Did you know Thursdays are free at the Blanton Museum of Art? If you didn't, this Thursday is a perfect time to drop by on UT's dime to experience the internationally acclaimed artist El Anatsui's show, When I Last Wrote to You about Africa before it closes this Sunday. more ›

Head over to Flex Space (Shady Lane, 78702) tonight for Matthew Genitempo and Travis LaMothe's showing of You Are Your Own. The joint exhibit features Genitempo's work alongside LaMoth's sculptures. Both artists have incredible work to share and it's well worth the foray into east Austin to check it out. Get more information here. The opening it tonight from 8-10 p.m. and will be running until January 21st. more ›

Stop by Tiny Park Gallery today to meet artists Sam Prekop and Michael Sieben and wander with them through their exhibition of creative work. Only displayed until mid January, the artists’ latest collections showcase strategic restraint beside an ironically optimistic freestyle slant. Followers of The Sea and Cake will recognize Prekop’s distinct artistic style considering he handpainted the covers on their last album. Much like his band, Prekop’s artwork is widely acclaimed and utterly unique, a combination of drawings, paintings, and photographs. more ›

If you had to create a shortlist of the heroes of independent music from the 90s, there's a damn good chance The Sea and Cake would be on the list. And if they aren't, you should perhaps find a new list. The polished jazzy rock outfit is still crafting airy and squeaky-clean pop music nearly twenty years after their formation, and, without exaggeration, their newest output is just as solid as anything they did back when you were in elementary school. Their newest album, The Moonlight Butterfly, is a economical work anchored by the brilliant ten-minute epic "Inn Keeping," so in advance of their Mohawk show this Thursday we called up Sam Prekop, lead singer and acclaimed painter (see his show at Tiny Park!), to discuss the band's career, splitting your interests, creating music in 2011, and finally writing that one great record. more ›

Forget what you think you know about Austin’s homeless, this weekend's Art From the Streets: The 2011 Show and Sale is a showcase of their talent. more ›

For those afraid of venturing into the hispter haven of East Austin but are still hungry for a local art fix, today the Q Austin will be hosting the Power of Art and Action Block Party loosely located between Lamar and Guadalupe. Local artists and participating organizations will transform the Q Austin into a fairground of interactive booths, art exhibits, displays, and live music performances for an experience that will meld art and social action. more ›

This weekend and next, following the East Austin Studio Tours, haul ass to the Victory Grill for the nightly “E.A.S.T Victory Lap,” the official after-event for tour victors. more ›

Art Night Austin EAST kicks off as the official preview party for the East Austin Studio Tour, featuring the most exciting work by local artists exhibited and performed during E.A.S.T. It’s a chance to explore the dynamic east side studios and eat, drink and mingle with the best new artists coming out of Austin. more ›

In this Internet age, censorship isn’t much of a going concern in America. Yet, things were different in this country back when cars had a rumble seat, a lady never went out without her gloves and telephones still plugged into the wall. more ›

Austinist is currently seeking new contributors for the news and art sections. We're also looking for volunteers interested in writing about style and design. Contributors selected will be asked to contribute 1-2 pieces per week on news items, events, openings, open houses, local artists, and whatever else might strike their fancy. To apply or ask questions, email your writing resume and a writing sample to paige (at) austinist dot com. more ›

RAW:natural born artists defines itself as “an independent arts organization for artists, by artists.” Across seventeen cities nationwide, the group seeks to showcase all matters of artistic talent, including music, film, fashion, and visual art each month from February to October. more ›

State Senator Dan Patrick (R, Houston) has taken up watercolors. Though he claims to have “no idea of how to paint the face of Jesus,” he does claim that his savior happened to appear in his latest work. While attempting a watercolor of the Statue of Liberty, Patrick made some adjustments and was surprised to see the 'face of Jesus' appear within the lady's brightly colored robes. "I decided to try a Peter Max type of painting of the Statue of Liberty. I could not get the fact right and used water to remove the paint on her face. When it dried and I tried to clean it up suddently the face of Jesus appeared so clearly." Death & Taxes Magazine doesn't think Patrick realizes the implications of a brightly colored Jesus wearing the outfit of one of the United States' most famous women, but we do. And it's hilarious. more ›

