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Yes, the annual event returns in full force from our friends at Big Medium! The Austin Studio Tour is a free, self-guided celebration of visual art, offering deep looks inside the working areas and showrooms of Austin-based artists and creative collaboratives, three weekends of special exhibitions and installations and craft demonstrations and, well, you know there's likely to be all manner of afterparties rocking the town north, south, east, and west, besides.: Painting. Sculpture. Woodworking. Murals. Glasswork. Metalcraft. Collage. New-media manifestations in all manner of innovative flex. So much art in so many forms, brought into being by a diversity of creative, mark-making, culture-sparking humans. Here, in your city, just waiting to fill your senses with wonder.

Held each fall in and around the majestic State Capitol in Downtown Austin, this annual fest features a rich variety of author presentations and panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations, programs and activities for kids of all ages, food trucks, and exhibiting vendors from across the state and country.

Ali Wong is a comedian, writer, actress, and director known for her comedy specials Baby Cobra, Hard Knock Wife, and Emmy-nominated Don Wong.

At this creative showcase, vendors will be set up all across Asmbly to sell items they created – among the very machinery they used to make them. Bonus: live music, food, free beer and wine, and "Make Your Own" activities.

This is a musical journey shared through the lens of Jewish and African American history and culture. With works by Margaret Bonds, Paul Schoenfield, Sergei Prokofiev, Srul Irving Glick, and Adolphus Hailstork, featuring clarinetist James Shields, violinists David Felberg and Mariama Alcântara, violist Ruben Balboa, cellist Amy Levine-Tsang, and pianist Michelle Schumann.

The Latino Comedy Project's jefe grande, Adrian Villegas, brings back his dynamite one-man show – a note-perfect performance set against the spectacle of a tumultuous national election, a sprawling and irreverent tour through a single day in the barrio.

Since 2014, Waterloo Greenway has commissioned site-specific work by Austin-based artists, architects, designers, and landscapers to (literally) illuminate the night and explore different themes related to Waller Creek. Creek Show 2023 will feature free activities each evening, including live music, food and beverages, and family-friendly fun among the six new light-based, eye-dazzling installations.

Dance Repertory Theatre offers a celebration of movement and innovative choreography, featuring works by UT faculty, guest artists, and undergraduate choreographers.

The Early Era Collective reprises its beloved production, a live, mixed-media dance show that combines filmed interviews and live dance - including swing, contemporary, tap, hip-hop fusion and theater dance - mixed with song, animation, and 1940s garb to explore the stories of five people who served in or survived World War II.

Join the ardent arborealists of TreeGarden for their Austin Studio Tour spectacular, featuring art and live demos by 42 local makers, the Pollinator Creation Station, a Save Our Species ArtVenture trail, a community rhythm circle, live music, food, drinks, and more.

This is, of course, Yasmina Reza's arch comedy that asks poignant questions about the meaning of art and friendship. Directed by Steven Pounders for Penfold Theatre, and featuring performances by Ryan Crowder, Nathan Jerkins, and Kareem Badr.

This sweet opportunity comes to us from the Downtown Austin Alliance, the Pease Park Conservancy, and Ride Bikes Austin – so we know it's a damned good thing indeed. Take the self-guided Art & Parks Tour to explore the best of what Downtown Austin art and parks have to offer through this selection of curated murals, artworks, and green spaces. You can sign up anytime, so click that URL and get ready to learn the most vibrantly visual parts of your city soon – live and in person.

Ahhh, don't just fall, though – dive gloriously into the diverse paintings, mixed media, digital, and fiber artworks in this group exhibition of Austin artists, featuring creations by Bern Abplanalp, Hallie Rae Ward, Phillip Seymour (his Great Horned Owl is pictured right here), and more.

The local powerhouse of figurative painting, the art school that's the smart school for artists of all kinds, they've got a painting-along-at-home series going to help you keep your skills honed in these socially restrictive times, featuring live costumed models posing on camera and a thriving community of creatives rendering that lovely human biotecture from their separate studios. "Join us for a three-hour costumed-model drawing session. Use any supplies you wish, listen to music, share your work, chat with others. It’s a great way to stay connected with your art community!"

