As art enthusiasts venture through the McNay Art Museum, they find themselves in the dimly lit Brown Room with sketch-adorned walls. Four pedestals center the room, displaying maquettes for operas and chunks of ancient columns. From sketches to the third-dimension, Houses to Homes breathes life into architecture, exploring culture, domesticity and the art of inhabitance that breeds beauty into design.
Paper designs of grand, historic theatres line the left wall. “Elevation and ground plan for the Southern Theatre at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli” by architect Giuseppe Pannini highlights detailed views of stairways and seating, giving viewers a glimpse of the technicality going into design.
Sketches for play scenes, such as Robert Indiana’s two illustrations of the same porch, occupy the wall further down. The first, looser design, “Scene design for 17 Madison St., Rochester, NY, ACT I, scenes 3-5, in ‘The Mother of Us All,’” conveys the set’s desired mood. The design shows a mathematical approach, with measurements and meticulous detail aimed for the set builders to reference. From feeling to technical reality, mere sketches become infused with meaning and life.
A wall further down, dedicated to show and movie design, realizes theatrical art onto paper; set design fosters story and feeling through engineering genius. “Maquette components for Richard III” by Morris Kestelman demonstrates how architectural motifs from different eras can cultivate specific atmospheres, using Gothic castles to create a dreary mood for William Shakespeare’s play.
Jean and William Eckart explore architecture not through technicality but through the way light plays on a set. “Scene design for the courtroom in ‘The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N’” uses streaming rays of light to cast shadow and pattern on the wall, displaying the unseen arching windows as panels of illumination. Every cut and pane bends to the whims of light as the space transforms with renewed beauty.
As viewers travel into the Tobin Wing, they leave behind set design and engineering for architecture’s next stage: inhabitance. Here, personality fuses with design as home environments begin to mirror the lives of occupants.
“The Utopians” by Joey Fauerso unites 19th century dinner parties with the era’s utopian leaders. Their communities have gone extinct, yet the concept of gathering around a table to enjoy a meal prevails. The piece features ceramic plates decorated with portraits, landscapes and 19th century Perfectionist Oneida Community imagery. The table is empty, but the presence of life remains.
Architectural design does not make or break a home, as seen in William Pitkin’s “Scene design for stable with canopied bed in ‘The Threepenny Opera.’” The musical features a dilapidated stable made into a home. Watercolor browns juxtapose with the lavish reds of the grand bed, bringing luxury and comfort into an otherwise bleak environment.
“The Nap” by Paul Cadmus features a naked man laying on a bed with a pillow clutched tight. His few belongings sit on a lone chair as half of the bed remains empty, creating a lonely, yearning air. The tempera painting shows how inhabitants influence and determine the mood of a space.
Houses to Homes masterfully conveys the transition from engineering feats to homeliness, bringing viewers through the process that cultivates individuals’ environments. From the historic auditoriums to bedrooms complete with full decor, technical and personal elements marry beautifully to create totally new spaces. The exhibition turns the creation of a home into a story, taking viewers from start to finish with all the artistic hands that molded it along the way.
The Houses to Homes exhibition will be on display until Jan. 18, 2026, in the Brown Room and Tobin Wing of the McNay Art Museum. Art-seekers can visit for free from 4-9 p.m. on Thursdays and 12-5 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. Any other time, General Admission costs $23, but the student discount with presentation of a valid college ID brings the price down to $18. The museum can be visited any day except Monday or Tuesday. To learn more about The McNay Art Museum and upcoming events, visit its Instagram @mcnayart.
