In case you hadn't realized, music poster art and design is a a medium all its own. The creative effort that goes into each print and poster is a labor of love, artists finding new and inventive ways to combine elements from a band's own vision, their own voice, as well as actual information. ...

Today both the Clinton and Obama campaigns announced upcoming town hall meetings. Obama's will take place tomorrow at the Austin Convention Center, while Hillary's sounds like more of a "virtual" town hall meeting - on TV the Monday before election day....

Modern art can baffle and delight, and sometimes leave you wondering, "What in the what was that artist thinking?"...

AngelouEconomics will host the annual Economic & Technology Forecast next Thursday, January 24, at the Austin Convention Center. The Economic & Technology Forecast is billed as the largest business event in Austin, with attendees including public officials, educators, media, economic analysts and business executives from Central Texas’ technology, legal, real estate and services industries. Speakers include Angelos Angelou, the Founder and CEO of AngelouEconomics, and Zanny Minton Beddoes, the US economics editor for The Economist....

There will be a town hall meeting for Phase One of the Downtown Austin Plan this Saturday morning at the Austin Convention Center. ROMA Design Group and HR&A Advisors will present their initial proposed downtown plan, including reshaping Downtown into unique districts, achieving affordable housing and moving forward with comprehensive transportation planning. There will be an awesome slideshow and sessions on transportation, affordable housing and the districts....

You can call it lowbrow art, pop surrealism or just plain ‘ol weird, but the work now on display at Okay Mountain features some of the best (and mind-blowingly bizarre) works by emerging California artists....

Image courtesy First Night Austin, by 2008 featured artist Alina Byoun Now in its third year, First Night Austin will return to downtown on New Year's Eve. This massive public gathering, intended to ring in the new year through "art, ritual, and festivity," features visual and performing art projects by more than 60 Austin artists. This year's performances and installations will run from Congress Avenue to Cesar Chavez, including Auditorium Shores, City Hall, and......

Image via misterjingo on Flickr. Azul (1808 East Caesar Chavez)Now Closed[info]Last week, popular East Side coffee and food spot Azul closed down for good on the day before Thanksgiving. The converted house at E. Cesar Chavez and Chicon had been serving the neighborhood since 2000 with a mix of coffee, sandwiches, and breakfast items. It had been featured as one of Austin's best coffees in both Zagat's Texas restaurant guide and hipster travel guide eat.shop.austin.......

The APD could adopt a more compatible attitude, one that sees violent crime on the East Side as another inevitable casualty of gentrification, one that will eventually succumb to the gradual transition. Essential to all parties accepting responsibility for these mixed-race, mixed-income neighborhoods is that transition from negative stigma includes a reduction of all forms of violence....

Photo by hamron on flickr 48 cats rescued from deplorable conditions in Rescuties' founder's home earlier this month; a judge is allowing her to keep 3 of them and recommended psychological counseling. Capitol One will not be buying Austin-based business NetSpend for $700 million as was planned, but will buy a minority share of the company. Work starts on making Cesar Chavez fully 2-way. Starting this week and going through January 1, APD will be......

Blue Bowl by Ryan MckerleyRyan McKerley with Lisa Crowder and Edmund Martinez (2710 E Cesar Chavez) A full-time studio potter since 1995, Ryan McKerley has been a fixture of the East Side Studio Tour since its inception. He makes contemporary functional stoneware and porcelain vessels, fired in a wood or soda kiln and decorated with earthy colors. Ryan really loves what he does, and it shows from his work. You won’t get a warmer welcome......

Image courtesy Okay Mountain Opening Reception for Introduction to Mountain Making: Okay Mountain StaffSaturday, November 17Okay Mountain Gallery (1312 E Cesar Chavez)7pm[info]In its two years of existence, East Austin's Okay Mountain hasn’t been big on exhibiting pieces created by the small group of local artists who run the place—instead, the gallery usually brings in artists from around the country to show work. But this weekend, Okay Mountaineers will have their day in the sun. In......

Photo by Fort Cloudy on flickr StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]We figured we'd end our Stitch Preview series by interviewing Matthew Stinchcomb, who does PR for Etsy. We learned that the online store is kind of a big deal in the DIY world. Several Stitch vendors sell their homemade wares on the site so it'll be a treat to meet the......

Photo courtesy Ornamental Things StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]Austinite Natalie Tischler's reworked vintage jewelry, Ornamental Things, has a strong magnetic pull on us every time we walk into Parts and Labour. It's always hard to decide what's cooler, the button rings or the dangle-y earring and necklaces she creates from things found at flea markets. Natalie's bringing her beautiful pieces to......

Photo courtesy 31 Corn Lane StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]31 Corn Lane is all about girls wanting to have fun. It's the brainchild of three sisters—Teeter (the youngest), Amy and Heather Sperber (the latter two are identical twins who rock out with The Boxes). We've loved their pony necklaces, novelty totes and bright floral print belts ever since we saw them......

Photo courtesy Jessica Plymate StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center [map]Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]Jessica Plymate revives the art of appliqué in super rockin' way with Aorta Designs. Gone are the days of mom's innocent poodles sewn on skirts. Jessica's animals are hardcore; drinking wine and smoking cigarettes. What is your design/art background? This is where I have to confess I have no formal training in design, art or anything. I've......

Even the airplanes on approach to Bergstrom looked fake, forced by the low ceiling to approach at a tight angle, like models from a Japanese monster movie, their blinking forms visible in great detail as they fell inches above wet rooftops, the heavy air muffling all but the lowest drone of the engines....

