is opening its fall season with four new exhibitions split between its Dallas Arts District home and its UT Dallas location in Richardson. The shows range from centuries-old textile traditions to contemporary installations, and admission is free at both museums.

The season starts at the UT Dallas campus location in the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Jr. Athenaeum. There, "Unseen Worlds: Southeast Asian Textiles from the Spancake Collection" runs Aug. 22, 2026, through June 20, 2027. It's the first solo exhibition of the collection belonging to Houston collectors Jenny and Steve Spancake. The show includes about 150 textiles, pieces of jewelry, objects and ephemera from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The naga, a divine sea serpent, comes up again and again across the works.

Next at the same location is "The Hedge of Halomancy," open Aug. 29, 2026, through Feb. 7, 2027. It's an immersive installation of moving images, sound and sculpture by the artist duo hylozoic/desires, made up of Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser. It follows a fictional salt reader named Mayalee to explore the British Inland Customs Line, colonial power, trade and why salt matters culturally. Then "New Deal Texas and the West" opens Sept. 12, 2026, and runs through July 18, 2027. It's the third exhibition partnership between UT Dallas and the Dallas Museum of Art.

In the Arts District, "Twisted, Plaited, Sculpted: Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation" opens Nov. 7, 2026, and runs through Oct. 31, 2027. It features nearly two dozen works of Japanese bamboo art, including pieces by Living National Treasures Fujinuma Noboru and Fujitsuka Shosei. This is the museum's first time working with the Dallas-based Thoma Foundation. A large woven-cane sculpture and video installation by Mumbai-based artist Shakuntala Kulkarni will accompany the show, marking her U.S. debut.

This story is based on reporting from North Texas e-News, which published the Crow Museum of Asian Art's announcement, and from Local Profile.