How I wish we had room for one of the amazing neon pieces made here. I had my eyes on a ginormous…read morecowboy boot! Anyway, even though I don't have room for neon art, we were able to do a tour of the gallery. I wish I'd taken pictures inside as well as outside but I was just enthralled with all of the amazing work and talking with the owner/artist. This is a must-see place! Just incredible.

We stopped by here for the mural on the wall, however, it started pouring raining so we ended up…read moreinside. They didn't seem too happy about that, but we're so glad we ended up in there. They have amazing pieces of art. We spoke with the artist of the mural and loved hearing his stories.

We visited the Wally Workman Gallery for the first time during their First Tuesday event. This is a…read moresmaller, lovely gallery. I would recommend stopping by for a visit and then heading to dinner reservations nearby for a cute date night! Every employee I encountered was very kind.

Have you seen this cute house of a gallery???…read more How adorable it is!! The architecture alone drew my husband and I in, but the art and welcoming environment made us stay! The associates here are super welcoming and friendly, and all share tons of valuable knowledge on the art and surrounding community. They were more than happy to share with us the history of the gallery space, as well as any information we requested on the art.

This is one of the art galleries one have to visit in Austin. It sells apparel, paintings,…read moremagazines and paintings. Mostly it focuses on hip hop, street art and apparel. Also it has a wide array of contemporary art. The parking may be difficult but it's definitely worth a look. They have an email list that shows introduces you to underground artists and events going on in their gallery. It's a laid back atmosphere. Too bad it's a small space. I hope they can find a bigger space.

Very unique! If you are going to Austin, make arrangements for a tour. This house has been…read morefeatured in a lot of different books and magazines.

Keep Austin Weird is one of those phrases that is synonymous with Austin (in addition to barbecue)…read more There is so much interesting art here in Austin that you should consider looking into when visiting Austin, with Casa Neverlandia being one of them. Casa Neverlandia is a three story, colorful home located behind Goodwill Baptist Church, that was created by James Talbot, or as he referred to himself as "Talbot" when we met him for a private tour of his home. Casa Neverlandia originally started out as a one story home built in the early 1900's. Mr. Talbot purchased this home and started to transform it into what you see now in my photos and what you find online. According to Mr. Talbot, he grew up in a military family, traveling all around the world and living in some unusual places that includes a treehouse in Honduras. He has a college degree in architecture and has always been fascinated with building things, as you can see with his home today. To him, he builds this home for himself to reflect upon his spiritual side but also include some unique things for his physical needs, as he lives rather a green lifestyle. My husband and I, along with our little girl dog (yes Mr. Talbot allowed for us to bring our little dog with us) met Mr. Talbot outside of his home on a Sunday afternoon. We were lucky to be the only couple, as another couple was supposed to come but was told the date just didn't work with their schedule. Please note that it cost $15 per person for this tour and you can contact Mr. Talbot via phone or email to schedule a tour. At the front entrance of his home are numerous of doorbells, xylophones and bells. I believe there is over 40 of these things but Mr. Talbot says he can never have enough. He describes the mosaic tiles outside of the home, the snake, the outdoor patio seating area with the clouds element and so forth. Then inside, we see his living room with a beautiful and inviting fireplace and pit to help radiate heat for the first floor, indoor seating area that is meant to be an air alter with cool colors of green and a unique bookcase. We see some current artwork that he has for sale (no obligation to buy) that includes gorgeous hand beaded work and other things and then make our way to the small music room. Next, the kitchen has a lot of function to it more so than just design. Then we make our way up stairs. On the 2nd floor is a room that has a Thai like theme with the bamboo wall panels and red lacquered beams. This room has high ceilings and utilizes natural lighting since there is no lights in this room. Mr. Talbot says this is the room for parties and entertainment for guests. Then up one more floor is Mr. Talbot's room, which was featured on numerous of TV shows, magazines and books. From his bedroom, that has a safari theme to it, you can see a glimpse of downtown Austin. We were then lead to his bathroom where he is currently working on a bath tub with some kind of ocean wave like theme. Being that he has a background in architecture, he is able to create the structure of things the way he wants it. From his bedroom, we walk across a narrow plank bridge to his tree house or a tower. Climb a very narrow ladder and we are on the top of that tower and see great views of Austin. We eventually take a few narrow ladders down to the bottom, now in his backyard. From here, he takes us into his studio (built in the early 90's) and shows us what he is currently working on, which looks like a large clam shell. He uses soda cans that he has collected around Austin to decorate the shell. He also shows us this ocean like mural that will go with this clam shell. Then we eventually make our way outside. He tells us that he saves the rain water in large barrels, as he considers himself camping in his own home. He dresses up or down according to the weather and has a very low electric bill each month and water bill. Mr. Talbots has told us on the tour that he doesn't consider himself to be done with Case Neverlandia, as he is always building and changing things. And said that Casa Neverlandia may be different the next time we come back to Austin for another tour. Our tour lasted about 75 minutes, but we did make small talk with Mr. Talbot throughout. It was well worth our time to come out here and check out Casa Neverlandia and hope you will consider it too, especially if you are looking for something off the beaten path. You can see some of Mr. Talbot's artworks around Austin and a few other things in other states. Casa Neverlandia truly was a highlight of our visit to Austin and am so glad we were able to get a tour. Again as mentioned, it cost $15 per person for a tour and you can call Mr. Talbot at (512) 442-7613 or email him at talbot@talbotworld.com to inquire for a tour.

