South Congress

The best place to go for a stroll and window shop in Austin is South Congress. All of the shops are unique, funky and interesting. You can also take a break and pick up coffee, ice cream, a cupcake or a bite to eat at numerous restaurants & shops. Anytime the weather is nice you'll also find vendors selling jewelry, artwork or other handmade goods at outdoor stalls. Any day that you want to get out but don't know what to do, So Co is a foolproof plan. Don't forget to check out First Thursday (the first Thursday evening of every month) on South Congress, which we'll blog about soon.. the street comes alive with vendors & performers, and all the stores stay open late.

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First Thursday Blog

East Austin Studio Tour

Happening this weekend!! A tour all over East Austin to see various artwork by local artists. Best of all, it's FREE! Check their website for all the dozens of locations.

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Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum

This sculpture garden and museum, dedicated to showcasing the works of Charles Umlauf, is tucked away just off Zilker Park. You'd never expect a place like this just a stone's throw from downtown. The sculpture above is of Icarus. It's a very peaceful place, either to walk around or just sit and enjoy.

There are several ponds filled with lily pads. I love lily pads.

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Mexic-Arte Museum

Sunday was Austin Museum Day, which means all museums in Austin are free and have special events and exhibits. The free part isn't all that exciting since most of the museums are already either free or only a few dollars for admission. We managed to find the most expensive museum to go to on free day. The Mexic-Arte Museum, which is normally $5 for adults.
The Mexic-Arte museum has artwork, jewelry, furniture, and a bunch of historic artifacts like pots and small sculptures. They also play old Mexican films in the back of the museum. It's kinda cool, but we're glad we got to experience it for free.

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Arthouse at the Jones Center

So as I've said before, we're not really into modern art. We're trying though, we really are. The Arthouse is featuring an exhibit called "Reset/Play" about video games and stuff. Yes, the TV screen you see below is part of the exhibit. Some of the art is interactive, and you can actually play a video game. No, I'm serious. We mostly wandered around looking at the birthdates of the artists and trying to find an artist who was more than 5 years older than we are. Sad.

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Guitartown

You may be wondering why there are painted guitars all over town. Cause I have been. I looked around online, and apparently it's a public arts project called "Guitartown." I've seen some pretty interesting ones around town. Check out the website to find the locations of the guitars.

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Art on 5th

Art on 5th is a huge art gallery on West 5th street. All of the art is for sale, so admission is free. Some are local artists, some are not. It's a great place to browse because it's usually pretty empty and there's a wide variety of art.
The highlight of this visit was the artwork by Dr. Seuss. If you grew up with Dr. Seuss, you'll love seeing some of his creations.

More of Dr. Seuss' art. The colorful cat was my favorite.
Some views of the other art in the gallery:


I was really impressed with these paintings of sunsets.

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Austin Museum of Art (downtown location)

The downtown AMOA is all modern art, with a permanent collection and rotating new exhibits. I don't have much to say about it, because I've never been much of a fan of modern art. If you're into modern art, you must check it out, and if not, head straight to The Blanton Museum of Art instead (which we'll hopefully blog about soon).

By the way, photography is not allowed, which I learned after taking the photo above. Go figure. I was allowed to take photos at the Louvre.

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