One can only imagine the reactions that someone like Bob Ragan gets when he tells people what he does for a living. Stone carver? Really? ...Wow! This reaction would be accompanied by a perplexed look as people realize what that entails. Followed by the natural conclusion that it's pretty damn cool. But, part of the puzzlement for those few seconds has to be figuring out what it actually does entail? Well, for anyone who ever wanted a peek into how stone is carved, now is your chance. Ragan, along with fellow professional stone carvers Matthew Johnson and Stuart Simpson — also known as Flying Fingers Stone Co-op — will bring the wow factor to East Austin Studio Tour with on-site carving demonstrations this weekend and next. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Texture, pattern and harmony populate every inch of the natural world that surround us. Most of the time we do not stop to consider how beautiful the shape of a microscopic organism may be, even as we are breathing it into our own lungs. On an extraordinarily visible scale, Chris Levack has taken tiny pieces of the ether, and produced poetically graceful sculptures that somehow manage, again, to blend in seamlessly with our surroundings. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

The Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA) is looking for Austin-area artists to design sculptures that can double as bicycle racks. more ›

Woman who had worked as pharmacist for the CVS on Riverside had fake documents. 60 soldiers who had been serving in Iraq for over a year return home to Ft. Hood for the holidays. Look what our city might be gifted: a 60-foot saxophone sculpture! more ›

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... more ›

Some of the city’s underexposed and underappreciated artists have come together for a special show opening Saturday at Gallery Lombardi. The offbeat Surprise Me includes a mixed bag of contemporary drawings, photos, sounds, videos, mixed media paintings and fiber art. Local artist Josh Rios helped organize the show and called on a few of friends to join him — Ryan Lauderdale, Rachel Cook and Corkey Sinks. Rios recently answered a few questions for Austinist about... more ›

Brillo pads, travel toothbrushes, and stainless steel dog bowls may seem more appropriately placed in your junk drawer than at an art museum. But the beauty of ordinary household items is exactly what's celebrated in the new exhibit, Extra-Ordinary: The Everyday Object in American Art, now on display at the Austin Museum of Modern Art. In addition to the main exhibit, which features Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can and a giant fabric sculpture of... more ›

Radical Nautical, which opens this Thursday at Gallery Lombardi, introduces the question of whether more than one octopus in a room spells a troop of octupuses, or just a bunch of octopi. (You might prefer to dodge the issue altogether by referring to them as cephalopods). The show's general nautical theme sprang forth from the collective consciousness of its jurors, all big machers on the Austin art scene: Ian Schultz, Michael Schliefke, Kevin Peake,... more ›

New American Talent: 22, up at Arthouse at the Jones Center for another month, has received positive reviews. That's unsurprising, considering Anne Ellegood, curator of the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., juried the show. Picking and choosing from nearly 900 submissions, she landed on 96 works generated by 45 artists, 15 of whom are from the great state of Texas. You might recognize locals Roberto Bellini, William Hundley, Rebecca Rothfus, Joseph Phillips... more ›

Ladies, gentlemen: please examine Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh's Granaries, at left. Like any good Tut's tomb + art nouveau mashup, the painting emotes a quiet, anachronistic strangeness. Currently on display at The Blanton, this piece sits alongside other treasures -- both canvases and sculpture -- on loan from the Dahesh Museum in New York City. They're featured in the Blanton's new show, A Century of Grace, which honors interpretations of the human form in 19th... more ›

We are totally jealous of Alyson Fox. Alyson owns an adorable house here in Austin with her boyfriend, was recently mentioned in the New York Times as an up-and-coming artist, and is starting her own clothing line. Impressed yet? Well, to boot, Steven Alan – who happens to own one of the biggest showrooms in New York – wants to see the line when it’s done. But this 27 year old artist wasn’t just... more ›

We read in the paper this morning that Austin I.S.D. is hoping to team up with the city and the Long Center to house a performing arts center for students. The school district might be able to use the Topfer Theatre, part of the Long Center plan that had been on hold for lack of funding. Currently Austin ISD has to rent venues, such as Bass Concert Hall, for district events since the school district... more ›

FRIDAY [30] music • The Skeletons at South Austin Speedshop (7pm) fashion/music • Couture de Amore with fashions by Loves, Mariessa; Stiletto Gold; Sea and Enemies; Amy Kline (Jewelry), and Clap!Clap!, Golden Bear, Haunting Oboe Music, The Valentines at The Parish Room ($10) music • Video/CD release for "The Projeckt" at Latitude 30 music • Bluebonnet Blues Festival, benefitting Historic Main Street Association of Marble Falls, at Marble Falls music • 3rd Annual Global... more ›

Step into The Enchanted Forest, wander past brooks overflowing with diamonds, try not to disturb the fauns frolicking to the sound of the flute, and finally arrive at—an art festival. That’s right, Art Outside is holding its third annual event at the Enchanted Forest, 3 acres of woods in South Austin. It’s kind of like the Shire. Everything from performance to video to painting and sculpture will dot the plots of the forest, and... more ›

An art extravaganza along the vein of E.A.S.T., the Texas Biennial returns to Austin tomorrow, kicking off a month and a half's worth of nifty art-related events at the Dougherty Arts Center, Bolm Studios, Okay Mountain and Site 1808. This time around, they're showcasing just about every medium of visual art imaginable, including paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, video, sculpture and site-specific installations. Founded back in 2005 by Bolm Studios, Camp Fig, the Dougherty... more ›

