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for Sun., June 8
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  • Arts

    Theatre

    Different Stages: For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

    Mother’s Day might have made some folks sentimental. Did you reflect on what you’ve inherited from your mother? The sacrifices she made and the support she gave? Keep that ruminative mood going with Different Stages, as they present a classic mother/son dynamic in Quebecois king Michel Tremblay’s For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again. Tremblay’s mother was apparently a force to be reckoned with. She shared her creativity and love for literature with him, but died before he gained writing success. Pleasure explores their history and relationship while paying homage to an indomitable, inspirational woman. – Cat McCarrey
    Through June 14
  • Arts

    Theatre

    Grand Hotel: The Musical

    Alchemy Theatre continues their quest to present shows away from the beaten path. They’re keeping musical history alive with restagings of past pieces that may be gone but will not be forgotten. Grand Hotel is the latest in that journey, an extravaganza packed wall-to-wall (and room-to-room) with showstopping numbers. (Seriously, if nothing else, please head over to YouTube to watch Michael Jeter – aka Sesame Street’s Mister Noodle – earn his well-deserved Tony.) Set in 1928 Berlin, Grand Hotel balances joyful music with bitter truths, letting the audience snoop into the lives of the hotel’s sometimes-nefarious guests, whose secrets reveal themselves over the course of their stay. So check in to check out what lurks in such luxurious lodgings. – Cat McCarrey
    Through June 15
All Events
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Aisha Imdad: “The Allegorical Gardens”

    Gardens loom large in legend. Think the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Shalimar Gardens, the Garden of Eden: each bursting with symbolic beauty, dripping with promises of life and growth. Artist Aisha Imdad explores the lush intricacies of this verdant imagery. Her watercolor works delve into literary and mythological gardens, inspired by Indian, Mughal, and Persian frescos. Each invites closer introspection, a desire to immerse in the vibrant world of her works. Each intricate blossom speck, or gilded turn of a bird wing, vibrates with idealized life. Imdad’s art portrays the possibilities of paradise. – Cat McCarrey
    Through July 3
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Art & Parks Tour

    This sweet opportunity comes to us from the Downtown Austin Alliance, the Pease Park Conservancy, and Ride Bikes Austin – so we know it's a damned good thing indeed. Take the self-guided Art & Parks Tour to explore the best of what Downtown Austin art and parks have to offer through this selection of curated murals, artworks, and green spaces. You can sign up anytime, so click that URL and get ready to learn the most vibrantly visual parts of your city soon – live and in person.
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    “Dog Days”

    When the profound connection between dog and human has become fetishized and monetized for clicks, where’s a soulful dog person to go? Why not this group exhibition, which pays sweet tribute to our four-legged fam? Referencing the origins of “dog days” as a time of unrest in ancient times, DORF curators Sara Vanderbeek and Eric Manche are using the show to advance a different narrative: “that in a time of global uncertainty and rising temperatures, the steady, loving presence of a dog can be a grounding force – a source of comfort, stability, and meaning.” Friday’s pet-friendly opening reception will have on-site adoptions, live dog portrait painting by Ami Plasse, and a doggy dance party with DJ Dana Scully. – Kimberley Jones
    Opening night, May 23; runs through Sept. 6
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    “duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, grayDUCK!”

    Okay so: What’s with all the ducks? If you count them, it’s one duck for each year that this art gallery has been hosting art. This anniversary exhibition, curated by Los Outsiders collective, has a work of art representative of each year in the life of grayDUCK. It’s kinda like one of those videos where someone takes a photo of themselves every year, except in this case it’s something beautiful or poignant, and isn’t that better? Kicks off this Saturday, May 24 and runs through June 28. – James Renovitch
    Through June 28
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    “Meeting at the Edges: Testing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Boundaries”

    Why are the edges always the most difficult? Almost all textile arts suffer in relation to cleaning up those untidy ends. This month, Link & Pin Art Space invites viewers to embrace the unruly threads of life. To shamelessly pull from artist Sam Elkins’ Instagram post (@samelkinstextiles), join Saturday’s artist reception for some “edgy” conversation with the creators involved. Elkins’ weaving work will rest alongside the fibrous textures of Gary Anderson’s art and Diane Sandlin’s mixed media marvels. Ponder, and maybe even come to terms with, life’s bumps and whorls through these artists’ explored space. – Cat McCarrey
    Through June 8
  • Community

    Events

    “Roots Unveiled: Exploring the Chinese Experience”

    Among the many anti-civil rights bills creeping their way through the Texas Legislature is Senate Bill 17, which would bar Chinese and many other Asian citizens from buying land here. Denounced by detractors as racist and reminiscent of 19th-century laws targeting Asian immigrants, its 2023 origins, along with growing anti-Asian sentiment after the pandemic, inspired Houston artist Jane Xu to found the multi-city Asian American Art & Culture Initiative and initiate this multidisciplinary exhibit. Curated by renowned international independent curator Sylvia XuHua Zhan, it brings in-depth research and archives along with work from a wide range of artists to offer a look at the rich history of Chinese Americans in Texas. Opening reception is Sunday, May 18, noon. – Kat McNevins
    Through August 31; opening reception, May 18
  • Arts

