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for Thu., March 30
  • A Prayer for Peace

    A Prayer for Peace is a poem in movement: a site-specific aerial dance work dedicated to joining the global community and those working for peace. Blue Lapis Light's latest large scale public work comes to Austin and features aerialists soaring off buildings, live musicians, and critically acclaimed dancers bringing Sally Jacques' transcendent work to life.
    Sept. 18-22 & Sept. 26-29, 8:30pm  
    5508 Parkcrest Dr.
  • MalBu Markets Presents Sound Bazaar at The Pershing

    Join MalBu Markets for the Sound Bazaar Market! The event features local vendors, live music, an arcade room, a photo booth, and free entry with raffle giveaways. Proceeds support the Autism Society of Texas, offering a fun-filled night of shopping, games, and community for a great cause.
    Sat. Sept. 28, 6pm-10pm  
    The Pershing
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    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.
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    Dance

    Ballet Austin: Classes

    Learn your way to physical grace with a dance class at Ballet Austin. There are so many varieties to choose among – ballet, barre, contemporary dance, hip-hop, tap, cardio dance fitness, Pilates, and more – and all taught by professional instructors. See website for details.
    $3-7 per class.
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    Visual Arts

    Big Medium: I am at my best when I'm escaping

    Big Medium presents an exhibition by the 2022 Tito’s Prize recipient, Tammie Rubin. In this show, the artist uses ceramic conical forms, raised maps, and murals to transform the Canopy-based gallery into a portal for escape, delving into her fascination with power objects, coded symbols, migration, rituals, and faith.
    Through April 29
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    Visual Arts

    Butridge Gallery: Children of the Earth + The Other Side

    The "Children of Earth" paintings by Camille Lema are about human connections and being grounded to the planet that's our home. Meena Matai's "The Other Side" is an exploration of the personal stories of her family and millions of others who were affected by the India-Pakistan partition of 1947. Together, these two exhibitions shine with power and beauty.
    Through May 20. Free.  
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    Visual Arts

    Butridge Gallery: Girls Gotta Eat

    This is a series of vibrant cinematic portraits of drag performers grocery shopping that invites viewers to explore “how other is us." Through Sarah Bork’s lens, the grocery store becomes a playground of comfort and self-care. These character portraits are paired with handwritten grocery lists and extensive interviews, exploring a nuanced spectrum of identity and experience beyond the traditional gender binary.
    Through April 15  
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    Visual Arts

    Camiba Gallery: discards vessels fragments

    This noteworthy new exhibition at Camiba Gallery features the works of 1) Jason Webb, an Austin-based artist who spends his Sundays driving through unfamiliar neighborhoods and photographing once private possessions now publicly disowned, then painting individual piles isolated against white backgrounds; 2) San Antonio-based Benjamin McVey, whose new paintings of vessels represent the artist’s search for quiet space, simplicity, focus and purpose in today’s increasingly complex post-pandemic world; and 3) Austin's own Rebecca Rothfus Harrell, who documents states of flux across the country, reinterpreting remnants of structures that have a history but no longer serve their intended purpose.
    Through April 15
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    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!
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    Visual Arts

    Davis Gallery: 50 Years of Building Beauty

    Yeah, they're not kidding – because here's a John Sager retrospective, and the Austin-based Sager has been building works of astonishing beauty for at least that long, with this new collection at the Davis Gallery showcasing the man's uniquely altered books, collages, and assemblage sculptures.
    Through April 15
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    Comedy

    East Austin Comedy Club

    Founded by comedians Raza Jafri and Andre Ricks, this club that operates out of Tiger Den on the Eastside is the city's only BIPOC-owned comedy venue.
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    Comedy

    Esther's Follies

    Esther's Follies – Austin's not-so-secret weapon in the fight against ennui – the comedy gem that still dazzles this growing urban hub – returns to the weekly live and in-person stage of their club on Dirty Sixth, the whole troupe bringing back old favorites and debuting a new program of hilarity with topical, ripped-from-the-headlines sketches and musical numbers. And you do need a laugh or two, right about this time, don't you, citizen? (And how about a margarita to go with that?) We'd add that the mind-boggling illusions of magician Ray Anderson are a bonus in the night's clever spectacle … but, the way that arch maestro conjures mystery and delight, "bonus" would be an insult.
    Thu., 7pm; Fri.-Sat., 7 & 9pm. $30-40.  
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    Comedy

    Fallout Comedy

    This hotbed of local performance is carrying on even more than usual, with an eclectic mix of live, mind-rocking comedy from some of Austin's best, all week long. Hey! The place is our cover story, as reported by Valerie Lopez! And, srsly, who would ever disagree with the sentiment of Monday night's Fuck This Week show? Check the website for details.
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    Visual Arts

