The David W. Guion Museum Room

The David W. Guion Museum Room This permanent exhibition of an important collection displays American furniture, china, porcelain, glass, paintings, music and archives of the Texas composer, David W. Guion. The exhibit traces the life and career of David W. Guion from his birth in Ballinger, Texas in 1892 to his death in Dallas in 1981. The collection was transferred to The Festival-Institute in 1981 and the David W. Guion Museum Room was dedicated on July 4, 1987.

The Oxehufwud Museum Room

The Anders Gustav Frederik and Josephine Oxehufwud Museum RoomAnother permanent exhibition of Festival Hill, the Oxehufwud Collection displays works of art from the seventeenth-century to the present. Included in the Collection are furniture, paintings, ceramics, glass, textiles, clocks, lighting devices and archival materials. Anders Gustav Frederik Oxehufwud immigrated to America in 1923 and in 1964 retired with his wife, Josephine, to La Grange, Texas. At his passing in 1987, he bequeathed his outstanding collection to The International Festival-Institute. The Oxehufwud Museum Room was dedicated on June 5, 1993.

Special Library Collections

The Special Collections Library, open by appointment, is housed in temporary quarters in the Festival Concert Hall. This specialized library of books, manuscripts, periodicals and photographs is noted for its holdings in Art and Architecture, Decorative Arts, Historic Interiors and Exteriors and Texas History. Major strengths also include the British Country House Guidebook Collection (1752-1880), the David W. Guion Archives and the Winfrey Family Texana Collection. Designated study areas recognize historians Walter Prescott Webb and Dorman Winfrey.

The Dorman H. and Ruth Carolyn Winfrey Collection

The Dorman H. and Ruth Carolyn Winfrey Collection of Arturo Toscanini. A comprehensive collection of audio recordings, photographs, print material, letters and regalia detailing the life and career of renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. In addition to motion pictures and audiotapes, the collection contains over 150 recordings and over 300 letters addressed to Dr. Dorman Winfrey from both Maestro Toscanini and members of the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Friends of Toscanini’s son and grandson, Walter and Walfredo Toscanini, Mr. and Mrs. Winfrey assiduously assembled this collection over a period of more than half a century. The collection in turn formed the basis of Mr. Winfrey’s 1967 book Arturo Toscanini in Texas: The 1950 NBC Symphony Orchestra Tour (Encino Press, Austin, Texas).

The Chester V. Kielman Collection

The Chester V. Kielman Collection of Books, Pamphlets, Periodicals, Research Materials, and Personal Files on the History of Texas and the West

Highly regarded historian, educator and collector Chester V. Kielman (1925-2001) received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Kielman headed the Barker Texas History Center from 1969 to 1979 while also on faculty in the Department of History and the Graduate School of Library Science at the University of Texas.

Gathered together over a period of several years, the Chester V. Kielman Collection contains 42 linear feet of personal and professional correspondence, genealogical research material on the Kielman and Sedberry families and Texas historical documents. Specifically, the collection consists of 1,096 volumes including books, pamphlets and other print material and an extensive store of periodicals.