    Comedy

    Cap City Comedy Club

    That's right: Cap City Comedy Club, the longtime cornerstone of Austin's comedy scene for nearly four decades is at a new venue in the Domain. And here's Valerie Lopez with a closer look at what's in store for the scene via the venue. Click for details!
  • Arts

    Classical Music

    Concerts in the Park

    ’Tis the season when Austin’s two biggest attractions – beautiful nature and live music – are often found at the same event. One such blissful union is found in the 23rd annual return of Austin Symphony Orchestra Hartman Foundation concerts on the lawn of the Long Center. All ages, species, pets, and children are welcome at this truly communitywide event, where locals can be found on Sunday evenings bringing a picnic and friends to lay out and listen to a world-class orchestra as they watch another day come to a close. The 2025 concert schedule includes brass, wind, and string ensembles playing a range of tunes from jazz to pop to film scores to classical. This is one of the magical things about Austin – and completely free. Locals and visitors alike should not miss, as it will continue every Sunday through June 29. – Lina Fisher
    Through June 29
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Jiab Prachakul: Sweet Solitude

    Whoever says Austin isn’t a fine art town can get the hell out of here. We continually break artistic ground with innovative and international taste. The Contemporary once again adds to that rep by hosting artist Jiab Prachakul’s first solo museum show. Born in Thailand, living in France, and with a solid film background behind her, Prachakul’s work has a bold style and clear point of view. Heavy graphic lines and soul-stirring colors fill her art. Each moment could be a film still, each stroke staking her claim on a far-too-Western art world. Widely accessible but intensely intimate, Prachakul’s scenes beg for close inspection. Join the Contemporary, and the artist herself, in examining her offerings during Friday’s opening night festivities or in conversation on Saturday, Feb. 1. – Cat McCarrey
    Through August 3
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Laguna Gloria

    This local treasure of a venue, run by those Contemporary Austin folks who also bring us the Jones Center shows Downtown, is all about the outdoors – which is perfect for these trickily navigated times of ours, n'est-ce pas? Recommended: Stop by and breathe in the air, enjoy the lawns and gardens and the many examples of world-class sculpture arrayed across the property, and (as Frankie used to say) r-e-l-a-x.
    Thu.-Fri., 9am-noon; Sat.-Sun., 9am-3pm
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Landmarks: Self-Guided Walking Tour

    Use your smartphone to access self-guided tours of the outdoor public art sited by UT's award-winning Landmarks program any time you feel like it. BONUS: There's also a free, docent-led tour starting at Marc Quinn's "Spiral of the Galaxy" (1501 Red River) on Sun., Jan. 8, 11am.
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Margie Criner: “Sound & Vision”

    Hailing from Chicago, artist Margie Criner works in sculpture and miniatures. How so? Her unique sculptural works – themselves impressive patchworks of materials from wool to actual hornets’ nests – feature peepholes through which viewers may glance tiny tableaux. These miniature worlds all center music, such as her pinky-finger-sized record store, Needle on the Records, with vintage posters plastered across its small interior walls. “The music theme isn’t always literal,” explains Criner, “but background sounds within the space, specific to what I’m processing. Kind of like how there’s music playing at the grocery store, that music is everywhere.” – James Scott
    Through June 14
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Museum of Illusions

    Enter the fascinating world of illusions in this new venue that boasts a stunning array of intriguing visual, sensory, and educational experiences among new, unexplored optical wonderments.
    11010 Domain #100
  • Arts

    Comedy

    The Hideout

    The diverse lineup of hilarious, always surprising improv shows continues, with Pgraph and Maestro and the Big Bash and more, for the most unexpected delights of in-person entertainment.
    $10 and up.  
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    The Museum of Fine Arts, Austin

    Art by Charles Walter, Benjamin Bayne, and other international, national, and local artists.
    Sundays, 3-5pm. Donations accepted.
    1638 E. Second #326
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Valerie Fowler’s “Entanglements” & Benné Rockett’s “Grown in Darkness”

    It’s a pleasure to see Austin’s bevy of talented working artists grow and change over the years, exploring new material and thematic fixations. Valerie Fowler is one such mainstay of the scene, and her new summer show at Lydia Street Gallery finds her meditating on the interconnectedness of nature and humanity with signature meticulous attention to detail. In “Entanglements: You Too Are Part of This,” she renders birds’ nests and vines in dazzling Technicolor. Under the same roof, Benné Rockett, an Austin art therapist who’s spent the better part of a decade between Mérida, Yucatan, and her hometown of New Orleans, offers mixed-media encaustic works that render flora and fauna in three dimensions. Watch these works interact with one another starting Saturday, May 24, through to August 10. – Lina Fisher
    Through August 10
  • Arts

    Visual Arts

    Words and Wonder: Rediscovering Children’s Literature

    One of the pleasures of having a first-rate research center and archive in town is how the Harry Ransom Center will regularly comb through its own vast holdings and hand-pick gems to present in a new context. Hence the HRC’s latest exhibit, “Words and Wonder: Rediscovering Children’s Literature,” which pulls from its manuscript, art, photography, film, and performing arts holdings to spotlight early 20th-century authors and illustrators catering to a young readership. The exhibit includes magic lantern slides from Aesop’s Fables, John Tenniel’s illustrations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Ernest H. Shepard’s indelible images from the Hundred Acre Wood, among other treats. Runs through August 17. – Kimberley Jones
    Through August 17

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