Recently in Austin Category

Austin is a year-round capital of art, music, and theater, but the city pulls out all the creative stops every September when it hosts the Old Pecan Street Festival. On the weekend of September 20-21, 2008, artists and performers from Texas and across the country will descend on venues on Sixth Street (formerly Pecan Street) and throughout downtown Austin to put on one of the wildest shows in the west. Musicians such as Les and the Funk Mob and rock 'n' roll pioneer Roky Erickson will grace the six different stages set up throughout the event, while artists specializing in woodwork, metalwork, oil painting, sculpture, and other media display their wares in the largest art show in central Texas. Not to be left out, a veritable army of poets will be on hand to share their work and (verbally) duke it out in Austin's most highly-charged poetry slam. And for pure, unadulterated fun, take a spin on one of many carnival rides, including a trampoline where you can bounce your way to artistic inspiration. Guests at the nearby Sheraton Austin Hotel might appreciate the high, low, and weird culture of this funky Texas celebration.

[image via Daily Texan Online]

Fans of alternative cinema will find plenty of kindred spirits in Austin, Texas this fall when the Fantastic Fest rolls into town. The festival, which begins September 18, features the best new films in the science fiction, fantasy, animation, horror, and Asian categories, with a week of screenings, discussions, and parties. Animation enthusiasts will want to check out a bizarre little short called Fantaisie in Bubble Wrap, which follows the trials and tribulations of several little bubbles in a roll of bubble wrap. Those partial to the documentary genre, meanwhile, might enjoy Not Quite Hollywood, the story of the Aussie film renaissance of the 1970's and 1980's. All screenings will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which combines a cutting-edge movie theater with a full-service restaurant and bar. No need to get up on the middle of a movie for a snack run. The festival is just minutes from the the Sheraton Austin Hotel.

[image via Fantastic Fest]

Take a choreographer, a composer, and a mythically oriented visual artist, give them a gallery space, and a stage, and what unfolds is a fantastic show that combines a whimsical narrative, with music and dance, called "Cult of Color: Call to Color," presented through April 27, in Austin, Texas.

Characters that visual artist Trenton Doyle Hancock has been developing for years, like Sesom (Moses spelled backwards), a "Cult of Color" leader, Baby Cut and Shy Jerry, twin brothers once joined at the head, and Bow-Headed Lou, a victim of the town bully, are all rebels against their clan, the Vegans. With the help a handful of equally unusual individuals, and a rainbow swathed "spirit energy" called Painter, they lead their kinsman into a brighter, more colorful existence.

The exhibition, at Arthouse at the Jones Center, features sound installations, video collage, and intriguing environments like "the Cave," "the Miracle Machine," and "the Battle," which all set the scene. But the real drama unfolds through a series of nine performances starting April 3 at Austin Ballet. A vivid set created by Hancock, powerful jazz-influenced music by Graham Reynolds, and choreography by Stephen Mills bring the story to life. A five minute drive through the heart of the city gets you from the Sheraton Austin Hotel, to the AustinVentures StudioTheater, where the mythical drama will transport you to a delirious, but decidedly logical land.

There's a saying that everything is bigger in Texas, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin is certainly no exception. Visitors to this exciting museum in the state capital are greeted by a 35-foot-tall bronze Lone Star sculpture before making their way through three floors of interactive exhibits detailing how this rough and ready territory was turned into a state, and the trials and tribulations it went through to become the modern place it is today. A section called Encounters with the Land, for example, shows how the first European settlers interacted with Native Americans and found hospitable places to live in the hot, dry environment. Building the Lone Star Identity, meanwhile, relates the story of how Texas became an independent nation, while Creating Opportunity provides an overview of ranching and oil drilling and other industries synonymous with Texas. The museum hosts a rotating selection of temporary exhibits as well, and will soon provide a home for Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives, with rarely displayed documents, audio recordings, and film footage covering everything from the emancipation of slaves to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. You'll even get a glimpse of something decidedly un-Texan: Thomas Jefferson's account of the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille. Yee-ha! Guests at the Sheraton Austin Hotel, just a mile away, might enjoy this enlightening center of Texas history.

[image via the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum]