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Lance Letscher Interview/Signing
Art Ball XIII
 Photo courtesy of Craig Krull Gallery Blanton Musuem / February 22– May 17/ 200 E MLK Blvd The Blanton's new exhibit, Birth of the Cool: California Asrt, Design, and Culture at Midcentury, will feature more than 200 objects, including iconic examples of Eames chairs, Noguchi sculpture, a jazz lounge, film, animation, and television programming, Van Keppel Green furniture and architectural pottery, abstract paintings, selections of art, an interactive timeline, and much more. The exhibit, following suit with the influence of the time period, takes its title from Miles Davis’ 1957 masterpiece, Birth of the Cool, which ushered in the hip era. In addition to the main exhibit, the Blanton will hold a number of programs to heighten the Cool experience (schedule coming soon to austin.com). The Blanton is free to members, UT students, and children under 12; admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for non-UT college students, $3 for ages 13-21. For austin.com’s review of Birth of the Cool, click here.
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Pulling from a past filled with family road trips and the natural necessity of maps (note: real ones, not Mapquest), Lordy Rodriguez tests geographical boundaries and forges new ones with in his decade-long project, States of America. By recreating how we view America, Rodriguez takes innovative approaches to reconstructing how we see the U.S. and A., even if it sometimes means putting Texas on the east coast. Rodriguez will be present for a gallery tour on Saturday, February 21 at 3pm. Admission is free to AMOA members and children under 12, $5 for adults, and $4 for seniors/students. 
Clifford Ross Photography: Outside Realism
New Art Gallery Promotes the Creativity of People With Disabilities
Access Gallery, a new art gallery from VSA Arts of Texas, opened this February. Its first exhibit is appropriately titled First Impressions, a collection from ten different artists from throughout Texas. Access Gallery is located at 3701 Guadalupe, Suite 103. The gallery will present shows that feature established and emerging artists with disabilities; art that explores disability culture; shows representing various education programs; and interactive educational opportunities focused on the art. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 6pm (1-6pm on Saturdays).
Arthouse at the Jones Center announced a new matching grant of up to $500,000, dependent upon new pledges to the contemporary art space’s ongoing capital campaign. Private donors Mickey and Jeanne Klein, Julie and John Thorton, and an anonymous Arthouse donor will match one dollar for every two dollars pledged by anyone, up to $1 million in new pledges. The $6.6 million Arthouse Capital Campaign began one year ago, and includes the renovation of the Jones Center, which will add three new galleries, two artists’ studios, a 90-seat community/screening room, and a 5,500 square-foot rooftop space with a 17x33-foot movie screen. The Arthouse Capital Campaign will also establish a $250,000 Curatorial Fund and $300,000 Opportunities Fund. Arthouse aims to begin construction in 2009 and complete the renovation in 2010, in advance of tArthouse’s cent3ennial in 2011. Arthouse is the oldest statewide contemporary visual arts organization in Texas, and continues to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art.