    Flatbed Press: Positively Third Street

    This retrospective show does homage to the work of the printers, the artists, and the publishers who were a part of the first ten years of Flatbed Press at 912 W. Third Street. James Surls. Julie Speed. Sydney Yeager. Melissa Miller. Michael Ray Charles. Terry Allen. Trenton Doyle Hancock. And more. Works from those first years highlight many of Flatbed’s landmark prints and will be available for sale.
    Through April 15
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    Visual Arts

    Food, Shelter, Water: Projects by Four Texas Photographers

    This new show features the work of four Texas-based photographers – Verónica G. Cárdenas, Stephanie Duprie Routh, Cindy Elizabeth, Jamie Robertson – who address themes related to our most basic human needs. From Egypt, Latin America, Texas, and Austin, the images presented bring new light to the ways we interact with our social and physical environments.
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    Visual Arts

    Gallery Lowell: Modern Sourcery

    Here's an exhibition of work by California-based Sweetie Boosh, inaugurating the newest gallery at Canopy."My work is a love story," says the artist, "a love story about second chances and finding new ways to reuse the abandoned and discarded. The goal is to captivate, spread joy, and provide a moment for viewers to become entranced or captivated by the meticulous application of materials that I am choosing to repurpose.”
    Through April 10
    916 Springdale, trailer 12
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    Comedy

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    Visual Arts

    grayDUCK Gallery: Ommatidium

    Shawn Smith's "Ommatidium" explores our complicated relationship with the insect world, investigating the darkly humorous marketing of chemical agents to safely annihilate, the extreme championing of aesthetically pleasing and useful insects over all others, the strangely macabre methods of measuring insect population density, and the overlooked beauty of their complex architecture. All of this arthropodic exploration is stunningly rendered in two- and three-dimensional works in a variety of mediums, from drawings and collages to stained glass and 3D prints.
    Through April 16  
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    Visual Arts

    Harry Ransom Center: Drawing the Motion Picture

    Explore the beauty and complexity of moviemaking through sketches, storyboards, and designs that illuminate the creation of motion pictures from the silent era to the present day in this new exhibition, featuring production art from iconic movies like Rebel Without a Cause, Raging Bull, Apollo 13, and Lawrence of Arabia, many connected with innovative directors Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Mike Nichols, Michael Powell, Nicholas Ray, Martin Scorsese, Stephen Spielberg, King Vidor, and more.
    Through July 16
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    Visual Arts

    ICOSA Gallery: Silence

    This two-person show is called "Silence," yes, but we're gonna make some noise about it, because the brilliant likes of Shawn Camp and Sarah Hirneisen have created artworks that "explore the absence of sound where there was sound before." Camp wields paint in ways that are nigh on three-dimensional; Hirneisen casts paper as compelling as brush strokes; together, their works speak louder than what caused the Chicxulub crater.
    Through April 1
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    Visual Arts

    Ivester Contemporary: The Beauty of Life and Death II

    This is Jaylen Pigford’s second solo exhibition at the Ivester, his latest series carefully placing familiar symbols he's referenced throughout his career within colorful but unknown settings. Pigford appoints two protagonists here – plants and skulls – as he contemplates the balance of life and death. Question for you, citizen: Do you know how good this guy is? Get your ass down to the gallery and see what wonders he's wrought.
    Through April 16
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    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
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    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.
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    Visual Arts

    Last Day of the Eureka Room!

    Austin's most absurd and fun attraction will have its last day on September 24th, so visit while you still can! It's the Eureka Room, a participatory experience where visitors engage with curious and playful programming within a unique 100-square-foot room filled with light and sound.
    See website for reservations. $25.  
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    Visual Arts

    Lora Reynolds Gallery: Snails In Comparison

    The Lora Reynolds gallery inaugurates its brand new space(!) with this whimsical and wonderful show by those irrepressible Haas Brothers. Observe as fraternal twins Niki and Simon Haas unveil a group of sculptures of big, bizarre snails: their first endeavors in combining a material new to their practice (blown glass, which constitutes the gastropod's soft bodies) with another medium they've known longer than any other: the snails' shells are hand-carved marble.
    Through May 27
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    Visual Arts

    Martha's Contemporary: Hokey Pokey + What You See Is What You Get

    Here's a two-person exhibition that features painting, installation, videography, and sculpture by Moll Brau and Wes Thompson. It's a deep dive into a pool of loneliness, triumph, and rebirth. It's a forest of mazes where fireflies provide the light. It's a show of creations from a pair of terrific, hardworking local artists and you don't want to miss it.
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    Visual Arts

    MHOA: Design for All Partnership

    Michael Hsu Office of Architecture has announced its second annual Design for All Partnership, a seed program supporting community-driven partners through design. The architecture and interior design firm is seeking another nonprofit partner that’s based in Austin or Houston. The partnership award will provide $20,000 in pro bono design and consultation services.: MHOA has just released its Request for Proposals (RFP) for interested nonprofit organizations and is now accepting submissions through May 19.
    Accepting submissions through May 19  
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    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
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    Visual Arts