Austin Cantorum presents a nonreligious, sacred choral experience, inviting the audience to sing along, creating an evensong-style service that features pianist Joseph Choi and choral selections from Jonathan Dove, Undine Smith Moore, Carlo Gesualdo, Nana Forte, and others.

Austin Community College opens their vast Eastside complex to allow exploration of their impressive resources for the Austin Studio Tour, highlighting all the arts and digital media programs – with an emphasis on the art department, jewelry department, and ACC art galleries. This everbusy place is a vibrant epicenter of learning as well as display, and highly recommended.

View and shop art displays from more than 20 local women and nonbinary artists and enjoy an open bar in this beautiful art gallery on the Eastside.

This is a group show of fused glass by Texas artists, hosted by Helios Fused Glass Studio and curated by Kari Minnick, Malina Cipleu, and Kristine Shafer.

The multidisciplinary artist José Villalobos grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, and was raised in a traditional and religiously (Evangelical) conservative family. His work reconciles the identity challenges in his life, caught between traditional Mexican customs and American mores, as well as growing up with religious ideals that conflict with and condemn being gay.: Villalobos manipulates material through the context of self-identity as he examines gender roles within family culture, demonstrating that dismantling traditional modes of masculine identity centers an interstitial space where materiality softens virility.Recommendation: See this vivid show of highly resonant work, the inaugural exhibition in the new Big Medium space – from the folks who bring our lucky city the annual Austin Studio Tour.

Local queer comic Brandi Davis headlines two nights at the Velv with their "camp counselor energy” as featured at the Moontower Comedy Festival and in opening for national touring comics like Beth Stelling and Vanessa Gonzalez.

Witness, for your delight, Neal Flynn’s exhibition of mostly new assemblage, collage, and site-specific intervention exploring ideas relating to nostalgia, loss, violence, ownership, and modern Western culture.

That's right: Cap City Comedy Club, the longtime cornerstone of Austin's comedy scene for nearly four decades is at a new venue in the Domain. And here's Valerie Lopez with a closer look at what's in store for the scene via the venue. Click for details!

Graham Franciose fills the Cloud Tree gallery with delicate moments frozen in time. A prolific gouache and watercolor painter, his 40 original poetic works on paper will charm you with their delicate beauty and intricate details.

Ana Segovia presents an installation of pieces in very different formats, dissecting his creative process and allowing us to penetrate – in a pedagogical sense – the reflections that he seeks for himself and the processes that he carries out for the purposes of creation.

ColdTowne's new brick-and-mortar place is totally open, and who knows what they'll shake this city with next? But one truth remains: ColdTowne is a designated den of gold, baby, sweet comedy gold.

In her first solo exhibit, Amy Banner Updegrove builds with grounding shapes, natural textures, and resonant colors, resulting in repeating patterns found in our surroundings, both natural and artificial. Witness this exploration of the vibrant possibilities in combining woven fabrics, construction metals, reflective materials, and vintage leathers.

Jarrott Productions brings Broadway’s longest-running, Tony-award winning comedy thriller (penned by the remarkable Ira Levin) to Austin – just in time for spooky season – and featuring the talents of Kyle Irion, Devin Finn, Natalie D. Garcia, Janelle Buchanan, and David Kroll, under the direction of David R. Jarrott.

Founded by comedians Raza Jafri and Andre Ricks, this club that operates out of Tiger Den on the Eastside is the city's only BIPOC-owned comedy venue.

Esther's Follies – Austin's not-so-secret weapon in the fight against ennui – the comedy gem that still dazzles this growing urban hub – returns to the weekly live and in-person stage of their club on Dirty Sixth, the whole troupe bringing back old favorites and debuting a new program of hilarity with topical, ripped-from-the-headlines sketches and musical numbers. And you do need a laugh or two, right about this time, don't you, citizen? (And how about a margarita to go with that?) We'd add that the mind-boggling illusions of magician Ray Anderson are a bonus in the night's clever spectacle … but, the way that arch maestro conjures mystery and delight, "bonus" would be an insult.

This hotbed of local performance is carrying on even more than usual, with an eclectic mix of live, mind-rocking comedy from some of Austin's best, all week long. Hey! The place is our cover story, as reported by Valerie Lopez! And, srsly, who would ever disagree with the sentiment of Monday night's Fuck This Week show? Check the website for details.

