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Arts
Books
Jorge Antonio Renaud: The Restlessness of Bound Wrists
Jorge Antonio Renaud is a rather mythic figure among local criminal justice activists. The current editor of the Caldwell/Hays Examiner, Renaud spent 27 years in Texas prisons, winning numerous writing awards while incarcerated. Upon his release, he earned a master’s degree in social work from UT-Austin and worked for Grassroots Leadership, LatinoJustice, and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, authoring studies and legislation addressing our state’s prison addiction. He now introduces a poetry collection titled The Restlessness of Bound Wrists. The book launch – hosted at Red Salmon Arts Casa de Resistencia in Montopolis – will include music, tamales, face paintings, and a poetry reading from Adelie Donovan, the 2025 Hays County Youth Poet Laureate. – Brant BingamonThu., May 1Red Salmon Arts, 2000 Thrasher Ln. -
Arts
Dance
Kaleidoscope
Each turn of a kaleidoscope reveals a new world – new amalgamations of shape and color. It’s an appropriate description for Ventana Ballet and Austin Camerata’s annual spring showcase, a performance that changes in music and choreography without losing luster. The jewels of performance just shift into a new configuration: still bright, still entrancing. This electric world of dance and chamber music is made even more magnificent with free signature cocktails. Now in its third iteration, Kaleidoscope promises shifting artistic fancy, so close you can practically touch the performers (but you know, definitely don’t do that).: – Cat McCarreyMay 1 - 3 -
Arts
Dance
Texas Burlesque Festival
When cultural reactionaries have entered the fray, can there be any greater act of rebellion than boobs, butts, and the sound of clothes hitting the ground to thunderous applause? As it enters its 18th year, the Texas Burlesque Festival is letting it all hang out for freedom. “It’s scary times out there for performers of our ilk,” said festival director Lynn Raridon. “Now more than ever you need to be coming and seeing and enjoying the fantastic release that burlesque brings.” With 90% of this year’s performers coming from outside Austin or Texas, it’s truly a national event. But there’ll always be space for Austinites, including familiar local faces like Ruby Lamb and Ryder Strong. Every year there’s even a local headliner, and this year that rumpshaking honor goes to Fat Bottom Cabaret, with founder and director Nikki DaVaughn serving as Friday night’s emcee. – Richard WhittakerMay 1-3 -
Arts
Comedy
Yola Lu: Dumb Asian
Yola Jean Lu is an old hand at what works on the Austin comedy stage. She co-founded the Best of Austin-winning Y’all We Asian improv; performs weekly with improv troupe Garage; and recently had the Austin debut of her one-woman Edinburgh Fringe Fest show Help! My Vagina Is Trying to Kill Me. Easy road would be to coast on all those glorious successes, but Lu wouldn’t have scored such accolades as 2022 BOA Best Actress by takin’ it easy. Instead, her upcoming hour features all new material, which after being workshopped by all y’all audience members will be recorded for Lu’s first-ever comedy album. Bring your feedback – and laughter – to the ColdTowne stage this Thursday. – James ScottThu., May 1
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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
“Brave New Textiles”
Indeed a reference to Aldous Huxley’s renowned 1931 dystopian novel, Bolm Arts’ latest multi-artist exhibit tackles the ever-evolving questions of naturalism, commercialism, and personal and national identity reflected in the contemporary fiber world. Curated by textile artist Amanda Fay and painter Stephanie Mervine, this Eastside gallery showcases 10 Central Texas creatives, including sustainable yarn worker Bitter Hag, upcycled fashion and visual/performance Renaissance person Corinne Loperfido, and interdisciplinary artist Jonas Criscoe. Loperfido hosts a separate pop-up shop during Thursday’s opening reception, while author Nicole Josephine Kline presents an open mic poetry night the following day. Carys AndersonApirl 17-May 3Bolm Arts Gallery, 5305 Bolm Rd. Bay 9 -
Arts
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. -
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
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. -
Arts
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. -
Arts
Theatre
FEAST.
