Austin: Museums

New Works introduces fresh and contemporary art by local artists. Jade Walker transforms fabric and found objects into abstract natural forms that evoke the human body. Her installation Spectator Sport explores ideas about sports, gender, pain, and power. New Works

Artist Talk Thursday, January, 21 7 pm Jade Walker talks about the inspiration and process for making her installation Spectator Sport.

Take a break from the heat and chill out at AMOA! Discover an eco-friendly way to make art with minimum waste by painting with ice cubes. Join Bea Love Yoga for a family yoga class at 1 pm. Drop in and create! $7 for the whole family; $5 member families Date: Saturday, August 14, 2010 Time: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Repeat on the second Saturday of the month until 12/01/2010 This event does not require an RSVP. Registered users can request event reminders

Visit the Austin Museum of Art for free during austin's city-wide free museum day.

Noon - 5:00 PM

Visit AMOA-Downtown for FREE during the Congress Avenue Holiday Stroll! Enjoy the annual Holiday Sing-Along and Tree Lighting at the Capitol, and then come down Congress Avenue for FREE museum admission and an art activity! Check back later for details and more information about the exciting events, performances, art installations, and happenings up and down Congress Ave!

Date: Saturday, December 4, 2010 Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM This event does not require an RSVP. Registered users can request event reminders. 

On the first floor, The Story of Texas begins before this land was called Texas. It is a story of Encounters on the Land, of first meetings between Native Americans and explorers from Europe. Find out about the many native peoples who lived on this diverse landscape. What did the Spanish find here? What were the French doing? What did the Native American leaders think of these newcomers?

You will hear their words, see the objects that reflect their lives and have a sense of the environment where these encounters took place. Learn about the early missions, settlers and soldiers. Why did the Comanche, the Spanish, and the American and European immigrants come to Texas? The story continues through 1900 when the last unexplored region in Texas, the Big Bend area, was finally mapped.

On the second floor, explore the story of how Texas became an independent nation in Building the Lone Star Identity. From his jail cell in Mexico City, hear Stephen F. Austin's own words that herald the coming of the Texas Revolution.

 Experience the battles of the Revolution through the eyes of Juan Seguin, a Tejano military and political leader. Understand the different visions of Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar, both Presidents of the Republic of Texas. Follow Texas as it became the 28th state, then seceded from the Union, joined the Confederacy and fought in the Civil War, and shaped a new future that included freedom for all Texans. Discover how Texas grew into the 20th Century and celebrated its unique identity during the 1936 Centennial -- 100 years after Texas independence.

 See a giant time line of Texas history unfold on a 60-foot video wall, with interactive stations where you can learn more details about many important events in Texas history.

On the third floor you can see how Texans have persevered on the land and how they approached everything from drilling oil to redefining world technology.

Creating Opportunity explores the important role of ranching in Texas; how Texans have adapted to the diverse conditions of the land to prosper on it; and how oil changed Texas. Through recreated environments, interactive media produced by Pyramid Studios, and actual artifacts, you will learn how Texas-led explorations in the 20th Century frontiers of space, medicine and technology have impacted the entire world.

Take a seat in the "Oil Tank Theater" as native Texan Walter Cronkite narrates a media presentation exploring the impact of oil on Texas, and of Texas oil on the world. See why Texas was the place where America's military learned to fly. Hear and see Texas legends in music and sports, and join in an interactive experience in the "Connecting Texas Theater" to learn how the histories of key Texas cities pysically and culturally link the state together.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of thirteen presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The library houses forty five million pages of historical documents which include the papers from the entire public career of Lyndon Baines Johnson and also from those of close associates. These papers and the vast administrative files from the presidency are used primarily by scholars. The museum provides year-round public viewing of its permanent historical and cultural exhibits.

Special activities and exhibits are sponsored privately by the Friends of the LBJ Library and its parent organization, the LBJ Foundation.

Hours and Admission LBJ Library and Museum 2313 Red River St. Austin, TX 78705 (512) 721-0200

Museum Hours: Open every day, except Christmas 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Reading Room Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday Closed Saturday, Sunday, and on Federal Holidays. Admission is free

One block west of I-35 (between MLK and 26th Street) free parking

Cronkite: Eyewitness to a Century May 15, 2010 – January 3, 2011

The LBJ Library and Museum along with The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas present an exhibit sponsored by University Federal Credit Union and KEYE Austin about the life and career of Walter Cronkite.