This review is for the ceramics course offered at Dougherty!…read more First off, I loved my instructor H.R, she was super knowledgable and eager to help everyone. She honestly made the experience great, and I would give her 5 stars any day. We were allotted a few open studio hours during the course to come in and work independently. These were pretty strictly monitored, and the weekend time slots tended to fill up quickly (understandably) For the price that I paid, I was pretty pleased with taking classes here however I would add some caveats: 1. There are a lot of restrictions here (glazes are pretty limited, you cannot make pieces larger than 8 in, can't bring in most outside glazes that are runny) 2. There were a lot of different skill levels in my class. A majority of the students seemed to be repeating students from the previous cycle, and had a lot of wheel experience. There were only 1-2 people in my class who were beginners. If I hadn't already had some exposure to the wheel, I think I would've been completely lost as most of the class time was spent on demos that the class requested instead of set lessons. If the cost wasn't almost half of what other studios in town were charging, I would probably go to another studio because of the above reasons, but honestly the deal is too good to complain. If you're able to get off the waitlist and get a class here, I'd recommend trying it out if you have some experience already! Otherwise I would try to take a more beginner friendly class elsewhere first

We came here to see a local theater company put on a musical comedy about the Servant Girl killer…read morefrom Austin in the 1880's. It was quite fun and pretty clever. Murders and Moontowers is the name. The center is clean and well lit. Welcoming is the term I think of, inside at least. It's a bit hard to see if you are not paying attention and parking is not great. Not the worst but crowded. Inside had interesting local art, I have some pictures, and a few benches. The theater room is decent sized and you can see and hear pretty well. We were in row 3 or 4 to the right if on stage. The troupe was good and there were some clever songs. It is about an hour and while the murders do factor in its mostly about the growing city and political dealing. I know it's an art center first but two quick things. The chairs are awful. They took me out of the play several times as I could not get in a position that didn't cause pain. Two: I can go without a snack or food but I need liquids. Water, soda, something. If you don't want to sell it allow us to bring lidded bottles or Yetis. Yeti like cups wouldn't leave trash and would allow for less issues. But that said I really otherwise enjoyed this. Shana, the woman who married me, agrees place is very cool. The cast signed a book we had on the killings which was cool. The songs were mostly fun and entertaining. The cast did a good job and told a fun story in just an hour. There were a few things that felt a little out of place but overall it was a good time.

The only Charles Moore house designed for himself that houses his library, folk art and toy…read morecollection, I happened upon this small compound just west of MoPac for a fundraiser, benefitting the Charles Moore foundation, helping to preserve his work and house, keeping up residency programs at the house for designers, educators and architects, as well as its symposium and field conferences. The interior space is bathed with whimsy and color, suggesting the child-like nature of the architect, and the compound itself is SEXILY built around a beautiful swimming pool. I think I want to be Kevin, the director of the foundation, who gets to live here...(sigh). Tours for visitors, worth seeing with design-happy friends, or 40 bucks gets you in their annual fund raiser. A definite find!

The sunset light sequence is slow and mediative. Conversation is quiet but I feel like I bond with…read morethe strangers who watch it with me whenever I go. Turrell is a great living artist and this is my favorite of his works. Plus, the benches inside are heated. It's also really beautiful when rain is falling through the oculus. The light show starts at a different time every night according to the time of sunset. It is about an hour and 5 minutes long. You have to walk onto the roof of the student activity center at UT Austin to find it, but someone will be there to check you in and answer questions. The light show is free but it fills up so I recommend making a reservation online.

I have been following Turrell's pieces for awhile now. I was really sad to have missed his exhibit…read moreat LACMA, so when I heard they had installed a new one at UT, it immediately got on my list to visit. We are blessed to have 2 installments in Houston and another in Austin. This one is on the 3rd floor of the SAC (student activity center). It is open to the public, and does not require an ID to enter. When you get to the 3rd floor just make a right and walk outside onto the rooftop patio area. They do have reservations online, but there isn't anyone there to take them. Just like many of the other exhibits, you are there to observe the sky. It usually is very peaceful and quiet. But you are more than welcome to take pictures. Come as close to sunset as possible if you want to see the many colors of the sky along with the interior lighting.

Landmarks is the group that manages the public art on campus at The University of Texas at Austin…read more The collection includes 50+ works of art - both indoor and outdoor pieces throughout the campus - that are either on loan from the MET or were specially commissioned for the campus. I've had exposure to the Landmarks program through their monthly art walks (the first Sunday of the month) as well as through an evening skyscape experience at the James Turrell "The Color Inside" installation (reservations highly recommended!). The monthly art walks are free to the public and are one hour each time. The docent staff member curates an experience and conversation about a handful of pieces in the collection that you visit and get to experience first-hand. I've learned a lot and appreciated the ability to see and experience the art with others in a low-key, approachable way. I am definitely someone who appreciates and supports the arts, so am glad that there is a program dedicated to making public art more accessible to the public in Austin like this!