Kyle Hawley, founder and creative director of Letterpress PLAY, breaks the silence surrounding motherhood with her powerful exhibition, using the unique medium of monoprinting, to transform cloth utility accessories and garments that she designed for mothering into seven life-sized prints that are embedded with colors that recall the nostalgic colors of Kodachrome.

From ceramic vessels to greenstone jewelry, 200 works of classical Maya art (250-900BC) depict the relationship between the royal courts of ancient Maya and their supernatural entities.

This is a whimsical collection of ceramic pieces by Tanya Zal, featuring works that have been baked, dressed up, decorated, frosted, and swirled into "an indulgent playful daydream."

This is a solo exhibition by Joy Scanlon, a site-specific display of paper pulp paintings and hand-dyed textiles, in which the artist reinterprets “inherited forms,” referencing quilts, altarpieces, and mosaics.

Cande Aguilar’s art is inextricably linked with the culture, people, and imagery of his hometown of Brownsville, TX. A self-taught artist, Aguilar forged his unique style called “Barrio Pop” from the landscape of La Frontera.

Explore the stories behind books published by Europeans between the mid-15th and late 17th centuries, tracing them from printing houses into the hands of generations of collectors and bookbinders and, ultimately, modern research libraries like the Ransom Center.

This new group show, curated by the Contemporary Austin's Alex Klein, features works by Sarah Benson, Sonya Berg, Bryan Florentin, Stephanie Germosen, Grayson Hunt, Mirabella Jamie, Brooke Johannesen, David Morrison, Phillip Robinson, Emma Rossoff, Mai Snow, Simone Thornton, William Warden, and Sophie White.

This two-part exhibition explores the history and contemporary urgency of climate-related issues. Curated by journalist Jeff Goodell, who has written extensively on the topic, it's the first exhibition at the Blanton to explore one topic across several of the museum’s temporary gallery spaces. See our review of the show right here.

Here's an exhibition of 13 paintings by Ryan Sandison Montgomery that will rotate through seven positions on the gallery walls over the course of six weeks.

This local treasure of a venue, run by those Contemporary Austin folks who also bring us the Jones Center shows Downtown, is all about the outdoors – which is perfect for these trickily navigated times of ours, n'est-ce pas? Recommended: Stop by and breathe in the air, enjoy the lawns and gardens and the many examples of world-class sculpture arrayed across the property, and (as Frankie used to say) r-e-l-a-x.

Use your smartphone to access self-guided tours of the outdoor public art sited by UT's award-winning Landmarks program any time you feel like it. BONUS: There's also a free, docent-led tour starting at Marc Quinn's "Spiral of the Galaxy" (1501 Red River) on Sun., Jan. 8, 11am.

Erin Cunningham's works examine and portray intricacies within the female figure, delving into the subtleties of the body's external structure. Elsa Gebreyesus explores visual representation of poems and themes by poets or wordsmiths she's been inspired by.

Here's a two-person exhibition that features painting, installation, videography, and sculpture by Moll Brau and Wes Thompson. It's a deep dive into a pool of loneliness, triumph, and rebirth. It's a forest of mazes where fireflies provide the light. It's a show of creations from a pair of terrific, hardworking local artists and you don't want to miss it.

New works by Kelly Breez, Simone Thornton, and Sarah Murphy.

This exhibit presents an impressive collection of relevant artworks created by artists with an intimate connection to the Mexic-Arte Museum and the Austin community.

Enter the fascinating world of illusions in this new venue that boasts a stunning array of intriguing visual, sensory, and educational experiences among new, unexplored optical wonderments.

This legendary work recounts the struggles of Spain's national hero, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the famed el Cid, as he attempts to preserve his honor after being exiled by King Alfonso VI. Directed by Ann Ciccolella for Austin Shakespeare.

Here's an exhibition of posters by a Polish designer, Patrycja Longawa.

Get down along the Colorado River for PietschHouse's four-day art and music showcase during the Austin Studio Tour. This gig's stacked with 45 artists, 16 bands, and many bevvies – and it costs a competitive zero dollars to attend.

Here's a show of collage work by the acclaimed author Nick Flynn. “Throughout my life I’ve gathered ephemera (from sidewalks, brochures, magazines, children’s drawings)," says Flynn. "I cannot say why I do this, but I’ve always had a hard time ignoring an interesting scrap of paper, especially one with some scrawl on it. From this gathering I developed a collage practice, which continues to this day.”

