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Zimoun Sculpting Soundãâ» Solo Exhibition Ringling Museum of Art

Bullock Texas State History Museum
Photograph: Courtesy Bullock Texas State History Museum

The 10 all-time Austin museums

Dive into history and art with the best Austin museums, from Bob Bullock museum to great Austin art spaces

When it comes to things to do in Austin, it's often the killer bars and the best BBQ in Austin that will be elevation of mind. Just the city is a civilisation-devourer's delight as much as information technology is a playland for foodies and revelers, and the best Austin museums are amid the superlative institutions in the state. Whether you lot're looking to take a deep plunge into Texas'southward history at the Bob Bullock museum or yous're up for an exploration of pop civilisation, there is something for you. And bonus if you brought the little ones: Some of these cracking venues characteristic fun interactive exhibits that make them among the best things to exercise in Austin with kids.

All-time Austin museums

ane. Blanton Museum of Fine art

Equally 1 of the "foremost university art museums in the country … [with] ane of the largest and well-nigh comprehensive" permanent collections of fine art in Central Texas—more than 17,000 works—the Blanton, located almost the iconic UT Tower on the Longhorns' campus, is the spot for museum aficionados (whether local or visiting) in ATX. Not to get too cliche, but there literally is something for every type of art lover: dazzling interactive installations; a plethora of European, Latin American and Contemporary American paintings; rotating temporary exhibitions (we're getting 1 on Andy Warhol's oft-overlooked book fine art in October 2016); and, of course, the massive and immersive "Stacked Waters" slice, a permanent installation past big-scale sculptor Teresita Fernández that encases the museum's entire fundamental atrium with an awe-inspiring underwater illusion. With more than 124,000 square feet to explore, the Blanton is i of those museums that one can visit over and over, week afterwards calendar week, year after year, and ever find more hidden gems to admire and learn from.

2. South Austin Museum of Popular Culture

If you're lucky enough to see 'em, native Austinites are always ready to hand down insider tidbits of the city's music history by relating endless oral tales, but at that place's something especially compelling about gleaning details of the city'south golden era of music via physical artistic works. For that, you lot'll want to make a trip to the South Austin Museum of Popular Civilisation, which specializes in collecting and displaying music posters dating from the 1960s to present. The gallery likewise regularly exhibits photography, painting, clips from publications, movie/video and other ephemera chronicling the Live Music Capital of the Globe's sonic history. Unlike aesthetically similar pieces at the Mondo Gallery, these works—which since 2004 accept grown into an archive of more than three,000 objects plus upwards of 10,000 images, photographs, audio and video files—aren't for sale. But information technology'southward a certified not-profit contributing tens of thousands to the local economy, so yous tin always feel good about making a donation while satiating your music-related fine art fix.

3. Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum

One quality that makes Austin so special is its dedication to preserving greenish spaces while building upwardly its bustling metropolis around them. One of those many essential spots is the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, located south of the river at the edge of the Barton Hills neighborhood. With rotating exhibitions in its museum space and iv acres of beautifully maintained gardens, ponds and dozens of bronze and rock sculptures donated by notable co-namesake Charles Umlauf (his wife Angeline planted the initial flora), anyone looking for a genuine ATX art-meets-nature feel should make it a point to pop in before or after exploring adjacent Zilker Park and Barton Springs Pool. It'south a perfect spot for an afternoon picnic and/or open-air nap.

iv. Harry Ransom Heart

The mission argument of this humanities research library and museum located at the center of UT Campus reads: "encourages discovery, inspires creativity, and advances understanding of the humanities for a wide and various audience through the preservation and sharing of its boggling collections." It'due south a mission that has been handily accomplished since opening in 1957 via 36 million literary manuscripts, i meg rare books, v 1000000 photographs and more than 100,000 artistic works. A simpler fashion of putting that mission: the free (that'due south right, free) institution is dedicated to keeping Austin weird past promoting arts of all sorts. Permanent exhibitions include the Gutenberg Bible (one of five complete copies in the U.Due south!) and the First Photograph (adult on a pewter plate for a full eight hours past Joseph Nicephore Niepce in mid-19th-century France!!), and past showings comprised pieces ranging from the whimsical artwork of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to lensman Eli Reed's intense The Lost Boys of Sudan. Fair alert: the galleries will exist temporarily closed through Baronial xiv, 2016 to upgrade the lighting organisation. In other words, don't miss these works looking more brilliant than e'er before under state-of-the-art illumination in the virtually hereafter.

