Five Ways to Dress Up Your Bare, Bare Walls
A big weekend of gallery shows gives you plenty of decorating opportunities
By Wayne Alan Brenner, Fri., May 20, 2022
People may well go deliciously naked (just ask the skyclad folks frolicking at Hippie Hollow, right?), but a monotonous expanse of unadorned wall has been proven to increase risk of boredom, angst, and existential scurvy. Better to improve your abode's horizontals and verticals with original works of visual creativity, as are so often available for your shopping pleasure all over town – especially, right now, via these five recommendations.
The Arboretum: ArtsFest
This weekend the Arboretum is supercharging its already prodigious shopportunities with a splurge of visual art and related activities. (Yes, the powerhouse Ao5 Gallery recently relocated to this retail wonderland; don't think it's mere coincidence.) Juliet Italian Kitchen's got live painting going on, there's a caricaturist at Sugarboo & Co., an ArtUs Co market of well-wrought cynosures, pet portraits happening at Ao5, live music on the lawn, typewriter poetry among the elegant eateries, so many things for kids to do, and more. May 21-22: Sat., 10am-2pm; Sun., 11am-3pm. 10000 Research, 512/334-0338. Free. thearboretum.com/events-news
Blue Genie Art Bazaar: May Market
The creators of the award-winning Blue Genie Art Bazaar bring back their spring arts shopping event, featuring the work of more than 100 regional artisans and craftspeople under one big roof. Listen, you want locally made, unique gifts for your most discerning, art-loving friends and family? You wanna treat yourself, even, citizen? Here's where. Through May 30. Fri.-Sun., 10am-8pm. 6100 Airport, 512/222-7303. bluegenieartbazaar.com
Goodluckhavefun: Small Spring Thing
This show's up for just two days in the Goodluckhavefun alternative art space and features dozens of artworks, each under a dozen inches, as created and curated by the painterly likes of Tim McCool, Kira Prentice, and their talented friends from all over town. Each picture is priced at $100 (and, depending on the piece, it could be the best bargain you'll ever find). Bonus: music, refreshments, smart people. May 20-21: Fri., 7-10pm; Sat., noon-6pm. 1207-B Enfield, 412/478-7866. glhfgallery.com
Cloud Tree Gallery: In-Between
In which curator Laura Lynn Johnson brings together eight artists – Rory Foster, Shawn Camp, Abi Daniel, Jason Brooks, Ann Flemings, Jana Swec, Court Lurie, and Blair Gallacher – who are "abstracting natural elements into peaceful spaces, both familiar and unfamiliar, real and fantastical, bold and colorful, known and unknown." Through May 22: Thu.-Fri., noon-6pm; Sat.-Sun., noon-5pm. 3411 E. Fifth, 512/797-8852. cloudtreestudiosandgallery.com
The Cathedral: May Open House
The atxGALS crew at the Cathedral enjoy highlighting Austin's top woman talent at these monthly open house events, and this month you'll enjoy an evening of dancing to live music by Honey Son, sipping on complimentary cocktails, and shopping a diversity of art forms: abstract, figurative, landscape, mixed media, collage, watercolor, and more from talented locals, including the night's featured artist, Steph Ivelisse. Fri., May 27, 7-10pm. 2403 E. 16th, 512/220-4108. $15-25. thecathedralatx.com
