After Ney died in 1907, Ella and Joseph B. Dibrell purchased the building to preserve it as an art center in memory of her.

[1] Ella Dibrell along with other women helped form the Texas Fine Arts Association to create the museum.

Part of this plan has been completed, including planting wild flowers and prairie grasses around the building to better resemble the appearance of the grounds in Ney's time.

The museum houses a collection of originals and replicas of Ney's works, along with many of her personal belongings and tools.

The more than fifty busts, medallions, and full-sized figures on display include her portraits of European notables such as King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Arthur Schopenhauer as well as Americans William Jennings Bryan, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and General Albert Sidney Johnston.