The crane on the Dallas Museum of Art.
Photo: Cris Wilson, via Twitter.

The roof of the Dallas Museum of Art was damaged when a construction crane tipped over onto it, reports the Dallas Morning News. The crane was left balancing precariously on its back wheels, the cab angled toward the sky.

The falling machinery almost took down with it Ave, a red steel Mark di Suvero sculpture on the museum’s south lawn, but the artwork escaped unharmed. Museum staff and visitors were not involved in the accident, although the crane operator was taken to the hospital with what appeared to be minor injuries. The cause of the accident has not been revealed.

The museum has issued a statement indicating that the south end of the museum is closed until further notice, while the rest of the institution remains open for normal business hours.

The crane on the Dallas Museum of Art.
Photo: Taylor McGann, via Twitter.

Dallas Museum of Art operations manager John Young told NBC that the crane operator was working to install a tent for Art Ball 50, scheduled for April 11, in conjunction with the upcoming Dallas Art Fair (see Dallas Art Fair Announces Nearly 100 Dealers for 2015 Edition and Must-See Art Guide: Dallas). Right now, the museum’s primary concern is the health of the crane operator, said director of communications Jill Bernstein.

By a strange coincidence, the accident follows a pair of destruction-themed Dallas art happenings: Loris Gréaud’s infamous January smash-fest (and ensuing email meltdown/ill-conceived PR stunt) at the Dallas Contemporary (see Loris Gréaud Smashes the Mold for Museum Shows, Loris Gréaud Tells Critic She’s Undersexed and Ignorant, and Is Loris Gréaud an Angry Chauvinist or an Art World Sociopath? Or Both?), and this week’s “The Whyte Window/Black Mirror/Black Burka Art Show” at Beefhaus.

At the latter exhibition, staged by three anonymous artists, the opening culminated in a man collapsing a structure built inside in gallery using a power drill—”an unimpressive, lackadaisical display of orchestrated demolition,” as per Dallas Front/Row.