    Northern-Southern: Green Eyes

    Here is Michelle Marchesseault's second solo show at this fierce little Downtown gallery, a polychrome wealth of paintings that comprise "twists and riverscapes, picnics in ancient places, memories tumbled with magic, vulnerable practices, explosions of sunlight, change and comfort." Yeah, no, this is definitely a collection to see, before N-S hoicks it to the NADA New York art fair in May.
    Through April 30
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    Theatre

    St. Nicholas

    In this darkly comic one-man performance written by Conor McPherson, a theater critic relates tales of his life among the vampires. Last time 'round, the local media called the show "hilarious, harrowing" and "a must-see" and said, "Hyde Park Theatre's Ken Webster holds the audience utterly spellbound." And it's true: He totally fecking does, and this brilliant and brilliantly twisted show will make your shadows dance a goddamn hornpipe for having witnessed such strange beauty. Look, our own reviewer thinks so, too.
    Through April 22. Thu.-Sat., 8pm. $21 and up.  
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    Visual Arts

    Streetside Eco Art Show: Ghost Seeds

    This new show at the walk-on-up-to-it Really Small Museum speaks to the concept of climate-stressed trees with fragile and thin ghost mesquite beans made out of white clay, arranged on drought-ridden, cracked earth.
    Through March 31. Free.  
    1311 Harvey
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    Visual Arts

    The Blanton: Day Jobs

    This first major exhibition to examine the overlooked impact of day jobs on the visual arts is dedicated to demystifying artistic production and upending the stubborn myth of the artist sequestered in their studio, waiting for inspiration to strike.
    Through July 23
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    Visual Arts

    The Blanton: Las Hermanas Iglesias

    Sisters Lisa and Janelle Iglesias present related textiles, collages, and sculpture that explore caregiving as part of a complex network of social issues, melding melds cultural references to the Dominican Republic and Norway (their parents’: home countries) with personal experiences – most recently their navigations of fertility, pregnancy, loss, and birth.
    Through July 9. Free on Thursdays.  
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    Visual Arts

    The Contemporary Austin: Competing with Lightning / Rivalizando con el Relámpago

    The Contemporary Austin presents an exhibition tracing the evolution of Eamon Ore-Giron's dynamic paintings over more than twenty years of creative practice, revealing how the artist mines the complex nature of Latinx identity, the history of the Americas, and the many legacies of abstraction in art. ALSO: The newest exhibition space here is called HOST and features work by María Fernanda Camarena and Gabriel Rosas Alemán (aka the Mexico City-based artist duo known as Celeste).
    Through Aug. 20. Free (Aug. 9-13).
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    Theatre

    The Dragonfly Princess

    The Vortex presents ethos' classic tale of magic, power, and transformation. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, Chad Salvata created the story, music, and aesthetics of this epic wherein we "journey with Princess Mala as she rides Xéphyra the Dragonfly into the wilds in search of Vyn, the renegade Sorceress. The Magic of the Pearls, the Mysteries of the Temples, and the Secrets of the Ages are revealed as Mala is transformed from the Green Princess into the Red Queen." The intense musical spectacle won a B. Iden Payne Award in 2007, and this new production directed by Bonnie Cullum features eight additional scenes and songs – and all new designs and choreography.
    Through April 15. Thu.-Sat., 8pm; Sun., 6pm. $15-37.  
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    Visual Arts

    UT's Art Galleries at Black Studies: Old Wounds, Dark Dreams

    African-American artists Carrie Mae Weems, Cauleen Smith, Rodney McMillian, and Charles Gaines use video to meditate on anti-Black racism and the wounds it inflicts on the American psyche while participating in the tradition of appropriation – where artists quote other artists’ motifs, methods, and works to contribute new meanings to the old, which allows them to comment on, critique, or amplify the original.
    Through May 19  
    Christian-Green Gallery, 201 E. 21st
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    Visual Arts

    Women & Their Work: Then and Now

    Lindy Chambers observes and animates the often overlooked aspects of rural Texas life, her subjects ranging from recognizable iconography (mobile homes, stray dogs, lambs, piles of trash), to graphic abstractions, to the amorphously biological and otherworldly.
    Through May 11. Free.  
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    Visual Arts

    Wyld Gallery

    This is Ray Donley's gallery of art by Native Americans, located in that company of artistic glory called Canopy and resplendent with creations from the original people of our struggling country.
    Call for appointment
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    Visual Arts

    Yard Dog: Modern Embroidery

    Jane Reichle is a 24-year-old fiber artist who specializes in hand embroidery. She's spent the past four months building an extensive series of hand-stitched and embellished suits on muslin cloth, inspired by Nudie Cohn's signature chain-stitched "nudie suits."
    Through March 30

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