Curator of National Trust Historic Site to speak at Menard Hall

Meg Nowack, Director of Curatorial Resources of Villa Finale in San Antonio, will give an illustrated lecture on Friday, May 20, at Menard Hall in Galveston. Nowack will speak on the Villa Finale and its large and nationally important collection. The first National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Site in Texas, Villa Finale is the former home of civic leader, collector and preservationist Walter Nold Mathis.

Located in the King William Historic District in San Antonio, Texas, Villa Finale contains a collection of over 12,500 items, including works by early twentieth-century Texas printmaker Mary Bonner, a large number of paintings by Texas painters Robert, Julian and Eleanor Onderdonk and Theodore Gentilz, among others. It also holds a large collection of early Texas furniture, textiles, photographs and utilitarian Texas-made pottery and stoneware. On the other end of the spectrum is the vast collection of nineteenth century American and European furniture, light fixtures and decorative art, which includes a comprehensive collection of Wedgwood porcelain, French animalier Antoine-Louis Barye bronze sculptures, over seven-hundred pieces relating to Napoleon Bonaparte and over fifty carpets.

The lecture on Friday, May 20, will be held at Menard Hall, Galveston's newest event venue, located adjacent to the Michel B. Menard House, Galveston's oldest surviving residence, on the corner of 33rd and O streets. The full newly restored and expanded Menard event complex comprises the original Menard House, the newly renovated Menard Hall (seats up to 96) and the Menard Guest House, a dormitory style facility for overnight groups, all joined with elegant landscaped grounds and shaded by 100-year-old live oaks.

The pre-lecture reception runs from 6:30 to 7 p.m., with the lecture beginning promptly at 7. The ticket price for each Menard Lecture is $10 for GHF members, $12 for non-members, with proceeds going to support GHF’s preservation work throughout Galveston Island. Seating is limited; reservations are recommended, and may be made by calling Denise Alexander at 409-765-3410 or by sending an email to education@galvestonhistory.org.