Community Altars is an annual exhibit at Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum on Congress Avenue. Ofrendas (altars) are created to honor deceased members of the Latino/a and Mexican communities, in conjunction with the Catholic Holy Days of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day (November 1 and 2). The colorful ofrendas will remain on display at the museum through November 24.
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Since I was out-of-town on the official Austin Museum Day, I decided to take my own mini-tour of the exhibits at my favorite local haunts.
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Motown: The Sound of Young America is now on display at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin. This exhibit was curated by the GRAMMY Museum in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Motown Records. Its focus is generally on the 1960s (coinciding with LBJ’s presidency), what the label now calls “Classic Motown.” There are also a few recent highlights, including excerpts from “The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House” held in 2011 during the Obama presidency. The exhibit remains at the LBJ Library through January 26, 2020.
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I visited four wonderful exhibitions at three Austin museums earlier this month: Mexic-Arte Museum, Harry Ransom Center, and Blanton Museum of Art. Three of the four exhibits have already ended, but I want to remember some of the artists and artwork for future reference.
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Looking for some interesting ways to escape the Austin summer heat? I recommend these three thought-provoking exhibitions which focus on immigrants, refugees, and minorities.
The Texas Memorial Museum is located on north end of the University of Texas campus. It opened in 1939 as a state natural history museum, but was eventually transferred to UT in 1959. Many of their items are donations, bequests, or discoveries by university scientists. This museum is a popular field trip for school children, but I can vouch that adults will enjoy their visit as well.
The Texas State Cemetery is located between East Seventh and Eleventh Streets. The main entrance is actually on Navasota Street through the middle of the Visitor Center . This building was designed to resemble the barracks at the Alamo and contains a display about our state’s history.
Love to Death: Day of the Dead Community Altars is now open at the Mexic-Arte Museum on Congress Avenue. In conjunction with the museum’s Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) celebration, these altars (ofrendas) were created by members of the local community to memorialize deceased loved ones.
About 40 museums participated in this year’s Austin Museum Day, an annual afternoon of free admissions and family-friendly activities. As usual, I tried to see museums that I’ve never visited, but that list keeps getting shorter and shorter. My strategy was to start downtown and then head eastward.
Block Party Time! Last Saturday The Blanton Museum of Art threw a big party and opened up their doors—and their lawn—to the public. The Blanton was celebrating the remodeling / reopening of their upstairs galleries, plus the opening of a new temporary exhibit on the first floor.