Articulations

We’re four for four, in terms of recent weeks featuring items involving architecture and the arts scene in Austin. Who knows how long we can keep this streak running; for now, it’s enough to say that there’s a new development in the search for an architectural firm to design the new Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art on the UT campus. As you recall from our last thrill-packed episode earlier this month, the seven firms that made the first cut to design that facility had come to Austin to make public presentations about their past work and their views on museum design. Now, the Architect Selection Committee has named three firms as semi-finalists in the big search. The three are: Antoine Predock Architect, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Steven Holl Architects, New York; and Herzog & de Meuron Arkitekten, Basel, Switzerland. Since all three have made trips to Austin, the next step is for the Selection Committee to make trips out of Austin – to existing buildings designed by the contenders. Those trips will be made in June, after which the committee will rank the semi-finalists and submit its recommendation to new UT President Larry Faulkner. Faulkner then makes his recommendation to UT System Chancellor William Cunningham. Once everybody gets a say, the finalist is announced. The announcement is projected for July.

Off the Desk

Mexic-Arte Museum‘s “Noche de Oaxaca, a Magical Evening of Art, Music, Dance, and Food,” originally set for last Friday, May 15, had to be postponed when the museum’s air conditioning got in the spirit of the event and went south. Mexic-Arte has re-scheduled the event, however, and it promises to be an even more exciting affair than before. In addition to the delectable Oaxacan foods, marimba music by Alberto Rangel, and traditional dances by the Ballet Folkl�rico promised previously, the “Noche de Oaxaca” will have as its guest of honor Rodolfo Morales, the artist whose work is currently featured in the museum’s exhibition, “Art of Oaxaca: Rodolfo Morales – Juegos y Evocaciones.” (And should you need an explanation of why that’s exciting, read the review of the exhibition one column over.) As if that weren’t enough, a special gallery talk will be given by Nancy Mayagoitia, director of the Art of Oaxaca Gallery in the state of Oaxaca. The new date for the event is Friday, May 29. It still begins at 7:30pm, it’s still at Mexic-Arte, 419 Congress, and tickets are still $25 ($15 for museum members). For more information, call 480-9373. Tapestry Dance Company hosts the Eighth Annual Austin Tap Jam Saturday, May 23, at Lakeline Mall. The jam features company director Acia Gray, dancers from Tapestry, Irish step dancers from Ballet Eireann, the Tapestry junior troupe Visions in Rhythm, and guest artists, such as local tap sensation “Smokey” Rhoades. The jam happens twice, at 1:30 & 3pm. Call 4-RHYTHM for more info. Austin Access Arts (AAA) is sponsoring another of its popular Audio Described Performances for a production this weekend. AAA-trained volunteers will be broadcasting descriptions of the stage setting and action to patrons wearing headsets at the evening performance of the Douglas Carter Beane comedy As Bees in Honey Drown on Saturday, May 23, 8pm, at the State Theatre. For more info, call 454-9912.

This article appears in May 22 • 1998 and May 22 • 1998 (Cover).