In addition to the
Blanton Museum’s excellent compilation of contemporary works, Austin is home to numerous innovative galleries worth visiting. Any guide to galleries in the state’s capital has to start with The Contemporary Austin (The Contemporary for short), which has two locations – the Laguna Gloria Art Museum in West Austin and the Jones Center on Congress Avenue. The beautiful 14-acre site at Laguna Gloria overlooks Lake Austin on the Clara Driscoll Estate, once owned by the city’s patriarch, Stephen F. Austin. In addition to the historical Driscoll Villa, Laguna Gloria visitors can enjoy temporary, long-term, and permanent contemporary sculpture and art installations in the Gatehouse Gallery and the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park.
The museum’s downtown campus, The Contemporary Austin Jones Center, was designed by New York firm Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL), and includes over 5,000 square feet of exhibition space and a roof-top deck for events and temporary installations, such as Jim Hodges’ current display,
With Liberty and Justice for All (A Work in Progress).