Press Kit
Museum Press & Media Coverage
Catch The Watchmaker’s Song at the Neill-Cochran House Museum - 12/12/23
An interactive and culturally inclusive re-imagining of The Nutcracker, is back for its sixth season at the Neil- Cochran House Museum.
10 Best Museums in Austin to Visit and Explore - 12/09/23
Through historically furnished spaces and multiple rotating art and history exhibitions, the NCHM conveys the history of Austin and Texas from the city’s founding in 1839 until 1930.
Austin Museum Day to open nearly 40 museums for free this weekend - 09/12/23
Start planning your Sunday now — when you see the lineup for Austin Museum Day, you’ll want to pack your schedule.
Top picks for kids on Austin Museum Day - 09/12/23
This year the Neill-Cochran House Museum celebrates Austin Museum Day with a collage self-portrait activity, lawn games and scavenger hunts, an art market, ice cream and lemonade-making activities, and more.
'Stories on the Lawn' returns to the Neill-Cochran House Museum - 08/28/23
Stories on the Lawn is just what the name implies – a recurring event in which storytellers share stories with an audience gathered on a lawn, in this case the front lawn of the Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Heritage Preservation Grant aimed at preserving historic Austin sites - 08/02/23
The City of Austin grant program awarded $2.7 million to historic sites in Austin last year. This year’s recipients include the Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Driving tour of African American history in central texas (pt 2) - 06/19/23
Fox 7 Austin News joined Neill-Cochran House Museum Director Rowena Dasch and Pease Park Conservancy Chief Operating Officer Chuck Smith at Pease Park, a stop along the NCHM's Black West Austin Driving Tour.
Driving tour of African American history in Central Texas (pt 1) - 06/19/23
In honor of Juneteenth, the Neill Cochran House is offering a driving tour of historic sites.
From the historic parade to poetry: Here are 13 ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Austin - 06/12/23
The day party at one of the city’s oldest historical residences will include dominos, lawn games and a painting class led by local artist Rejina Thomas.
Museum reckons with race in Austin while celebrating three exceptional black chefs -02/24/22
The museum will host a fundraiser on March 4th for the Reckoning with the Past project, featuring conversation and cuisine with three notable Black Austin chefs.
Neill-Cochran House visitors repurpose campaign signs on De-Sign themed Sunday Funday - 01/08/23
Discarded political campaign signs are repurposed for a Sunday Funday "De-Sign" community event at the Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Nine enticing art exhibits to whet the appetite in Austin this January - 01/03/23
Signs and Symbols: The Trees are Talking by Rejina Thomas gives a unique perspective on her own heritage, as well as the cultural ties that bind us across races and ethnicities.
Your guide to austin holiday arts like the nutcracker and a christmas carol - 11/29/22
Ventana Ballet puts a jazzy and interactive twist on "The Nutcracker" with its inimitable "The Watchmaker's Song" at the Neill-Cochran House Museum on Dec. 8-17.
Top 5 THINGS TO DO IN AUSTIN THIS THANKSGIVIng weekend - 11/23/22
The Neill-Cochran House Museum presents Holiday Art on the Lawn, a festive art market on the grounds of the historic house museum.
Austin Museum Day offers free admission to over 30 local museums - 08/31/22
Check out the full list of participating museums here.
austin found podcast ep. 84 - The Neill-Cochran HOuse Museum (Part 2) - 07/11/22
The conversation continues as Rowena Dasch, Michael Barnes, and J.B. Hager discuss the NCHM’s arts and cultural programming, local freedom colonies, and the project to restore the NCHM Slave Quarters.
Austin Found Podcast Ep. 83 - The Neill Cochran House Museum (Part 1) - 07/05/22
NCHM Director Rowena Dasch speaks with hosts Michael Barnes and J.B. Hager about the history of the Neill-Cochran House and it’s evolution into a historic house museum in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in Austin.