5. The Contemporary Austin

With the Contemporary Austin, there's more than meets eye. For starters, it'southward one establishment with two locations: The Jones Center downtown, and the xiv-acre Laguna Gloria site just a bit further northwest. The former is closed until Nov 2016 for renovations, only typically hosts various contemporary exhibits and the building itself—outfitted with a projector screen visible from the street at night—functions every bit a standalone architectural installation piece. The latter houses an art school, the installation-prepare Gatehouse Gallery and the recently expanded Betty and Marcus Sculpture Park, which to date has featured pieces by many acclaimed artists including John Grade, Charles Long, Paul McCarthy, Jim Lambie and Monika Sosnowska, amidst others. If y'all're looking to explore an authentic link between "contemporary art and the fabric of [Austin] city life" with roots dating back more than a century, the Contemporary belongs near the meridian of your listing.

half dozen. Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

What's and so special about a library total of the 36th POTUS's things? Information technology's not just any mishmash collection; the 30-acre site and its 10-story building located next to the football stadium on UT Campus houses and displays more than 54,000 objects from all over the earth—ranging from Middle Eastern antiquities to Oval Office furniture—donated by the President and Mrs. (Lady Bird) Johnson, their friends and assembly. Alongside an additional 45 one thousand thousand pages of documents, 650,000 photos and v,000 recordings, the collection doesn't just portray a presidency, information technology provides a detailed snapshot of U.South. culture and politics in the 1960s. If you're planning a visit, make sure to check the website for special exhibitions—the contempo "Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles!" run was a nail for history and music buffs akin!

vii. Bullock Texas History Museum

Austinites are proud people, merely Texans as a larger group are fifty-fifty prouder. Case-in-point: the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, where three floors of the Lone Star State'southward history—the Story of Texas, every bit they call information technology—come up to life with a plethora of continually updated artifacts ranging in scope from the 17th-century French shipwreck La Belle, to the Ceremonious War and surrounding eras, to the Golden Age of NASA'due south mission command operations out of Houston. Depending on when you're in town, you might also catch Gratis Kickoff Sundays (free admission every first Sunday of the calendar month), Music Nether the Stars (free outdoor concerts in July) or Spooktacular (an annual Halloween-themed scientific discipline event). And if y'all need a relaxing suspension afterwards cramming your encephalon with all that Texas lore, in that location'south always a multifariousness of feature films showing in the attached IMAX theater. With its shut proximity to the Land Capitol building and UT Campus, the Bob Bullock museum makes for a no-brainer tour add-on.

eight. Mexic-Arte Museum

If yous've been to Austin, you've probably tasted the Tex-Mex (if not, what the heck were you lot doing?!), but there's then much more than to know about the upper-case letter urban center's connectedness to Mexican, Latino and Latin American art and civilization, both historical and contemporary. The best place to start: downtown's Mexic-Arte museum, where celebrating that deep-seated link—through exhibitions spanning photography, painting, sculpture and generally every artistic medium imaginable, depending on the creative person and era—is largely the goal. The museum hosts well-nigh 75,000 visitors per twelvemonth—if yous're in the area, make sure you lot're one of 'em!

9. Mondo

If you're all about popular-culture collectibles, visiting Mondo Gallery is a must for your ATX museum agenda. Located but due north of Academy of Texas campus, Mondo creates and displays limited-edition screen-printed posters for handpicked archetype and contemporary films, Telly shows and comics, its ain versions of vinyl movie soundtracks (oh, you don't accept that articulate, 180-gram Back to the Hereafter II score?), VHS re-issues, plus diverse toys and apparel. Meliorate yet, nearly of these items, often role of temporary exhibits that run a few weeks at a time, are for sale. Can't make up your listen about a buy on the spot? No worries—their website stocks most of these treasures (while supplies terminal).

Thinkery

10. Thinkery

Sure, the centrally located Thinkery is technically a destination for the young'uns—there are countless hours' worth of interactive science-steeped exhibits to explore on each visit. But the fun extends to the adult world, also: Approximately every vi weeks, the museum closes its door to kids for one night and opens up exclusively for patrons ages 21 and up to eat and drink (yes, they have alcoholic libations at a greenbacks bar) while exploring different science- and/or art-related programs each fourth dimension. Past sessions included "Murder in the Museum" (a Clue-like workshop with a forensics focus), "Come to Your Senses" (an exploration of the human senses), and "Scientific discipline of Sex activity (you go the idea). More info on specific dates/times is available at thinkeryaustin.org. Bottom line: In the spirit of Austin'southward dedication to diverseness and empathetic inclusion, the Thinkery offers fascinating hands-on adventures for people of all ages and stripes, all the time!

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Source: https://www.timeout.com/austin/things-to-do/best-austin-museums

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