A founding charter was granted in 1892 for what eventually became the Fort Worth Art Museum and is now known as the Modem Art Museum of Fort Worth. It is thus the oldest museum in Texas and one of the oldest in the western United States. It forms a distinguished trio in Fort Worth with the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum (alongside other smaller public collections, some of which celebrate the city's history, such as the National Cowgirl Museum). When it was announced in 1996 that a new building would be constructed on an eleven-acre site across the street from Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum, the anticipation was great although tinged with possible reservations. The Kimbell is widely regarded as one of the crowning achievements of Kahn's career, and the avoidance of a derivative echo or an Oedipal attack would require an architect of subtlety as well as boldness. The selection of Tadao Ando's generous, serene design signaled an ambitious determination to meet the challenge, the wisdom of the choice being revealed when the Modem was opened last December.