Culture is good

Day: 48

High Temp: 82F

Job Status: Unemployed

As part of the fabulous going away gifts from my good friends at TimeLine Theatre I received a year-long membership to the Austin Museum of Art. It is hard to say that the memebership was my favorite going away gift (after all, I received a play written for me, presented by the uber talented Chicago actors Janet Ulrich Brooks, and Juliet Hart), but let me just say that this is an EXCELLENT going away gift for a person who is 1. and art lover, 2. unemployed, and 3. without friends in a new city.

The membership gives us free access to both AMOA locations, discounts on their extensive catalogue of art classes and also invitations to the members opening parties for all exhibits. Unfortunately, we were just getting into town the week that the Chuck Close exhibit opened, so we missed that party. However, on Tuesday night, they opened a new exhibit at their stunning Laguna Gloria location, and Tom and I were able to attend. The exhibit was called Art and Nature.

First off, it was refreshing to actually have something to do in Austin that felt special, but didn't cost any money. I cant tell you the last time Tom and I splurged on a dinner out, or even a movie...And Laguna Gloria is stunning. It is an early 1900's Italian-style villa right on the banks of the Texas Colorado river. The setting is utterly serene, and an inspired location for an art exhibition designed to explore the relationship between nature and art. The ground is dotted with grand live oaks, outdoor art studios and some beautiful outdoor art, not to mention the villa itself which is a gorgeous building. Truly, if our friends and family lived anywhere near Austin, Tom and I would definitely get married here. As it is, I believe we may have found the location for our engagement pictures! Now if we could only find a free photographer...

The exhibit itself was quite small, as there are only so many spaces to hang art in the villa, but we really enjoyed looking at the selected pieces within the context of each other (all so different!) and the theme of art + nature. Generally I love curated shows for those reasons. The permanent collections at my favorite museums are always nice (they allow me to visit pieces I love multiple times, seeing them in new contexts as I grow older and move on to different stages in my life), but there is something special about curated shows that makes you think of art in a new way. The brilliant, art-loving minds behind curated exhibits show you a piece of art that is beautiful or provocative on it's own, and are able to tell a story, or create a new way to view the piece by illustrating the relationship between it and the other selected pieces in the exhibit. It's a process that is pretty ubiquitous in the world of visual art, but can also be used to great affect in other art forms (think of theatre festivals, or even your own playlists on iTunes.)

Ultimately, it was a wonderful introduction to the AMOA, as well as Austin's visual arts scene. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed that they will curate an exhibit on outsider art sometime soon. It's my favorite genre of modern art, and would seem to fit perfectly in this truly an eclectic and anything-goes kind of town that is home to one of the most iconic pieces of public outsider art in America, Hi, How Are You by Daniel Johnston.