Looking in at austin’s last (known) slave quarters - 06/24/22
"It's locals. It's Austinites. And particularly children, because if as a child you're exposed to this breadth of knowledge, this importance of place in history, then you will grow up with that recognition inside of you." - NCHM Director Rowena Dasch on which museum guests are her priority.
urban slave quarters rediscovered in west campus - 05/08/22
“Much of our history and knowledge about the past is lost because of the absence of buildings or just the ruins of them,” Dr. Dudley said. “One way to really get at understanding that built environment, whether it’s still present or not, is to repopulate those spaces.”
Reveal and Restore: Difficult History Through ArT - 05/01/22
Nell Gottlieb talks to Fox 7 about Reveal and Restore, her exhibition on display at the NCHM Jan-May 2022.
Restoration of Slave Quarters Will Help Austin More Fully Tell Its History, Experts Say - 04/29/22
A 12-month restoration of the slave quarters behind the NCHM at 2310 San Gabriel St in the West Campus neighborhood is set to begin this month.
Neill-Cochran House Museum hosts a weekend for Community - 04/24/22
Fox 7 reports on A Weekend for Community, the launch of restoration efforts at Austin’s last remaining slave dwelling.
Austin’s only remaining slave quarters is ‘our place’ and it matters - 04/22/22
As Austin continues to experience explosive growth, we are losing sight of the history of the people who helped build this city and their stories – stories we will not find in any of our history books. (Includes audio interview)
Rediscovered Slave Quarters in West Campus helps tell the story of urban enslavement in Austin - 04/22/22
“It's the last intact slave dwelling in Austin and a resource for all of us who would like to better understand our city's past.” says NCHM Director Rowena Dasch.
Austin's last remaining slave quarters is authentically reopening to the public - 04/21/22
Austin’s only remaining intact slave dwelling is finally getting the TLC it deserves as it begins a $500,000, 12-month restoration that will take it back to the antebellum period this month.
CIVIL RIGHTS and wrongs podcast - 04/19/22
NCHM Director Rowena Dasch and Dr. Tara Dudley (UT) sit down to discuss Reckoning with the Past, the restoration project centered on the NCHM Slave Quarters.
One of Austin’s first black communities has been largely erased. This building tells the tale - 02/25/22
The Jacob Fontaine Gold Dollar Building in West Campus is the last remnant of the Wheatville Freedom Colony.
Meet Rowena Dasch of the Neill-Cochran House Museum - 12/07/21
“[O]ver the past five years, we have welcomed more than 30,000 people to our site and have broadened our audience well beyond educated history buffs (though we do love educated history buffs!).”
local artists featured at holiday art on the lawn event - 11/28/21
“Everyone here is from the local area, so you’re helping support local artists during their holiday season,” says Karen Kincaid-Brady.
Spring activities at Neill-Cochran House Museum - 05/15/21
The Neill-Cochran House Museum has had fun, safe, outdoor activities to do for the whole family during the pandemic and it's got a lot going on the next few months as well. FOX 7 Austin's Casey Claiborne gets details.
local museum acknowledges its history of slavery - 07/28/20
Building on site of Neill-Cochran House Museum is Austin’s last slave quarters structure.
austin museums starting to reopen more than a month after getting the go-ahead - 06/14/20
"Being able to reopen and to share these stories and be a place where conversation can happen and hopefully civil discourse," said NCHM director Rowena Dasch.”
Meet Austin’s Memory Keeper - 11/01/19
Neill-Cochran House Museum director, Rowena Houghton Dasch, reflects on sharing the stories of Austin’s history and helming a 60-year-old startup.
Blasts from the Past: Old Austin Homes Leave Clues for Surviving our Summers - 07/30/19
“It was less humid in those days,” says native Austinite Mary Cochran Bohls, 92, “before they put in the lakes.”
She's 92 and Grew Up in What's Now an Austin Museum - 07/19/19
When she was a child, did Mary Cochran Bohls, 92, slide down the polished banister of the Neill-Cochran House, now an Austin museum, while growing up in the handsome 1856 home?