The artist who was first to plant his flag at Austin’s Okay Mountain gallery last year is back and bringing more of his bizarre works on paper, sculpture and installation art in Impish Animal. Houston native Jason Villegas, whose work has been displayed in various cities around the country, helped open Okay Mountain in April 2006 with his solo exhibition, Repressed Burial Fantasy. Since his first Okay Mountain appearance, Villegas has completed his MFA at......

CAMPO approved the toll roads . . . who didn't see that coming? UT's statue of Cesar Chavez was unveiled today. GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was in town over the weekend. Austin resident Marion Jones has given back her 5 medals from the 2000 Olympics and may have to give up $100,000 of prize money after admitting to steroid use. The Supreme Court won't hear the appeal re: the 1999 Aggie bonfire deaths......

Narrowing down the vast selection of tacos found in Austin is a near-impossible feat … and claiming to be experts on the Tex-Mex folds is an assertion worthy of an internet ass-kicking. But we have eaten our fair share of breakfast tacos, sport tongues trained for tortilla-tasting, and feel pretty much obligated to share our worthy opinions with alla y’all. (And we’re ready for whatever verbal lashings come our way.) With that, we give......

Just moved out of the family house and feeling lonely? Living in an apartment that won't allow dogs? Maybe you need a cat. Throughout the month of July, the Austin Humane Society and Town Lake Animal Center have lowered the adoption fee for cats to $35. This fee covers vaccination, microchipping, de-worming, flea/tick treatment, as well as spay/neuter procedure (if applicable). At this low cost, how can you pass this deal up? Even some......

Two girls paddling a rented canoe on Town Lake nearly drowned this morning, when their tiny watercraft was sucked under the floodgates at Longhorn Dam. A 9-1-1 caller watched as the canoe was pulled past the floodgates: EMS officials say the caller continued to watch as one victim surfaced almost immediately and was swept downstream. The second victim was caught in the spillway turbulence for up to several minutes, and was later pushed downstream.......

Seaholm Power, LLC has released new renderings of the proposed Seaholm Power Plant redevelopment, which it will present to City Council tonight. The site plan includes an extension of the city street grid, filling the gap in Third Street, connecting West Avenue to Cesar Chavez and adding a new street, Seaholm Drive, between Third Street and Cesar Chavez. Both new streets get pedestrian/bicycle crossings at their intersections with Cesar Chavez, to help integrate this......

The Statesman is reporting some serious biz this morning. According to their sources several dead birds, roughly a dozen, were discovered around 3AM this morning in the downtown area. As a result Congress Avenue will be shut down from 11th St. to Cesar Chavez. Traffic is jammed, buses are late, and those working on this stretch of Congress will not be admitted to their offices until noon at the earliest. A few police officers are......

First Night Austin Schedule 2-5pm Family Festival 5:30-6:30pm Grand Procession 7pm Family Finale at City Hall 7-11:30pm Evening programming Midnight Grand Finale First Night Austin takes over downtown this Sunday, kicking off the second annual festival with three hours of family-friendly activities, performances, and art installations. From hip hop freestyling to Appalachian-style clog dancing, there promises to be enough culturally-rich distractions to entertain even that obnoxious nephew of yours who'd rather stay home to......

The University of Texas' ongoing battle against homogeny continues next semester with the decision of university president William Powers to create an advisory committee in order to tackle the controversy of the South Mall statues of Confederate icons, an issue that has plagued the college community for years. The Statesman reminded us yesterday that this is a debate that will surely hang around for sometime, until something is done. The South Mall is the......

First Night Austin Schedule 2-5pm Family Festival 5:30-6:30pm Grand Procession 7pm Family Finale at City Hall 7-11:30pm Evening programming Midnight Grand Finale First Night Austin takes over downtown this Sunday, kicking off the second annual festival with three hours of family-friendly activities, performances, and art installations. From hip hop freestyling to Appalachian-style clog dancing, there promises to be enough culturally-rich distractions to entertain even that obnoxious nephew of yours who'd rather stay home to......

First Night Austin Schedule 2-5pm Family Festival 5:30-6:30pm Grand Procession 7pm Family Finale at City Hall 7-11:30pm Evening programming Midnight Grand Finale First Night Austin takes over downtown this Sunday, kicking off the second annual festival with three hours of family-friendly activities, performances, and art installations. From hip hop freestyling to Appalachian-style clog dancing, there promises to be enough culturally-rich distractions to entertain even that obnoxious nephew of yours who'd rather stay home to......

First Night Austin Schedule 2-5pm Family Festival 5:30-6:30pm Grand Procession 7pm Family Finale at City Hall 7-11:30pm Evening programming Midnight Grand Finale First Night Austin takes over downtown this Sunday, kicking off the second annual festival with three hours of family-friendly activities, performances, and art installations. From hip hop freestyling to Appalachian-style clog dancing, there promises to be enough culturally-rich distractions to entertain even that obnoxious nephew of yours who'd rather stay home to......

Beginning this Saturday, the Saturday Austin Farmer's Market is shimmying from Republic Square park over to Cesar Chavez Street near Austin City Hall. "Why," you may ask, "do they need to be shifting the location of delicious vegetation?" The answer lies in the soon-to-be-blowed-up shell of the Intel building which looms over Republic Square park. We agree that it is good to be able to shop for fresh and delicious produce without beams and......