Thieves broke into Art on 5th last Friday morning, attempting to make off with two rather expensive acrylic sculptures. One, entitled "Illuminata II," by Frederick Hart, was accidentally dropped in the process. The other, dubbed "Oracle," by Michael Wilkinson, was successfully stolen. "The one they made out with the sculpture they stole was a piece worth over twenty thousand dollars, and the one they dropped was worth about ten thousand," said Art on 5th gallery... more ›

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, taking place this year on Saturday, January 13th, was created to honor the memory of the civil rights hero and encourage the public to carry on his legacy of volunteerism through community service projects. Locally, what began as a grassroots effort by State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) to clean up East MLK Jr. Boulevard in 2000 has blossomed into the citywide MLK Day of Service. The 2007 clean... more ›

The sixth annual Blue Genie Art Bazaar kicks off today at Blue Genie's eastside headquarters. The 18-day event, featuring a bevy of local and regional artisans and artists, is an excellent opportunity to find one-of-a-kind clothes, ceramics, original paintings, photographs, sculpture, accessories, and more. Participating artists include the Austin Craft Mafiosa (Tina Sparkles, Jennifer Perkins, Jesse Kelly-Landis), Obsolete Industries, the guy who wrote Manspace: A Primal Guide to Marking Your Territory, and local painter extraordinaire... more ›

In honor of Austin's rite of spring known as Eeyore's Birthday Party, the Eastwoods Neighborhood Association recently commissioned a sculpture of the woebegone donkey, to be placed in Eastwoods Park--the original site of the annual fête. The sculpture, depicted by a model to the right, is being made, pro bono, by Austin architect/craftsman/sculptor/horse racer/cattle breeder Bob Coffee. Unfortunately, it looks as though the Eastwoods Neighborhood Association is short a few bucks of the total funds... more ›

Just when you thought all the free dorkbot fun was over.... This weekend the fabulous playwrights at Austin Script Works are combining their annual Weekend Fling with, for the first time ever, a Dorkbot Challenge. What's a Weekend Fling-cum-Dorkbot Challenge? It's the creation of a 10-minute play or the prototyping a new dorkbot creation—in either case somehow incorporating three yet-to-be-revealed ingredients. This will make for a crazy weekend, culminating in some very interesting live... more ›

FRIDAY [22] music • Rogue Wave, Jason Collett at The Parish Room ® music • The Gossip, Mika Miko, Swan Island at Emo's ® music • Rockland Eagles, The Colour, The Shys, The Fall Collection at Emo's music • Kissinger, Driver F, Seaflea at Stubb's music • Brent Fariss / Bill Thompson CD release at End of an Ear (6pm) music • Sybil, As the Phoenix Rises, Smokin' Gun, Wax Dart and Andice at... more ›

It looks like the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum is branching out into a new era of art. This Friday, it will be opening its first contemporary exhibit, an overview of the work of Austin sculptor Hank Waddell. What's next, a Keith Haring retrospective in the Elizabeth Ney museum? A rave at the French Legation? These all sound like pretty good ideas, as a matter of fact. Supposedly Waddell is a colorful Austin character... more ›

Some sociologists are taking on a mission to make sure strippers are taken seriously. North Carolina has created a commission to investigate potential wrongful convictions. A non-ponographic sculpture is causing quite an uproar in Colorado. And we thought Texas was prude... Why go out in public anymore? You get in trouble if you're drinking, you get in trouble if you're not drinking... This rediculously elaborate wedding gown could have bought you [insert fantasy here]... more ›

It's that time of year again, Austin. Although it seems like it happens about three times a year, the Austin Chronicle is conducting its annual Best Of Austin poll. While we obviously have certain favorites (Laguna Gloria, Curra's, El Chile, Mi Madre's, Eastside Cafe, Vespaio, the Backyard, the Parish, Continental Club, Hotel San Jose, DJ Prince Klassen, the Draugh Horse, Gingerman, Lovejoy's, Flipnotics, Casino El Camino, Club DeVille, the Off Center, KUT, KLRU, Quorum... more ›

The following details came to us in a vision at 3 a.m. on the night of the Blanton Museum's grand opening. So here they floweth, as if from a golden goblet on high: Four times a month, the Blanton Museum hosts a series of public programs known collectively as Art Fix. Each "fix," as it were, uses work from the galleries as a springboard for specialized discussion and activity. For example, this month's Art Fix... more ›

This evening the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum will host the 2006 Garden Party. Twenty of Austin's fine restaurants will be present to serve delectable samplings of their cuisine, paired with complementing wines. The Garden Party will feature lively music by the festive Nash Hernandez Orchestra. Original pieces of art, eclectic items, and specialty services from local businesses are all featured in the silent auction. The Garden Party celebrates the work of sculpture and... more ›

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), in collaboration with other crime victim outreach agencies, is hosting a candlelight vigil tonight at Umlauf Sculpture Garden to kick off National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The goal is to educate communities on the impact of crime on victims, neighborhoods, schools and our nation as a whole. Congressman Ted Poe (R-Houston) will be the keynote speaker on progress made thus far and the current state of victims' rights in the... more ›

Austin Earth Month continues this weekend with Austin Nature Day, a "celebration of the beauty, vitality, and diversity of natural resources that contribute to our high quality of life." All around town tomorrow, over twenty local eco-conscious and/or cultural organizations have set up various events -- and, holy crap, there's a lot going on! Some of the events that we think you outta check out include the Xeriscape Garden Tour (Umlauf Sculpture Garden, 3:30pm-4pm), Westside... more ›