Journey into a pipe-cleaner wonderland via Montrel Beverly's immersive teenage bedroom straight out of the early Nineties, chock-full of everything from Lunchables to Ninetendos to Air Pressure Jordans, all made out of pipe cleaners.

South Austin’s first dedicated comedy venue is spearheaded by local comics Martin Henn, Andre Ricks, and Raza Jafri, and brings top-notch acts to South Austin every Wednesday through Saturday. Note: The upcoming comics – including nationally touring acts, local sweethearts, and everyone in between – will be listed on Instagram each night.

This exhibition of new work by Kate Breakey showcases hand-colored photography of the natural world, particularly of Texan and Australian landscapes, animals, and insects.

This snazzy spot for local and national stand-up acts has shows almost every night of the week.

This solo exhibition by Erin Carle, inspired by the Op Art movement, addresses themes of inadequacy, consent, conformity, sexism, body standards, and other challenges that women face in a world dominated by media and constant social interaction.

The diverse lineup of hilarious, always surprising improv shows continues, with Pgraph and Maestro and the Big Bash and more, for the most unexpected delights of in-person entertainment.

In The Thin Place, the fragile boundary between our world and the other one is breached. With acuity and relentless curiosity, Lucas Hnath’s play transforms the theater into an intimate séance, crafting an unnerving testament to the power of the mind, which has a mind of its own. And here's our full review of the show.

This is Sarah DeLappe's Pulitzer-nominated portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals. The cast features guest Equity artist Amy Downing as Soccer Mom alongside students from the St. Ed’s Department of Performing Arts, directed by Anna Skidis Vargas.

Triple Base Creative presents this group show featuring five Austin artists, each an innovator working with mixed media in new and interesting ways. TBC curator Dina Pugh first selected them to create installations in Facebook’s local offices to spark creativity, and now offers the diverse brilliances to the public. Why are we excited? Look who's in the show: Virginia Fleck, Michael Wayne Hall, Ender Martos, Aaron Michalovic, and Suzanne Wyss.

The Umlauf's famed Garden features expertly wrought sculptures, the bronze or stone cynosures from Charles Umlauf and others anchoring sight among the bright foliage and tree-towered paths. Bonus: "Apropos" is a juried group exhibition of contemporary art exploring an aspect or aspects of Umlauf’s work – featuring new pieces by Darcie Book, Janet Brooks, Nathan Burgess, Bella Cheng, Avery Connett, Matt Donner, Sarah Fagan, Leslie Kell, Ellen LeBlanc, Gary McElhaney, Jennifer Pate, and more.

Hail and wassail! Here's UT's newest (the 42nd annual, no less) student-written, five-act, renaissance-style comedy play – featuring a four-course meal, multipart choir concert, and in-character improv breaks.

The legend of Ronnie Velveeta lives on at this storied 'stablishment of a stand-up stage, where some of the country's hottest comics come to make the floorboards quake with laughter every weekend on Dirty Sixth. Brandie Posey: Sat., May 20, 8 & 10pm. Jake Flores: Sat., May 27, 8 & 10pm.

Malcolm Bucknall’s absurdist surrealism brilliantly muddles Old Masters with tidbits of cartoons, films, home photography, and many other fascinations to create his anthropomorphic creatures.

Here's a show by the legendary Cey Adams, credited as the architect of Hip-Hop’s visual language through his work as the founding creative Director of Def Jam Recordings. Damn right it's important, which is why this is the gallery's first solo artist exhibition. Bonus: Featured alongside Adams’ body of work are images from legendary photographers Martha Cooper and Janette Beckman.

Virginia L. Montgomery's new solo exhibition is a surrealist thought experiment about the philosophical praxis of atomic healing, featuring new video art, sound art, performance photographs, and sculptural objects that interweave psychoanalytic, mythological, and scientific textures. Bonus: luna moths!

This is Ray Donley's gallery of art by Native Americans, located in that company of artistic glory called Canopy and resplendent with creations from the original people of our struggling country.

This new show at Austin's finest bastion of folk art features mixed-media collaborations that combine Jim Sherraden's printmaking with Jon Langford's painting to brilliant, rockabilly effect.