About the Library

The Ed Jordan Library and Research Center is a small library focused on Mexican art, culture and history. The library also includes books on folk art from around the world, international cuisine, and travel guidebooks. The books in the library were generously donated by Ed Jordan, a folk art collector and member of the Austin Friends of Folk Art. The library currently contains over 400 books but continues to grow with more donations.

About Ed Jordan

Ed Jordan has been collecting folk art for most of his life. He has an affinity and fascination with Mexico and Mexican folk art and has taken numerous trips to Mexico to meet with Mexican artists and buy local art. He considers himself a skilled collector who has an eye for finding quality art in antique shops, thrift stores, estate sales, street markets, and other stores.

Born and educated in Austin, Texas, he is a 5th generation Texan. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and served in the U.S. Army in the Military Police Customs Unit in Germany. After returning to the United States, he spent many years in Dallas as Art Director and Design Director for various art studios and advertising agencies. He created the advertising for the State Fair of Texas in Dallas for over 10 years and did free-lance work for Neiman-Marcus. From 1988 to 1993, He taught art at Blinn College's campus at the Federal Correction Institution in Bastrop, Texas. As an artist himself, he has exhibited pen and ink drawings and serigraphy prints in many art shows and festivals across the country, including at the Laguna Gloria Art Festival in Austin and in art museums in El Paso, Wichita Falls, Florida, Louisiana and Michigan. In 2016, he donated a large collection of ceramic pieces by the Mexican artist, Heron Martinez Mendoza, to the museum. This donation became the Ed Jordan Collection and is available for viewing here.

The library is located on the 3rd floor of the Travis County Administrative building at 700 Lavaca st. The library is open weekdays from 8am to 5pm. The books are for reading and research inside the library and cannot be checked out at this time. Photocopies can be made on request.