For over two decades, the Austin Museum of Art has hosted one of the true highlights of the fall gala event season. La Dolce Vita is now 22, and while the wines, foods, and entertainers are ever-changing, the event's star attraction is the Laguna Gloria settling. To put it plainly, the scope of this event is far larger that most sip-and-stroll tastings, with clusters of restaurants, wine tables, entertainment stages, and cocktail lounges spread throughout the vast and beautiful museum grounds. Attendance is always high, but there's so much to do, see, and eat that it can actually be challenging to get to all of it in the allotted three hours. more ›

The annual Downtown Living Tour—your best (legal) chance to see just how all of those fancy condo-dwellers live—is next Sunday, October 24th. The Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA) and Launch787 have teamed up with showcase over a dozen properties scattered around the downtown area, plus a few outdoor spaces (Republic Square Park) and museums (AMOA). more ›

As ACL hits Austin this weekend, it is easy to forget that the Fall gala event season is already upon us. Tonight's Tour De Vin at Whole Foods kicks everything off, but next week brings us one of Austin's biggest food, wine, and charity events of the year: The Austin Museum of Art's 21st Annual La Dolce Vita party. Held each year on the grounds of the museum's original Laguna Gloria location overlooking the lake, the event couldn't be more picturesque. The party is an amalgam of gourmet food, fine wine, cocktails, and the aforementioned fairytale wedding setting. more ›

Currently showing at The Austin Museum of Art is American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print, a collection of works from the legendary Nashville-based letterpress shop. Started in 1897 by two brothers, Hatch Show Print is a still-functioning letterpress shop that is perhaps best known for its posters of Grand Ole Opry stars. The show is presented in conjunction with the Smithsonian and the Country Music Hall of Fame, the latter of which now owns and operates Hatch Show Print. more ›

Jade Walker built the installation "Spectator Sport" at the Austin Museum of Art, and she's giving an Artist Talk about it there tonight. After the Museum's Assistant Curator introduces her and the installation at 7pm, she'll give a slide lecture. In the photo at right, Mrs. Walker wears a warm coat in Japan. more ›

Don't miss the great art events taking place around town this weekend. Here are just a few of the highlights: On Sunday, wrap up the weekend right with yet another whimsical show at the BiRDHOUSE Gallery. In What Is Not But Could Be If Corinne Loperfido and Kevin C. Foote, Ausitnites by way of New York and Chicago, have collaborated to present an eclectic series of portraits. Loperfido's vibrant color photographs are portraits of people wearing beards of unlikely materials - think Rasin Bran, rose petals, and aluminum foil. Foote's complimentary back and white portrait series features pictures of people with cookies in their mouths. This tasty reception takes place on Sunday from 6-9pm. more ›

Don't miss the great art events taking place around town this weekend. Here are just a few of the highlights: For those who prefer art that is generated on an 8-bit processor, make sure to be at Club DeVille on Saturday night. The Austin Museum of Digital Art is putting together yet another Digital Showcase with music and visual art in the key of geek. Canadian indie dance party rapper, Cadence Weapon, will headline the show. Participating visual artists include Varelsen, a Swedish motion graphic designer, CandyStations, a multidisciplinary artist who has provided visual projections for Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, Calexico, and M. Ward, and Mark Charles Brown from Baltimore's Wham City Art Collective. The show starts at 9pm and costs $10 for general admission and $5 for AMODA members. more ›

The Austin Museum of Art downtown is showing The Lining of Forgetting: Internal & External Memory in Art. The museum has hosted a series of related film screenings and public tours. In the exhibit, the artists get creative with their interpretation of memory: some of the subjects explored include family photo albums, Road Runner cartoons, and the works of Shakespeare. The Lining of Forgetting examines the ways we remember, and highlights how we often forget, rewrite, and even fabricate memory. “I had a flashback of something that never existed,” artist Louise Bourgeois writes on fabric. more ›

Don't miss the great art related events taking place this weekend! Here's a rundown of some of the highlights: This is the last weekend to see the Blanton's The Birth of the Cool exhibit. The museum is offering public tours of the Midcentury show (on Saturday at 2pm, and on Sunday at 2pm and 3pm) and is extending hours on Saturday until 8pm. The Blanton will also be screening the film Visual Acoustics a documentary study that follows architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Filmmaker Eric Bricker will be on hand to give a Q&A. more ›

Sculpture artist Damien Priour has been collecting chairs for a few decades now. Although he usually works in large scale limestone and glass installations, he was inspired to create 100 miniature chairs with the same materials and tools he uses to make his larger pieces. To further his creative project, Priour sent eighty-eight of the chairs in eight inch square boxes to artists all over the state. The small chairs were accompanied with a letter explaining that the chair was a gift, but that if the recipient so desired, they could create their own chair, pack it back in the same box, and send it off to Priour. And so The Texas Chair Project was born. The diverse collection of miniature chairs that resulted from this artistic exchange is currently on display at the Austin Museum of Art. more ›

Sebastião Salgado, bless his heart, trained as an economist. But, after a trip to Africa in the 1970's, he confirmed a fortunate/unfortunate talent for plucking photographic glory from the mundane, and even from the quietly horrific. Wisely, he stuck with it; Salgado is today considered one of the world's best documentary photographers. The new exhibit at AMoA, Workers, is filled with 62 of the artist's photos. more ›

While the emphasis of La Dolce Vita is certainly on the food, the night was beautiful with the crisp lake breeze, beautiful décor, and incredible setting. Proceeds from La Dolce Vita go directly to supporting the AMOA’s art exhibits and education, showing us that gorging yourself on food has consequences other than the negative ones on your waistline. The sweet life, indeed! more ›

The new Museum building will be developed in partnership with international developer Hines and world-class architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, whose portfolio includes the MoMA in Manhattan, the future World Financial Center in Beijing, and the Citigroup Tower in London. more ›