Open daily 11:00am to 11:00pm

Museum Admission: $4 Adults, $2 Kids under 12 As always, it's absolutely FREE to enter the Lucky Lizard gift shop!

HOMESCHOOL DAY. Historical reenactments, site tours and exhibits as we welcome Austin-area homeschool families for a special day of Texas history. Come early for this popular fall outing. Special admission price is $3 per person all day. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

September 19, Sunday: AUSTIN MUSEUM DAY.

Historical reenactments, new exhibits and site tours, and admission is free all day, as we participate in Austin Museum Day as a member of the Austin Museum Partnership. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

October 23, Saturday: TEXIAN DAY.

Historic pistols, rifles and cannon will headline a day of learning what it means to be a Lone Star citizen, as the Texian Legacy Association reenacts 1830s life in the Repulic with demonstrations of historic firearms, firebuilding with flint and steel and women's clothing and accessories in Texas' eary days. Regular admission prices. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Gutenberg Bible is the first substantial book printed from movable type on a printing press. It was printed in Johann Gutenberg's shop in Mainz, Germany between 1450 and 1455. The Ransom Center holds one of five complete copies in the United States.

Discovering the Language of Photography: The Gernsheim Collection

September 7, 2010 - January 2, 2011

This exhibition is made up of two complementary and interweaving narratives—the history of photography as told through the collection's imagery, and the history of the collection's formation and methodology. The Gernsheims assembled a peerless collection, most predominantly in the area of nineteenth-century British photography, and many highlights will be on display alongside works by unknown or lesser-known artists who used various means to improve or to exploit the relatively new invention of photography. The exhibition will highlight key moments in the history of photography, important technological and ideological shifts in the act of picture making, and narratives that served the Gernsheims as key points of collecting.

Winged Wonders Insects are the first organisms on Earth that took to the air – about 310 million years ago! They remain one of only three extant groups of flying animals (along with bats and birds).

The characteristics of insect flight are remarkable and still far superior to any attempts made by humans to replicate their capabilities. During the Permian Period (290 million years ago to 248 million years ago), the ancestors to dragonflies were the only aerial predators. Some had wing spans of nearly 30 inches, but otherwise looked very similar to their modern day counterparts.

 Insects also display a wide variety of colors and have evolved several ways of generating the colors we see. Some use pigments, while many others use microscopic structural differences in the exoskeleton to produce a spectrum of colors.

 Come see the diversity of wings and colors in insects and learn how flight has played a key role in the success of the most dominant group of animals on the planet.

We won Best Museum in Austin for Children in Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks Awards! Thank you for your support!

Texas Memorial Museum is the exhibit hall of the Texas Natural Science Center. It is located at 2400 Trinity Street, on The University of Texas at Austin campus, in Austin, Texas.

 Museum hours: Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm; Saturday, 10 am–5 pm; Sunday, 1–5 pm. Admission is FREE! The Museum is closed on major holidays.

Family Fossil Fun Day

Explore the amazing world of fossils with us on Sunday, September 19, 2010 from 1–5 pm. Fossil identifications, hands-on presentations by paleontologists, storytime, fossil dig pit, and paleo-themed crafts and activities. Free admission and free activities. This event is held annually.

The Texas Military Forces Museum is located in Building 6 on Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. The street address is 2200 West 35th Street, just west of Loop 1 (MOPAC Blvd). A photo I.D. is required for entry onto Camp Mabry.

Hours of Operation

Wednesday - Sunday 10:00a.m - 4:00p.m.

 Monday and Tuesday Closed

 Inclement Weather Policy: To facilitate the safety of museum volunteers and provide timely information to the general public, the Texas Military Forces Museum’s inclement weather policy will be to close the museum at any time the Austin Independent School District closes due to weather, and/or the Texas Adjutant General’s Department directs the closing of the facility. Museum visitors and volunteers should call the museum’s main telephone number 512-782-5659 prior to traveling to Camp Mabry to learn whether the museum is closed due to weather when AISD is not in session or on the weekends. Free tours

 Free Tours of the museum may be scheduled by calling 512-782-5659 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.