AUSTIN, Texas — Before she was a Hollywood icon, before Charlie’s Angels, the pin-up poster, and that feathered hair seen around the world, Farrah Fawcett was a Texas girl with a passion for art, a student sculptor shaped by her time at UT Austin and a deep friendship with mentor Charles Umlauf.
Now, a new exhibition at the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum is giving Central Texans a chance to see her not as a celebrity, but as an artist.
Beyond the Bombshell: Farrah Fawcett is a celebration of the woman behind the fame, and it’s personal.
On view now through June 1, the exhibition peels back the layers of Fawcett’s public persona to reveal her creative roots, artistic growth, and meaningful connection to Austin.
“We’re hoping this show does a couple of things,” said UMLAUF Executive Director and curator Katie Robinson Edwards.
First, it reminds people just how incredibly famous she was. But more than that, it invites viewers to look beyond the bombshell image, to her acting decisions, the projects she fought for, and the art she made with her own hands.
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Fawcett’s relationship with Umlauf began in the art studios at UT, where she studied under him and became one of his favorite students.
The bond lasted decades.
The exhibit showcases personal letters, photographs, and even bronze pieces that reflect their teacher-student dynamic.
“She really absorbed his style,” Edwards said.
We’re displaying a piece of his that she owned, Girl with Bangs, right next to a sculpture she created in California. You can see how she internalized his techniques. The tilt of the head, the elongated neck, it’s unmistakable.
Fawcett’s own artwork, much of it never before exhibited publicly, spans large-format self-portraits to intimate bronze sculptures.
One of the centerpieces is a ghostly drawing from 1966, on loan from her nephew Greg Walls.
“She poured so much of herself into that piece,” Edwards shared.
Greg told me he grew up with it hanging in his home. To him, it wasn’t ‘Farrah the star,’ it was Aunt Farrah, the artist.
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Much of her sculptural work, cast in bronze, blends European modernism with a distinctly Texan softness.
“She wasn’t trying to be shocking,” Edwards noted.
She was interested in form, femininity, and emotion. Her figures are sensual, but they’re thoughtful and feel lived-in.
The exhibit also highlights playful and poignant moments from Fawcett’s life.
A wall of vintage TVs plays a loop of her most memorable commercials and TV clips, from her iconic Noxzema shaving cream ad with Joe Namath to Charlie’s Angels scenes that launched her into superstardom.
“That wall of TVs brings back how America first fell in love with her,” said Edwards.
Farrah was everywhere, yet so few people knew she was also sculpting in her free time.
Sprinkled throughout the gallery are surprising pop culture relics, like a signed photo from Matthew McConaughey, who once requested to feature Fawcett’s famed poster in a film, and a hand-drawn Peanuts comic from Charles Schulz with a personal note, “For Farrah, with every best wish.”
“There’s a deeper Austin connection there,” Edwards said.
Schulz actually owned land in the area. It’s wild, but not surprising, that Farrah had ties to so many people who helped shape Austin’s creative spirit.
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While Fawcett’s name often evokes 1970s glamour, this exhibit aims to reframe her legacy.
She was more than a face.
She was a maker, a student, a Texan.
“Farrah was serious about her art. She worked at it. She carried that training from Umlauf into everything she did,” said Edwards.
And I think people will be surprised, and maybe even moved, when they see that side of her.
Beyond the Bombshell: Farrah Fawcett runs through June 1. Curator-led tours will be offered for free with admission on May 30 and 31.
For those who can’t make it in person, the exhibition is also available digitally on the Bloomberg Connects app, featuring exclusive content and interviews.
“You don’t need to be a Farrah fan to appreciate what she left behind,” said Edwards. “But after seeing this, you just might become one.”
The exhibition was made possible through the efforts of the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum, the Blanton Museum of Art, the Farrah Fawcett Foundation, and Greg Walls, one of the exhibit’s key lenders and Farrah’s nephew.