Shrewd Productions brings playwright Megan Gogerty’s one-woman take on the Beowulf story to the Hyde Park stage. That one woman is repeat B. Iden Payne award winner Katherine Catmull. The tale is mythological but also runs up against modern culture and is described as both “immersive” and “visceral.” That sounds about right for a play that tackles the authoritarian moment we’re currently wrestling with. Laughs and rage are also promised, and that’s our baseline these days, so we’re looking forward to it. – James RenovitchApril 24 - May 17 -
Arts
Theatre
Filigree Theatre Presents: The Illusionary Games of Edward Rye
“Masks and Mirrors” is the guiding theme behind Filigree Theatre’s sixth season, which closes out with a bang (or a shatter) in The Illusionary Games of Edward Rye. World-class psychiatrist Rye sets out to prove that all existence is a masked mirror, a quirk of the mind. Like all great men, he tries to prove his theory through a woman. Only once he’s beguiled a woman into his experience does Rye begin to wonder who, exactly, is controlling whom. Twisty, turny, and with multiple layers of play-within-a-play storytelling, Edward Rye uses actual illusions – never tricks – to make characters and audience alike question their reality. – Cat McCarreyApril 18 - May 4 -
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
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. -
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.$20-24.11010 Domain #100 -
Arts
Visual Arts
Old Bakery Gallery: Fantastical Flora
This multimedia exhibition is a comprehensive exploration of the beauty of botanical forms, expressed realistically and in the abstract, featuring the work of local artist Francine Funke.Opening reception: Sat., Jan. 20, 1-4pm. Free. -
Arts
Comedy
South Austin Comedy Club
South Austin’s first dedicated comedy venue is spearheaded by local comics Martin Henn, Andre Ricks, and Raza Jafri, and brings top-notch acts to South Austin every Wednesday through Saturday. Note: The upcoming comics – including nationally touring acts, local sweethearts, and everyone in between – will be listed on Instagram each night.Wed.-Sat., 7:30pm -
Arts
Visual Arts
Stephen L. Clark Gallery: Kate Breakey
This exhibition of new work by Kate Breakey showcases hand-colored photography of the natural world, particularly of Texan and Australian landscapes, animals, and insects. -
Arts
Comedy
The Creek and the Cave
This snazzy spot for local and national stand-up acts has shows almost every night of the week. -
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
UT 2024 MFA Studio Art Thesis Exhibition: “Acceleration Without Arrival”
I’ve said it before, and even if I risk sounding repetitive I’ll say it again: AUSTIN HAS A GREAT ART SCENE. But it’s not necessarily in museums or vaulted halls: It’s emerging from the embryonic chrysalis of our punk underground and yes, even our academic towers. UT’s MFA students have already made waves on the local gallery circuit, whether through Britt Moseley’s video soundscapes at MASS Gallery or through Katherine Vaughn’s work at shedshows. But they’re just one-seventh of the talent presenting at “Acceleration Without Arrival.” Experience all the up and coming glory in one place through the next few weeks. Celebrate with the department at April 18’s opening night, or take a guided tour with the artists the following day. These creators mix subject matter and artistic medium in ways that blow past the edges of what can be. Enter the future with their new works. – Cat McCarreyApril 18 - May 10 -
Arts
Theatre
What the Constitution Means to Me
Director Jenny Lavery’s work has often had a political tinge, but her most recent productions have been unrelenting in how they push the audience to engage with the forces that endanger and shape society. After her long-delayed and critically lauded production of abortion drama Roe, now she takes on the Pulitzer-winning political conversation between one woman at two points in her life. Best known to non-theatre audiences as the overly loyal June Thompson for Boardwalk Empire, Nisi Sturges dons the signature yellow jacket of Obie-winning playwright Heidi Schreck as she contends with the potential and the limitations of one of America’s most important documents. – Richard WhittakerThrough May 11 -
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 JonesThrough August 17 -
Arts
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