With cuts in education funding taking much of our public educational system out at the knee, Mann's guerilla approach to teaching a core subject just might be the remedy needed to help engage students struggling to keep up. more ›

The third annual Toy Joy Art Show features the work of over 20 local artists riffing on the cute and gadgety... the ghoulish and catty. In addition to local artwork, this event will host music performed by local bands tonight and Sunday more ›

Upon the death of actress and former UT student Farrah Fawcett, she willed all of her artwork to the University of Texas. Included in the art bequeathed is a 1979 portrait by Andy Warhol, missing since Fawcett's death in 2009 and valued at $30 million, that the school has been trying to find. more ›

Tonight from 7pm-10pm, Champion Gallery will be hosting a launch event for the second volume of the new to Austin arts/design/lit/journalism publication, Gopher Illustrated. more ›

The Austin Creative Alliance has teamed up with the East Austin Studio Tour folks to offer artists loans to improve their spaces with the Frameworks E.A.S.T. fund. The effort represents local support for those needing to get their spaces up to code for the November E.A.S.T. tour. There's a fundraising event coming up, get the details here. more ›

I work hard to offer variables and layers. Invention is an apparatus that must be experienced. The patient viewer is rewarded. Clouds pass before the light (sun?) at the pace of the second hand on the clock motor. For some, I've noticed, it's too slow for their naked eye. more ›

Earlier this month, Domy Books opened As Above so Below - The Art of the Secret Society, a show of the art and artifacts from various fraternal orders. Organized by lodge art collector and owner of Webb Gallery, Bruce Lee Webb, the exhibit is an alluringly spooky more ›

Functioning as both an art exhibition and a fundraiser for Arthouse's exhibitions and educational programs, Five x Seven is a great opportunity to purchase small works by emerging and established artists for the fine price of $150 ($100 for Arthouse members), with $25 of your ticket price to Art Splurge counting as a credit off the purchase of one artwork. more ›

From the desktop, one may rely on the digit-click judgment that Brister's work is wholly caught up in William Hundley's flow and simply move on to the next bit of content without a further thought, but in person, the power of this comparison weakens. Brister's two photos at Women and Their Work are much more buttoned-up and ready for a waltz. They anchor to an earlier history of landscape photography and portraiture and get at something quieter and more contemplative than Hundley's slash and splash imagery. more ›

Miss the idyllic comforts of a sleepover party, where giddy sleep-deprived perspectives coalesce into a communal bond of the cocooning sort? If so, head over to Co-Lab tonight to take part in the sleepover opening of Katelena Hernandez's Comfort Sessions performance. more ›

Citing an unfruitful search to find an event sponsor that could help the First Night organization see their family-centered 2011 New Year's Eve arts celebration come to life on the scale they had hoped for, First Night Austin's Board President Dewy Brooks has announced that First Night 2011 will not happen and that the non-profit organization that helped to coordinate past iterations of the event will be dissolved. more ›

With 2011's Texas Biennial well underway, there are plenty of opportunities to experience more ›

"Expletive-laden" may not describe much of the poetry you love dearly, but for the purposes of fun and sport, let's give this collection with an effer right there in the title a chance. Kings of the F**king Sea is a book of poems from Austinite Dan Boehl, a founder of the poetry press Birds LLC and an arts writer who has posited a challenge to our city's coverage of that subject in the past. His book is illustrated by Jonathan Marshall, whose work you can see here. more ›

Poster Cabaret, a small owner-operated, Austin-based poster and print shop with an eye for fine art and illustration is having a month-long show at Gallery Black Lagoon to coincide with National Bike Month. The show opens Thursday, May 5th and will feature over 60 prints by various local, national, and international designers and artists. Ride on by and say hi! more ›

Arthouse Eliminates Associate Director/Curator Position more ›

If you've been under an Internet rock you might have missed the explosion of support behind local artist Austin Kleon's recent talk at Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York. "How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)" is a surprisingly short presentation considering how much information it shares, and it covers just about everything anyone with a creative drive cares about. Stealing, inspiration, work ethic, advice, untruths (1 + 1 = 3, it's demonstrable) and pretending are all discussed with equal attention, and some of the advice might surprise you. more ›