Joy and Delight at Austin's Historic Neill-Cochran House Museum - 04/04/19
This exquisitely wrought world, that brings both the familiar and the exotic, is on display now through April 28 at another Austin gem, the Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Neill-Cochran House Museum Keeps History Alive in Changing Times - 02/25/19
Exhibits of antiques, artwork, and folk crafts tell stories of Texas in one of Austin’s oldest buildings, an 1856 house
Austin museum extends hit show on Impressionist painter - 01/08/19
“Through Her Eyes,” a unexpectedly popular exhibit of works by 19th-century American painter Anna Stanley, has been extended through Feb. 3.
A House Built on History: Neill-Cochran House Museum Offers a Glimpse into Austin's Past - 10/01/18
Neill-Cochran House Museum offers a glimpse into Austin’s past.
WEST Pop Up at the Neill-Cochran House Museum - 05/18/18
For the West Austin Studio Tour, 15 artists show their work in this historic Austin home to varying and delightful effect
In the House: Neill-Cochran House Museum Hosts 2017 Abner Cook Award Reception to Honor Joe Pinnelli - 05/05/17
The Neill-Cochran House Museum recently hosted a benefit cocktail reception in the Museum’s Centennial Garden to honor Austin builder, contractor, and historic preservationist Joe Pinnelli with the Abner Cook Award.
West Austin Studio Tour Weekend 2: Our picks and highlights - 09/03/16
Rain didn’t dampen the first weekend of the West Austin Studio Tour. Among the delights seen out and about on the tour were several pop-up exhibits — proof once again that despite Austin’s rising rents and rapid gentrification, artists will find a way to creatively exhibit their work.
Press & Media Coverage for ‘If These Walls Could Talk’
Museum show examines race and who built early Austin
“If These Walls Could Talk,” a richly embroidered show that explores race and class in early Austin, operates on five levels of perception.
New exhibition at Neill-Cochran House Museum
FOX 7 Austin’s Jacqueline Sarkissian gets more details about “If These Walls Could Talk”.
'If These Walls Could Talk' at Neill-Cochran House Museum
A look at the major history and artistic collaboration.
The Artists Behind 'If These Walls Could Talk' Aim To Be 'Gentle Provocateurs'
For the next few months, the Neill-Cochran House Museum will host If These Walls Could Talk, a collaborative art piece from actor Jennifer Cumberbatch and sculptor Ginger Geyer. It’s an ambitious undertaking, featuring dozens of Geyer’s porcelain works, several performances by Cumberbatch, filmed pieces, discussions and more.
If These Walls Could Talk, a collaborative exhibition
Rowena Dasch has served as the Director of the Neill-Cochran House Museum (NCHM) since 2013, overseeing its continued evolution as an organization committed to connecting Austin’s past to a collective experience of the present. This spring, it presents the exhibition If These Walls Could Talk, placing ceramicist Ginger Geyer’s modern porcelain sculpture into the historic spaces of the museum. READ ARTICLE
If These Walls Could Talk (REVIEW) – Neill-Cochran House Museum
Historic house museums of the Antebellum South period often have the ability to skirt around the precarious issues that surround their existence. The Neill-Cochran House Museum, however, is changing this paradigm with the exhibition, If These Walls Could Talk.
Museum Press Releases
Press Release | If These Walls Could Talk (December 20, 2019)
Press Kit
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ABOUT THE NEILL_COCHRAN HOUSE MUSEUM
The Neill-Cochran House Museum is an independent nonprofit that preserves and reflects the experience of some of Austin’s earliest residents. Built in 1855, the house and slave quarters and the collections they display shed light on the local, individual, and political history of our always-growing city. Today, the Museum features rotating exhibits, a speaker series called "Modern Times," and free monthly events for the entire family. The main house is among the oldest residences still standing in Austin. The site is also home to the only remaining intact slave quarters in the city.
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Museum
Reckoning with the Past (Slave Quarters Project)
Family Events
Performances
