Art highlights from a year that tested our sanity and humanity.
1) VIRTUAL SKYSPACE James Turrell’s The Color Inside on the UT campus is closed for the time being, but you can still visit the famed oculus through the mind’s eye with this online meditation.
2) SOLE AIR Northern-Southern gallery’s dispersed outdoor art exhibitions and Vault Stone Shop’s window displays have offered innovative ways to gawk in peace.
3) NON-SXSW The city’s decision to cancel its largest annual event saved us from the hipster superspreaders.
4) PUCCINI AND POPCORN Austin Opera cinematically reimagined its 2020-2021 season by partnering with Blue Starlite Drive-In for a one-of-a-kind film series in the comfort of your Kia.
5) EAST MEETS WEST It was the fall of the Berlin Wall all over again as Big Medium’s Austin Studio Tour combined its annual East Austin art-pocalypse with its springtime West Austin counterpart.
6) MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY’S MOM We can thank Kay for having a son whose memoir has lifted the mood of a nation, thanks in part to such TMI moments as that time Matthew’s dad died during sex with her.
7) ONLINE BOOKING This year’s virtual Texas Book Festival gave us a glimpse into the lives (and living rooms) of our favorite authors.
8) BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Three little words that granted access to galleries (and museums) with art all to yourself.
9) FUSEBOX FESTIVAL The online-only event drew 10,000 attendees for a truly impressive reconfigured roster of quarantined artists, performers, and corona slayers.
10) ZOOM-BA Ballet Austin’s live and on-demand dance/fitness permitted me to pirouette in my PJs.
Top 10 Ways 2020 Was the Best Year Ever
A version of this article appeared in print on Dec 18, 2020 with the headline: Top 10 Ways 2020 Was the Best Year Ever
This article appears in The 2020 Top 10s Issue.