Contemporary Austin Museum Inc

Programs: As austin's only museum dedicated to commissioning and exhibiting work by leading contemporary artists, the contemporary austin occupies an important position in the region's cultural landscape. Each year, the contemporary austin welcomes 60,000 visitors to the museum's two unique sites-laguna gloria on the shores of lake austin and the jones center in downtown austin. The contemporary austin is currently designing a master plan for the development of the betty and edward marcus sculpture park at laguna gloria, a space for the public to experience exceptional works of art framed by the vibrant texas landscape and the site's distinctive cultural heritage. The contemporary austin's core programs include an annual roster of exhibitions featuring new, site-responsive work by today's most innovative and ambitious artists. Recent exhibitions have featured internationally acclaimed artists ai weiwei, do ho suh, jim hodges, wangechi mutu, tom friedman, tom sachs, robert thierrien, monika sosnowska, roger hiorns, nancy holt, bruce nauman, and trisha baga attracting coverage in national and international publications such as artforum, the new york times, and the wall street journal.

offering more than 500 classes to 4,700 students annually, the art school at laguna gloria is one of the nation's largest museum-affiliated art schools. For more than fifty years, the art school has enabled students to expand their creativity, enhance visual awareness, and cultivate technical skills in a wide variety of media. Distinguished faculty provide instruction in painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, collage, and sculpture to students ranging in ages four through adult. Since 1980, the art school has awarded more than $425,000 in scholarships to students in need of financial assistance.

community engagement is a cornerstone of the contemporary austin's mission to integrate contemporary art into the fabric of city life. Deliberately diverse in scope and content, public programming includes artist's talks, film screenings, and musical performances that activate the exhibitions on view. The contemporary austin also serves as an invaluable resource for art education in the central texas region through tours, family programs, and school partnerships. Each year, more than 10,000 children in grades k-12 participate in docent-led tours, and more than 6,000 community members attend free family days at the museum. The contemporary austin actively collaborates with numerous community partners including, the austin film society, department of art and art history at the university of texas at austin, fusebox festival, texas book festival, and title i schools in the austin area.

the contemporary austin's two unique locations-laguna gloria and the jones center- are available for site rentals, and serve as popular venues for a wide variety of events, including weddings, receptions, and corporate events. Laguna gloria, a fourteen acre site on the shores of lake austin, features extensive gardens, the historic driscoll villa, and the betty and edward marcus sculpture park. Located at 7th and congress, the jones center offers panoramic views of downtown austin and the texas state capitol in an architecturally significant building renovated specifically for the presentation of contemporary art.